Low winter snowpack combined with a drier-than-usual spring and rapid snowmelt will likely translate into critically low water supplies across parts of Oregon heading into summer, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The NRCS released its June basin report for Oregon, and the outlook is bleak, especially in southern and eastern Oregon. Gov. Kate Brown has already declared a drought emergency in Klamath, Grant, Harney and Lake counties, while the U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly the entire state in some level of drought, from “abnormally dry” to “severe drought.”

Unusually warm weather in May led to rapid melting of already limited snowpack, said Scott Oviatt, snow survey supervisor and hydrologist for the NRCS. Of 81 real-time snow monitoring stations, only five still have snow as of June 1.

Snowpack is critical for water management, since it acts as a natural reservoir gradually replenishing streams into spring and summer. However, most of Oregon’s snowpack peaked around 70 percent of normal and melted away quickly over the last month.

Snow has almost completely disappeared statewide, except for basins in the far northeast corner of Oregon, which are still clinging to 27 percent of normal levels. Many sites melted out one to two weeks ahead of schedule, and several higher elevation sites had snow melting up to 2 1/2 times faster than usual.

Streams in the drought-stricken Klamath, Harney, Goose Lake and John Day basins are projected to run just 26-82 percent of normal levels through September. Forecasts improve closer to the Columbia River and west of the Cascades, which received closer to normal snowpack.

The Umatilla, Walla Walla and Grande Ronde rivers should experience near-average stream flows in northeast Oregon. The Willamette Basin, home to more than 1 million acres of farmland, should see streams flows ranging from 48 to 87 percent of normal, along with the Hood, Sandy and Upper Deschutes basins.

In southwest Oregon, forecasters anticipate the Rogue and Umpqua rivers will be slightly lower, at 47 to 81 percent of average.

Reservoirs remain a bright spot in this year’s water outlook. Most of the state’s major reservoirs are holding 70 to 110 percent volume, with the Umatilla, Walla Walla and Willow basin reservoirs faring best at 95 to 111 percent full.

The NRCS is advising irrigators to plan accordingly for water shortages, “especially in southern and southeastern Oregon where the snowpack was the lowest this season.”

A farmland conservation group is appealing a 73-acre solar project in Oregon’s Clackamas County which won land use approval because beehives will be raised on the property.

1,000 Friends of Oregon, a nonprofit, is challenging the county’s conditional use permit for the project near Estacada before the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Board of Agriculture is also asking state land use regulators to consider issuing emergency rules in reaction to the project.

Clackamas County approved the permit from Steve Schmitt and Pacific Northwest Solar LLC last month, finding the solar facility will not preclude the property’s use as a commercial agricultural enterprise.

The project developer proposes keeping about 100 honeybee colonies at the site while cultivating “bee-friendly forage” around the solar panels and “shade resistant native plants” beneath them.

Under Oregon’s land use law, solar power facilties can be no larger than 12 acres without an exception to the statewide goal of preserving farmland.

However, a hearings officer with Clackamas County has ruled the project will take up less than 12 acres, since the area under the panels will be used for forage.

“There does not seem to be any dispute that an apiary is a farm use,” said Fred Wilson, the county’s hearings officer.

The project developer estimated the apiary will generate $75,000 per year but opponents claimed the actual revenue would be about 80 percent lower.

Despite these differences, the hearings officer was convinced the apiary qualified as a commercial agricultural enterprise.

“Even if income is less than the projected amount, the proposed apiary seems more likely than not to produce significant amounts of income that would still constitute contributing in a substantial way to the area’s existing agricultural economy,” he said.

Although the hearings officer found that using the site for renewable energy and a farm use “would seem to be a win-win scenario,” his rationale is troubling to the Oregon Farm Bureau.

A similar justification could be used to build a shopping mall on high value farmland if goats were allowed on the property, said Mary Anne Cooper, public policy counsel for the organization.

“As much as that would be a fun shopping mall, it’s not a farm use,” Cooper testified before the Oregon Board of Agriculture during its June 7 meeting in Hood River, Ore.

The board, which advises the Oregon Department of Agriculture, unaninously decided to send a letter to the Land Conservation and Development Commission to consider emergency rules for the situation.

A broader resolution calling for stronger land use protections for farmland when siting solar projects and other energy facilities was also unanimously approved by the Board of Agriculture.

For example, the resolution “supports a better definition of highly productive farmland” to consider factors other than just soil types, such as irrigation availability or unique climate.

Concern about solar development on farmland has already convinced Yamhill County to prohibit such facilities on top soil classes while Marion County has excluded them from “exclusive farm use” zones, said Jim Johnson, ODA’s land use specialist.

