A team of Inland Northwest researchers is testing new cropping strategies to help dryland wheat farmers adapt to changing climate conditions.

The four-year project — Inland Pacific Northwest Wheat-based Systems: Landscapes in Transition — is funded with $3.4 million from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

It will build on research findings from the previous Regional Approaches to Climate Change project, a seven-year collaborative project involving the University of Idaho, Washington State University, Oregon State University and USDA Agricultural Research Service.

The earlier research identified a trend toward increased summer fallow in wheat cropping systems in the Columbia Plateau, and even more is expected with changing climate conditions, said Jodi Johnson-Maynard, a University of Idaho soil scientist and team leader for the new research.

The team will look for ways to diversify cropping systems to be more resilient to change in the future, she said.

Those changing conditions have researchers expecting more variability in weather patterns, with warmer, drier summers and perhaps wetter springs, she said.

The research focuses on the challenges to fall moisture in rain-fed cropping systems. Residual moisture in the seed zone is needed to germinate fall-planted seeds, but farmers can’t always count on adequate fall rain. The majority of those fall-seeded winter crops is wheat, and researchers will be looking for new options to give growers diversity, she said.

“We’re trying to deal with seasonality of our moisture and harsh conditions in the fall. Anything we can do with our cropping system to try to deal with those variables would be helpful,” she said.

One thing the team will be looking at is new winter pea varieties that maximize yield. Peas can be planted a little deeper than wheat and might be a better choice in a dry fall without adequate seed zone moisture to germinate wheat, she said.

Researchers will also look at cover cropping, which has attracted interest from growers. The challenge is the relatively short season before winter hits and before spring crops have to be planted, which doesn’t allow for enough biomass to protect against winter erosion or benefit soils.

The team will be looking at cover crop mixes to maximize biomass going into winter and provide good forage quality for cattle in the spring. Instead of killing the cover crop to plant a spring crop, the crop will be grazed – allowing farmers to make money off the weight gain in cattle rather than planting a spring crop.

“The biomatter on the ground and the roots below the ground would improve soil structure and infiltration rates and add nutrients to the soil. Then they could put in another fall crop after that,” she said.

The research is looking at how alternative crops fit into the rotation and how they can improve productivity, she said.

“Certainly, winter wheat will always be a major part of the cropping system in our region. We’re looking at ways we may be able to increase diversity and give farmers flexibility,” she said.

The goal is to keep farmers successful “despite the fact they’re being thrown curve balls with the weather conditions,” she said.

Since taking office, President Trump has signed an executive order giving federal immigration agents more power.

But California Democrats want to thwart Trump’s promise to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally: lawmakers want to make California a sanctuary state.

The measure isn’t the first of its kind. Oregon has had a similar law for decades. But California’s law would be much more limiting in how law enforcement communicates with federal agents.

In fact, if the bill passes, California would have one of the most protective sanctuary state laws in the country for immigrants. 

Advocates for immigrant communities in the Golden State say since the election people have become more fearful of being deported.

“Sometimes they’re afraid to even go out, afraid even to go to the grocery store,” said Alex Vaiz, senior pastor at Vida Church. It’s a small, evangelical congregation that worships behind an art gallery in Sacramento, California.

A bilingual Christian rock band leads the songs at worship services. The parishioners are mostly Latino and many are in the country without legal documentation.

After reports of immigration arrests at courthouses and near schools in California, Vaiz found Immigration and Customs Enforcement camped out in the church parking lot this spring.

Neither California nor so-called sanctuary cities can prevent that since ICE is a federal agency.

Vaiz said he thinks California should do what it can to discourage local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE.

“If we make it harder for them, it causes and creates more safety to our community,” Vaiz said.

That’s pretty much the same line from Democratic lawmakers in California as they work to pass a sanctuary state measure. It would restrict local and state law enforcement from working with or even communicating with ICE, except in cases where federal agents provide a warrant. It would also create an exemption when an undocumented immigrant has committed specific felonies that California classifies as “violent” or “serious.”

California’s sanctuary state measure will take its next step Wednesday, when the state Assembly Appropriations Committee considers it.

Proposed amendments to the bill would allow law enforcement more discretion about when they could communicate with ICE. Those amendments came after Gov. Jerry Brown expressed reservations about the current version.

On a basic level, Oregon’s law does many of the things that Democrats in California are trying to achieve. Supporters say it’s helped separate local police work from federal immigration enforcement.

“So, the federal government, that’s up to you to decide how you’re going to enforce immigration laws,” said Andrea Williams, executive director of CAUSA, a Latino rights organization in Oregon. “But we as Oregonians, we’re not going to have a say and we’re not going to help you do that.”

While the California measure is a response to President Trump, the Oregon law passed with bipartisan support 30 years ago in part to prevent racial profiling — but also to save city and county law enforcement dollars.

Compared to California, Oregon’s law is much shorter and less restrictive. For example, Oregon allows local law enforcement to communicate with ICE.

The debate over the measure in California has focused on public safety.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said officers have better relationships with the communities they police when they don’t enforce immigration law.

“We depend on our communities, particularly our immigrant communities, to cooperate with us. Not only to keep them safe, but to keep all of you safe,” Beck said at a recent news conference.