In a surprising reversal of position, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-2 Thursday not to reclassify the threatened marbled murrelet as an endangered species.

The vote came after hours of testimony from ODFW staff and environmental and timber industry advocates during day one of the commission’s two-day meeting in Baker City, Ore.

Commissioners had voted in February to “uplist” as endangered the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old growth forests along the Oregon Coast. The species was first listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1992. ODFW listed the marbled murrelet as a threatened species in 1995.

In June 2016, a coalition of environmental groups — including the Center for Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild, Coast Range Forest Watch, Sierra Club and Audubon Society of Portland — petitioned ODFW to reclassify the birds as endangered. The species is already listed as endangered in Washington and California.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission met Feb. 8-9 in Portland, and voted 4-2 to accept the petitioners’ recommendation, with commissioners Bruce Buckmaster and Jim Bittle opposed.

Four months later, the commission effectively overturned its previous decision, voting 4-2 not to list the marbled murrelet as endangered. Commissioners Greg Wolley and Holly Akenson remained in favor of uplisting.

“I didn’t feel good about what we did in February,” Bittle said. “I didn’t like the information that we got.”

Ultimately, the reversal came down to a shift in balance on the commission.

When commissioners voted in February, Chairman Michael Finely was excused from the meeting, creating an even number of votes. Commissioner Bob Webber, who initially opposed uplisting the marbled murrelet, relented and changed his vote to avoid a deadlock. At the time, Webber said his least favorite option would be to do nothing.

This time around, Finley was present, but former commissioner Laura Anderson — who voted in favor of uplisting — was gone after vacating her seat in March. Finley and Webber joined Buckmaster and Bittle in declining to uplist the species.

“I can’t come to the conclusion that the population is at serious risk,” Bittle said.

Timber workers also pleaded with the commission to reconsider the uplisting, which would have led to new logging restrictions to protect old growth trees and habitat for marbled murrelets on state-owned land.

Seth Barnes, director of forest policy for the Oregon Forest & Industries Council, said Oregon State University is conducting a 10-year study of marbled murrelets that will better inform a decision down the road.

“We need to stay as close as we can to the empirical data,” Barnes said. “A vote to not uplist the marbled murrelet is not a vote for the timber industry. It’s simply the right thing to do.”

Jim James, executive director of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, said that while new guidelines to protect the marbled murrelet would apply only to state lands, they would create an incentive for private landowners to liquidate any habitat associated with the birds.

State Rep. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, also testified that imposing more logging restrictions would continue to harm rural communities that depend on the timber economy.

“Rural Oregon is struggling,” said Smith, who added he has the nation’s eighth-most impoverished school district within his legislative boundary in southwest Oregon.

Environmental groups that petitioned to uplist the marbled murrelet blasted the commission’s about-face Thursday.

Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands, said there is “no question this bird is doing very poorly.” He said the population declined by 50 percent near the central Oregon coast around the time it was initially listed as threatened, and has yet to recover.

“(The commission) flipped in the face of an incredible amount of scientific testimony,” Cady said.

According to ODFW’s own status review, highly suitable nesting habitat for marbled murrelets declined by an estimated 78,600 acres, or nearly 10 percent, between 1993 and 2012.

“I think the bird is still showing the effects of the rampant clear-cutting that was going on,” Cady said.

The Northwest Forest Plan Monitoring Report shows populations of marbled murrelets stabilized between 2000 and 2015, according to ODFW. However, demographic models predict an 80 percent chance of extinction over the next century.

The commission may still adopt survival guidelines for marbled murrelets on state lands, though the rules would be advisory, not required. Commissioners delayed consideration of the guidelines until their Aug. 3 meeting in Salem.

SILVER LAKE, Ore. — Daniel Miles, at the age of 16, was ready to take over the operation of his grandfather’s ranch.

But Harold Miles told his grandson to have patience and that finishing his schooling had priority. Daniel Miles did follow his elder’s advice, graduating from North Lake High School in 2010 and then from Oregon State University in 2013. His degree was in agricultural science.

Daniel, now 25, and his wife Leanna, have now taken over the Miles Ranch, a 1,300-acre hay, grain, pasture and cow-calf operation. Leanna is also an OSU graduate, having earned a degree in agricultural business management.

This type of generational transition doesn’t always occur in agricultural businesses because there are fewer younger people who have an interest in making agriculture a career. But Daniel grew up in this environment and has been helping on the ranch since he was old enough.

His father, Lloyd, was actually in the transitional stage of taking over the family operation, but died in a traffic accident in 2009 on a dusty, rural gravel road while en route to check an irrigation pump motor. That’s when the 16-year-old Daniel said he could take over, but his grandfather quickly re-directed the teenager back to getting an education.

“He was willing, but probably not ready,” Harold Miles said of Daniel.

Daniel still helped with the work, however. The neighbors helped the Miles family get the third cutting of hay in the barn during that tragic year and some of the ranch was leased for the next two years and some for the next five years.

After earning their degrees at OSU, Daniel and Leanna returned to work the family ranch with the blessing of their grandparents, Harold, 85, and Lois, 78.

“We’re very happy to have somebody in the family continue our labors,” Lois Miles said. “There are fewer young people who are taking over for the older generation. We feel fortunate to have Daniel and Leanna back here.”

Daniel said he feels blessed to have the opportunity to carry on the family’s ranching tradition.

“I feel more honored by the responsibility than overwhelmed by it,” the young man said of making sure the ranch continues to be a success. “It’s an opportunity to carry on and to build on what others have essentially done for me, to build something for their kids.

“The story of this ranch is how much I’ve been given, how much we’ve been given,” he explained. “When dad died, the community helped us so much and we’ve been helped a lot since then.”

Scott Pierson, another Silver Lake area rancher and vice president of the Oregon Hay & Forage Association, said it is wonderful to see young people like Daniel and Leanna step up and make agriculture their profession. Pierson was friends with Lloyd Miles.

“It is so imperative that we have the next generation coming into agriculture,” Pierson said. “For all the effort people like Harold and Lois Miles put out there, you don’t want to see it be in vain. We want our children to be the next generation. We want our children to be independent, but also interdependent so they’re able to work successfully in agriculture with other people in the industry.

“It’s a challenge,” he added. “It’s a volatile environment passing the torch from one generation to another, trying to keep the land without being taxed to death. You need to be really sharp in your business in navigating the process of passing the torch. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Harold Miles is optimistic Daniel and Leanna can make that transition “because they are willing.”

“I have faith in Jesus Christ that they can do this successfully,” Harold said of Daniel and Leanna.

The young couple already has the next generation wanting to help. Their 6-month-old son, Marcus, has been on a tractor.

“He would like to steer,” Daniel said, drawing laughs and smiles from his wife and grandparents.

SEATTLE (AP) — More than 1,600 people arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border, including parents who have been separated from their children, are being transferred to federal prisons, U.S. immigration authorities confirmed Thursday. They said they’re running out of room at their own facilities amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The move drew condemnation from activists who said the detainees may have legitimate claims to asylum and don’t deserve to be held in federal prisons.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued a letter Thursday night seeking more information from the Justice Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after learning that ICE had transferred dozens of mothers who had been separated from their children to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

“The Trump Administration’s new family separation policy is inflicting intentional, gratuitous, and permanent trauma on young children who have done nothing wrong and on parents who often have valid claims for refugee or asylum status,” they wrote.

Historically, immigrants without serious criminal records were released from custody while they pursued asylum or refugee status. The Trump administration has ended that policy.

In an emailed statement, ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell said that due to a surge in illegal border crossings and the Justice Department’s “zero-tolerance” policy — designed to discourage illegal border crossings — the agency needed to acquire access to more than 1,600 beds in Bureau of Prisons Facilities. The agency said those include 1,000 beds in Victorville, California; 209 beds in SeaTac; 230 beds in La Tuna, Texas; 230 beds in Sheridan, Oregon; and 102 beds in Phoenix.

“The use of BOP facilities is intended to be a temporary measure until ICE can obtain additional long-term contracts for new detention facilities or until the surge in illegal border crossings subsides,” the statement said.

The letter from Inslee and Ferguson followed a report from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project earlier Thursday that as many as 120 asylum seekers had been transferred to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

The organization said that on Wednesday it spoke with two of the women, who arrived at the southern border with their young daughters in mid-May seeking asylum. Both were separated from their children shortly after they were apprehended by Border Patrol. Instead of being returned to their children after being sentenced to time served for the misdemeanor of unlawful entry, they were transferred to Washington state while they seek asylum, the organization said.

“There is simply no moral or legal justification for separating children from their parents in this draconian effort seeking to deter other immigrants,” Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said in a written statement. “This is not only unlawful, but also contrary to basic human decency.”

Inslee and Ferguson said they wanted more information about when the women would be released and when they can expect to see their children again, as well as where the children are and who is caring for them

The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking a court injunction to stop immigration authorities from separating parents from their young children.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in California ruled that a case involving two mothers could go forward, saying that if the policy was being carried out as described in the lawsuit, it is “brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency.” The judge said he would issue a separate ruling on whether to expand the lawsuit to apply to all parents and children who are split up by border authorities.

Two products under development by Oregon State University could give Northwest berry growers new options for controlling the spotted wing drosophila, a particularly harmful type of fruit fly.

One product in particular, described as an “artificial fruit” that lures the pests away from the berries without directly competing against the crop, has Bernadine Strik excited.

“This is cutting-edge work,” said Strik, a berry crops specialist for OSU. “These patent-pending products have me doing a happy dance.”

Details about the product were limited — the patent is, after all, still pending. But Valerio Rossi-Stacconi, who works in the OSU Department of Horticulture, said it is a food grade attractant that can work for both conventional and certified organic growers.

Trials have shown the product reduces the number of fruit flies in berries by as much as 76 percent, Rossi-Stacconi said.

“We are very happy about this,” he said. “These keep the insect from the fruit throughout the whole fruiting process.”

The “artificial fruit” development may be available commercially by 2020, Rossi-Stacconi said.

Researchers shared the latest updates and information with about 40 growers June 6 during Strawberry Field Day at the OSU North Willamette Research & Extension Center in Aurora, Ore.

The other product, designed for blueberries to thicken the skin and protect against the flies, could be available as early as next year.

Spotted wing drosophila is troublesome for berry and stone fruit growers because, unlike other drosophila species, it infests them early during ripening, rather than later as they rot.

According to a study by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics at the University of California, yield losses can range up to 80 percent depending on the crop and location. In 2008, Oregon, Washington and California accounted for 76 percent of total U.S. raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry and cherry production.

Assuming maximum yield loss, the combined loss at the farm gate for all three states would be approximately $2.5 billion, including $1.5 billion for strawberries alone.

Oregon grows relatively few acres of strawberries, with just 1,800 statewide. Most are sold to food processors, though Strik said growers have increasingly tapped in to fresh markets over the last 15 years, which has added value to the crop.

“They are really relying on that higher value fresh market,” Strik said. “That has really helped our growers stay competitive.”

The field day also gives growers the chance to hear from experts about the latest information and cultivars to adopt in their fields, Strik said. Other presentations included fungicide resistance and an evaluation of the newest strawberry selections in breeding plots at the research station — with names like Sweet Sunrise, Puget Crimson and Rutgers Scarlet.

“Here’s an opportunity where they can come compare the varieties being grown, and see some of the stuff we are close to potentially naming,” Strik said. “We also want their input.”

Virginia Stockwell, a research plant pathologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Corvallis, Ore., said fungicide resistance is now present in Oregon strawberries. She led a study isolating the fungus that causes gray mold in strawberries, known as Botrytis cinerea, and exposing it to several different fungicides.

The results showed resistance to multiple fungicides was common, Stockwell said.

“The number of tools you have to manage the disease is greatly limited,” she said.

Stockwell urged growers to use multiple methods to control gray mold. It is especially important, she said, to limit where spores can grow by keeping a dry canopy and clean field.

“That’s the cycle we’re most concerned with, is spore production,” she said.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A limited no-drink warning for tap water in and around the state capital was re-issued Wednesday, reinstating for at least two days guidelines advising medically sensitive people to find other water sources as a city spokesman acknowledged a lag in testing for toxins in the water.

The advisory, linked to toxins caused by algae, warns children under 6, people with liver conditions or compromised immune systems, on dialysis, or pregnant or breastfeeding not to drink Salem’s tap water.

The re-issued alert also highlighted a delay in reporting of toxin levels: Elevated toxins in water samples collected Sunday and Monday did not prompt an advisory until Wednesday.

Officials won’t know if Tuesday’s water samples were completely safe until test results are received Thursday, said Kenny Larson, a Salem city spokesman.

Mark Aubel, a chemist and head of a private Florida-based lab that performs the type of tests being used to monitor the city’s drinking water, said there’s no reason testing on the city’s water samples should take longer than a day.

Aubel said his own lab is able to receive municipal water samples via overnight mail and perform the tests the same day, transmitting the results back to city officials within 24 hours of when the sample went in the mail. More than 20 labs are listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as performing what Aubel described as the relevant tests.

Larson said the city is using a lab in Ohio that can’t guarantee results in less than 72 hours.

Officials will look for two days of test results below safe limits for the toxins before lifting the advisory. With Wednesday’s results not expected until Friday, officials won’t be lifting the alert any earlier than the end of the week, Larson said.

Officials issued a similar warning May 29. That warning remained in place through June 2, when officials said toxins had dropped to safe levels.

The warning issued Wednesday also applied to water in Turner, Oregon, and the Orchard Heights water district.

Meanwhile the Oregon Health Authority will soon require routine testing of water sources for toxins after contaminated water was discovered in Salem.

The Statesman Journal reported the new rules aimed at major drinking water systems in the state will be stricter than federal guidelines.

State health officials hope to install temporary rules by the end of the month that will require local officials to notify the public of test results.

FRIDAY, JUNE 8

Fridays

HOOD RIVER, Ore. — Oregon’s farm regulators are contemplating a request to increase their budget by approximately $10 million in the 2019-2021 budget cycle.

That amount would represent a roughly 8.5 percent boost over the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s current budget of $117 million in the 2017-2019 biennium.

The money would pay for 19 full-time equivalent positions in ODA’s natural resources, food safety and market access policy areas, as well as its administration.

The $10 million figure is tentative and will be refined over the summer, said Lauren Henderson, the ODA’s assistant director, during a June 6 meeting in Hood River of the Oregon Board of Agriculture, which advises the agency.

About $1.5 million would be invested in ODA’s information technology systems, including improvements to security, he said.

“We’re struggling to keep up with the threats we get every day,” Henderson said.

More than $1 million would go to replacing laboratory equipment in ODA’s food safety program, which “gets used a lot and wears out,” he said.

An unspecified amount of money for cannabis testing would be derived from the state’s cannabis tax funds, which are “oversubscribed,” he said.

Another major expenditure would be $1.7 million for three full-time positions in the “strategic implementation area” program for agricultural water quality, which seeks to reduce farm-related runoff and otherwise improve water quality in specific watersheds each year.

About $375,000 would be dedicated to establishing a position that would coordinate international marketing of Oregon farm goods.

In the short and medium terms, Japan will continue to be a major export destination, said Alexis Taylor, ODA’s director, who is soon heading a trade mission to that country.

However, Japan’s population is aging — likely corresponding with declining food demand — which means Oregon should seek new opportunities in China and Southeast Asia, she said.

Another $250,000 would go to promotion and branding activities beyond the “staff and rent” expenses that consume most of the ODA’s market access funds, Henderson said.

In the policy arena, ODA is considering asking for new tools that would help the agency recoup food safety inspection fees, said Lisa Hanson, the agency’s deputy director.

About 600 entities consistently fail to pay inspection fees, which translates into about $135,000 in missing food safety funds, she said.

The problem mostly pertains to retail outlets, such as small grocery and convenience stores, Hanson said.

The ODA continues to inspect these facilities to protect public safety but is currently limited to issuing civil penalties, which are often also ignored, Hanson said.

Exactly what new tools the agency may need will be discussed before next year’s legislative session, she said.

The agency is also contemplating “strategic fee increases” in its programs for food safety, confined animal feeding operations and weights and measures, she said.

“We’re still working on the numbers,” Hanson said, adding that specifics will depend on how much is available in the general fund budget. “It will be in flux throughout the process.”

ROSEBURG, Ore. — After several years of work, applying for grants and buying and modifying equipment, Oregon Sheep Growers Association members staged their first sheep shearing school last week in Roseburg, Ore.

Participants learned how to handle the sheep, lay out and pick fleeces, use and care for shearing equipment and how to disinfect and suture nicks and cuts to the animal should they happen. Students came away from the school with a certificate of completion and the go-ahead to shear small flocks for hire.

Dan Dawson, a sheep grower and shearer from Roseburg who was part of the team, sees training young sheep shearers is a way for them to earn money when regulations bar them from being employed in most jobs until they are 18 years old.

“One 18-year-old young man came up to me at the end of the school and told me that he had done a lot of hard things in his life but that this had been the hardest,” Dawson said. “I reminded him that it may be hard, but at least they don’t have to be 18 to earn money shearing sheep.”

In addition to Dawson, volunteer instructors included Kathryn Ritchie and John Fine from Roseburg and Wendy Valentine from Bandon.

During the four-day school, four high school students and one adult sheared more than 350 sheep. The program was financed with grant money from the American Sheep Industry’s Let’s Grow program and the Oregon Sheep Commission.

“We’ve been trying to get a sheep shearing school in Oregon for a long time, because we have a shortage of small flock shearers,” John Fine, a longtime sheep grower and former FFA teacher, said. “I had three requests to hire the graduates of this school in the first two days after the school. One producer had too many sheep for a student to handle but two of them will be a good fit.”

“In the past, Gene Pirelli (an Oregon State University Extension agent) and I tried to figure out how to bring Washington State University’s shearing trailer down from Moses Lake but it is was too difficult because of its size,” he said. “When Dan Dawson found one that we could easily collapse and haul on the highway, we set to work and got the funds to buy it.”

The trailer is only eight feet wide but pulls out to 20 feet wide, which provides training space, he said. The trailer complete with shearing equipment is the property of the Oregon Sheep Growers Association.

Ritchie, a sheep shearer with a small flock, used her experience of attending shearing schools in both North and South Dakota.

“We were glad to see so many young people in the class because that’s the best time to start,” she said. “Though the enrollment is limited to 10, having half that many worked well for the students because they got so much one-on-one attention. I thought we did well for our first year and after spending some time to appraise what we did this time we’ll be ready to set the date for the next one.”

The fees for the school were $250 for adults, $225 for students and included a one-year membership in OSGA. To receive information on the next school, email johnandpeggyfine@charter.net. For more information on the ASI Let’s Grow Programs, visit http://sheepusa.org/Growourflock Home

CORVALLIS – Oregon State University will hold its 149th commencement on Saturday, June 16, beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Reser Stadium. OSU is one of the few large universities in the nation to hand out students’ actual diplomas during the…

Idaho Power Co. on June 1 decreased rates by about 4.25 percent for irrigation customers in Idaho, but the Boise-based company slightly increased rates its irrigation customers in Oregon pay.

Tax reforms eased irrigation rates in both states. Oregon customers, however, will pay higher rates because of added costs that include ceasing two coal-fired generating operations.

In Idaho, irrigation rates are dropping by 2.33 percent because of recent tax reforms and by 1.91 percent based on the annual power-cost adjustment, Idaho Power said in a statement.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the company’s request, commission spokesman Matt Evans said.

Idaho Power each year applies to the commission for a power-cost adjustment reflecting cost increases or savings the company realized in providing power to customers. Company spokesman Jordan Rodriguez said the adjustment takes into account factors such as coal and natural gas prices, and the amount of water available for generating hydroelectric power — the company’s most cost-effective source. If the company has more water available for hydroelectric power generation, it can spend less on other sources.

Federal and state tax reforms that generated cost savings for Idaho Power prompted the company and commission to settle on a method by which the company shares those savings with customers. The method, reflected in the new rate package the commission approved, includes a reduction in base rates and a cost offset, the commission said in a release.

Idaho Power is decreasing rates by 7.04 percent overall in Idaho for residential customers and by 6.63 percent for small, general-service customers. Other decreases are 4.48 percent for large general service customers and 5.52 percent for large power users.

The annual fixed-cost adjustment accounted for over half the reduction for residential customers and just over half for small general-service customers — 3.6 and 3.73 percentage points, respectively.

Evans said irrigation, large power and large general-service users are not subject to the fixed-cost adjustment because the commission hasn’t applied it to them to date. And these users have access to other programs that can help Idaho Power manage its costs, such as an incentive for irrigators to have pumps shut off during periods of peak demand, he said.

Idaho Power said its irrigation customers in Oregon would see a combined 2.49 percent increase in rates.

For its Oregon irrigation customers, a 2.69 percent rate decrease due to tax reform was offset by a 3.51 percent increase associated with early cessation of coal-fired operations at the Boardman, Ore., and North Valmy, Nev., power plants — lower than for other customer classes — and a 1.68 percent increase for the annual power-cost update and power-cost adjustment combined, Idaho Power said.

Other overall rate changes for Oregon customers are a drop of 3.27 percent for residential customers and increases of 2.03 percent for small general service, 2.63 percent for large general service and 3.77 percent for large power customers.

Idaho Power said in a separate June 1 statement that the Public Utility Commission of Oregon approved an agreement between the company, commission staff and the Citizens’ Utility Board regarding recent federal tax reform, which reduces residential rates and lessens effective rate increases for other customer classes.

Idaho Power serves more than 547,000 customers in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

Online

https://www.idahopower.com/news/

http://www.puc.idaho.gov/electric/electric.htm

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A well-known Oregon flour mill wants a federal judge to declare it can use a gluten-free label without paying a nonprofit group for certification.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat and other grains to which some people have an intolerance that causes digestive problems.

Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods of Milwaukie, Ore., has filed a lawsuit claiming the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America asserted trademark rights in a “GF” gluten-free symbol that’s similar to a logo used by the company.

The nonprofit sent a letter to Bob’s Red Mill alleging consumers may be “confused into thinking GIG has certified your product as satisfying its gluten-free standards, even though GIG has not,” the complaint said.

Bob’s Red Mill should either stop using the logo or become certified by the nonprofit, the letter said.

The lawsuit claims it’s “somewhat puzzling” that GIG has taken this position because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers the GF symbol as “merely descriptive,” which means the nonprofit “has no right to exclusive use of that mark.”

More than 100 gluten-free products are sold by Bob’s Red Mill, which has “built a separate facility with specialized machinery” for such products and targeted consumers seeking to avoid gluten for three decades, the complaint said.

While there is no federal standard for “gluten-free,” the company only uses such labels for products containing fewer than 19 parts per million of the substance, according to the lawsuit.

Bob’s Red Mill is seeking a “declaratory judgment” that it’s not required to pay for certification or cease using the GF logo, which would “require the withholding from store shelves of millions of dollars’ worth of product,” the complaint said. “At a minimum, complying with GIG’s demand would require a significant redesign and marketing process.”

The company has also asked the judge to declare the GF trademark unenforceable and to enter an injunction prohibiting GIG from claiming that others may not use a similar symbol.

Capital Press was unable to reach Sarah Bottorf, the nonprofit’s executive director who sent the letter, for comment.

Gluten Intolerance Group of North America took in about $3 million, most of it derived from “program service revenue,” during 2016, the most recent year for which its tax information is available.

In 2017, the nonprofit filed a lawsuit over the GF trademark against organizations affiliated with Jamie Oliver, a famous chef, which was dismissed earlier this year subject to an undisclosed agreement.

A new tree fruit specialist has arrived at Oregon State University Extension just in time for the cherry and pear growing seasons.

Mateus Pasa was hired in April at the OSU Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River, Ore. A native of Brazil, Pasa spent four years as a research pomologist at the Santa Catarina Agricultural Research and Extension Center in São Joaquim.

Though he primarily worked with apples during his time in Santa Catarina, Pasa will be responsible for finding ways to improve fruit set and production for pears and cherries in the Columbia River Gorge.

“The growers and the fruit industry are very supportive,” Pasa said. “I’m working to help them fix their main problems, and to get better and more efficient and make their orchards more profitable.”

Pasa is no stranger to the region. During his doctorate program, he spent a year at MCAREC working with Todd Einhorn studying the effects of prohexadione calcium — a chemical used to thin trees and reduce fire blight — on the growth of pears.

Pasa now leads the cherry and pear research program at MCAREC, along with Ashley Thompson, who was also hired in April. Pasa said they will continue to develop new rootstocks that allow for planting orchards in higher densities, paving the way for more mechanization and reduced labor costs.

“We need to think ahead and reduce the need for labor,” Pasa said.

Pasa can be reached at MCAREC at 541-386-2030, ext. 38216, or email at mateus.pasa@oregonstate.edu.

Andy Deterding, a crop duster pilot who flew for several decades over many acres of southwestern Oregon, died in a plane accident on May 30.

Deterding, 57, was flying and spraying a herbicide over a field just north of El Reno, Okla., when he made a turn, hit a guy wire on a cell tower and crashed to the ground. He was the only person in the plane. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His business, Andy Deterding Ag Aviation, is based in Pond Creek, Okla. However, for over 30 years, he had flown seed and fertilizer onto hillside pastures in Douglas and Coos counties, seed onto Bureau of Land Management ground that had been burned and lime onto some Oregon Christmas tree plantations. Deterding worked in Oregon in August, September, October and early November.

Ranchers who worked with him remembered him as both a friend and a professional pilot.

“The thing I want people to know about Andy is that he was more than just a pilot who flew fertilizer on your fields, he became a friend,” said George Sandberg, a Roseburg, Ore., area rancher and president of the Douglas County Farmers Cooperative’s board of directors. “This is a tragedy, a great loss.”

The co-op coordinated the delivery of seed and fertilizer with Deterding’s flying schedule on the different ranches when he came to Douglas County.

“Everybody wanted Andy when the first rains would come late in the summer,” said Melvin Burke, the co-op’s general manager. “It was a tradition for him to come here. His arrival helped kick off the fall season. When you heard Andy flying, you knew the grass was beginning to grow.”

Burke said Deterding understood the importance of getting the product on the ground because growing grass for the livestock meant not having to buy hay to feed.

“For Andy, it was not just about putting fertilizer down by aerial application on the hillsides,” Burke said. “It was about timing for optimal grass growth before the fall rains. He did his best to have the fertilizer and seed down in time for optimal growth before the fall weather turned too cold.

“Secondly, the fertilizer was there and in place when the spring weather returned the next year,” Burke explained. “He could cover areas with that plane that people couldn’t get with ground equipment.”

Burke estimated Deterding flew several tons of fertilizer and seed onto hillside pastures in Douglas County each year.

Dan Dawson, another Douglas County rancher, was a small boy when he first met Deterding about 30 years ago.

“You couldn’t meet a better guy,” Dawson said. “He was a good-hearted, nice guy.

“He flew seed and fertilizer for all of us around here,” Dawson added. “We couldn’t have had anyone better. He knew every ranch in this area. There are so many valleys here and he knew the air currents in every one of them. You didn’t have to tell him twice what you wanted done.”

David and Jill Kennedy, who ranch in the Oakland, Ore., area, had Deterding over to their house for many dinners when he was in Douglas County. On two occasions, he had Thanksgiving dinner with the Kennedys because rainy weather in mid-November prevented him from flying home.

“We’re all just very fond of Andy,” said Jill Kennedy. “He was always just a happy guy. When he laughed, his whole body laughed.

“When he’d come here, he would buzz the house (with his plane),” she added. “He was very experienced, he was very professional about his job. It’s just horrible, horrible to think that good person isn’t going to be here anymore.”

Deterding is survived by his wife Sue and their grown children, Greg, Nikki and Tommy.

Ranchers said it is too soon to know who will provide aerial service to their hillsides later this year, but they hope the Deterding family business will continue the tradition. Greg and Tommy are both pilots.

“We really have a need for that service here,” Burke said. “It’s a unique service that Andy provided for many years.”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A DNA study of sage grouse has revealed a vast network of mating grounds in the U.S. West akin to interconnected regional airport hubs that the imperiled species is using to maintain genetic diversity across its entire range.

The 19-page report by the U.S. Forest Service made public in early May involved nearly 6,000 sage grouse and maps some 1,200 mating sites in 10 western states and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Scientists say identifying mating sites that are the most critical hubs can help land managers avoid decisions that could cut the genetic exchange sage grouse need to remain a viable species.

Officials in 2015 opted not to list the chicken-sized, ground-dwelling bird as needing federal protections, but are scheduled to review that decision in 2020.

PORTLAND — Pacific Northwest pear growers anticipate an average crop this year of 18.8 million, 44-pound boxes after lighter crops four years in a row.

Growers produced a record 21.69 million boxes of pears in 2013 but every year since then the yield has been much lighter. Hot weather causing fruit drop and contributing to decay called cork is at least partially responsible for the lighter crops.

The 18,855,900-box estimate is just 58,345 boxes less than the five-year average of 18,914,245 boxes. It is 18 percent bigger than the 2017 crop, which will soon finish sales at close to 15.9 million boxes.

“I like that this looks like a good, full crop. Not record by any means, there should be plenty of promotable fruit for export and domestic markets if this forecast holds,” said Kevin Moffitt, president of The Pear Bureau Northwest in Portland.

That can be a big if. A 17.6-million-box crop was forecast a year ago. It grew to an 18.3-million-box forecast on Aug. 22 but has dropped 13 percent since then.

That’s a much larger shrink than most years, Moffitt said. Beside an increase in cork, about 150,000 boxes of pears were lost in an October fire at Underwood Fruit in Bingen, Wash., near Hood River, Ore.

The Pear Bureau is the Northwest’s fresh pear industry promotional arm and gave the forecast on May 31, the second day of its annual meeting in Portland.

The forecast will be updated in mid-August. Right now, the breakdown by growing district is: Wenatchee, 8.6 million boxes; Hood River, 7 million; Yakima, 2.4 million; and Medford, 751,200 boxes.

The top volumes by variety will be: 9.3 million boxes of d’ Anjou, up 10 percent from 2017; 4.5 million of Green Bartlett, up 24 percent; 3.1 million of Bosc, up 42 percent; 1 million of Red d’Anjou, up 7 percent; and 309,100 boxes of Starkrimson, up 20 percent.

The percentage jump in Bosc is large because it was short last year, Moffitt said.

Organic pears are expected to total 1.6 million boxes, up from 1.2 million last year.

“There’s been more and more transition. It takes three years to transition from conventional to organic. Demand has been growing and our supply is behind demand,” Moffitt said.

Harvest is forecast to start with Starkrimson in Hood River on Aug. 3 and will finish in late September or early October in higher elevations of Hood River and Leavenworth at the upper end of the Wenatchee Valley.

The Pear Bureau renewed grower assessments at 38.5 cents per box for promotions and 3.3 cents for Pear Bureau administration and funding the Northwest Horticultural Council. It increased research assessments from 3.1 to 4.5 cents per box.

The preliminary domestic and foreign promotions budget will be about $6.9 million, up $500,000 from the preliminary spending plan approved a year ago. Of that, $5.7 million is for domestic promotions and $1.2 million for export promotions. Some $2.8 million from the USDA Market Access Program is expected to bring export promotions up to $4 million and the total budget up to $9.8 million.

The 2017 crop was 94.45 percent shipped as of June 1 versus 93.78 percent of the crop shipped a year ago. About 883,000 boxes remained to be sold versus 1.1 million a year ago.

Sales have been slower than shippers wanted, with exports down because of a strong dollar, larger fruit and more small fruit selling domestically in pouch bags, Moffitt said.

“The biggest problem in return to grower is getting fewer boxes per bin because of cork. Yield is down in Anjou because of cork,” he said.

Yakima and Wenatchee prices of d’Anjou were $22 to $26 per box for U.S. No. 1 grade, size 80s on June 1, down $1 from a year ago, according to USDA.