But much of California’s law enforcement community opposes the bill.

Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown represents the state sheriffs association and said passing the bill may actually hurt immigrants.

“It is in the interest of all of our communities — and especially the immigrant community —  that dangerous offenders who are in this country illegally be deported, so they cannot continue to prey on the innocent victims,” Brown said at a recent hearing on the bill.

Those concerns expressed by Brown played out in Oregon in July.

A man who is in the country unlawfully was released from jail.

Local officials and ICE disagree on the circumstances of his release, but after he was out, he allegedly assaulted two women in Portland.

The U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Billy Williams, said this is why it’s important for local police to be in touch with ICE.

“We have two more unnecessary victims of violent crimes because of the over politicization of the entire topic of immigration,” Williams recently told OPB’s All Things Considered.

The federal government wants the full cooperation of state and local law police when it comes to enforcing federal immigration laws.

But laws like the one California’s considering and the one Oregon has on the books are clearly pushing back against that notion.

The tension could be resolved in two ways. The first is Congress passing a major immigration reform bill, making clear what is and isn’t allowed. That’s unlikely given gridlock in Washington.

The other option would be to sort out the sanctuary state issue in the courts. Already, lawsuits are working their way through the court system.

Those lawsuits could answer questions about how much sanctuary a state can provide immigrants who do not have documentation, and how much local law enforcement must work with ICE.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Gov. Kate Brown will travel to Ontario Aug. 28 to hold a ceremonial signing of the state’s $5.3 billion transportation bill, which provides funding for a major rail transload facility in Malheur County.

The bill provides $26 million for the transload facility, which onion industry leaders say could be a game-changer for farmers because it will allow onions and other commodities to be loaded directly onto rail cars, reducing transportation costs and possibly opening new markets.

The governor plans to meet with producers in Ontario before signing House Bill 2017.

This will be Brown’s second visit to Ontario this year. Before that, farmers can’t remember the last time a governor visited the area in an official capacity.

Local onion industry leaders are encouraging as many farmers as possible to show up for the Aug. 28 signing and thank Brown for her role in helping ensure inclusion of the funding for the transload facility in the transportation package.

“We’re telling people, be sure and thank her and express our gratitude,” said Grant Kitamura, general manager of Murakami Produce, an onion shipping company. “This facility will be a great help to the onion industry and other commodities.”

Dozens of onion storage and packing sheds collapsed under the weight of snow and ice this winter and Brown toured the region in February to see the damage first-hand.

Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, vice co-chairman of the committee that crafted the transportation package, said Brown is following up on what she said she would do when she visited the region in February: help the local economy recover from the damage.

The governor’s visit to the area is “extremely significant and I think it’s a reflection of how supportive she is of this investment in our area,” he said.

Bentz said the transload facility “is a great, big deal to this community and I think she understands that and wants to share in the hope this brings to this community.”

Bentz said ag industry leaders will be notified once specific times and places for Brown’s visit are set.

He said it’s also important for locals to thank the governor for her support of House Bill 2012, which created a special economic development region in Malheur County with the goal of helping farmers and other businesses compete on a more level playing field with their Idaho counterparts.

Nyssa farmer Paul Skeen, who helped escort Brown during her February visit, said her interest in and support for the area is refreshing because Eastern Oregon residents have long felt forgotten by the rest of the state.

“It’s symbolic about how she feels about us,” he said about the governor’s planned visit and ceremonial signing. “It’s been a long time since anybody even recognized we were part of the state.” He said it’s important for farmers and others to show up and thank Brown for her support.

“I plan on being there, shaking her hand and telling her, ‘Thank you,’” Skeen said.

ABERDEEN, Idaho — Barley breeder Gongshe Hu has sought help from crop researchers in an arid North African country as he starts working to develop a drought-tolerant malt barley variety well suited for the growing craft brewing industry.

Hu, with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, asked officials with an international germplasm collection center in Morocco to send him two-row barley lines with good drought tolerance and high yield potential.

This season, Hu planted about eight lines — all top performers in Morocco’s drought nursery, where they received reduced irrigation — in Aberdeen to expand seed for further evaluation. He hopes a few will perform well in the local climate and make good parents to confer drought tolerance in his breeding program.

Hu explained that craft brewers typically use all-grain recipes, requiring malt barley with lower protein levels than malt used in brewing beers commonly produced by large brewers, blended with corn or rice sugar. Dryland farming conditions, however, tend to elevate protein levels.

Hu’s breeding project will seek to combine drought tolerance with low-protein genetics to create a cross usable by dryland growers raising malt for all-grain brewing.

“It looks like we will have five or six lines that grow pretty well in this environment,” Hu said.

Hu will plant the seeds he’s raising this season in Aberdeen’s drought-tolerance nursery next season to evaluate them against local lines. Hu said it could take as long as a decade for the project to yield new varieties — even with his program speeding the breeding process by raising some generations of crosses in New Zealand during winters.

“At the moment, we’re trying to introduce as much genetic diversity as we can for drought tolerance,” Hu said.

Drought tolerance is also a trait Oregon State University barley breeder Patrick Hayes has prioritized.

“Low protein is always important for malting barley, especially under dryland conditions,” Hayes said.

The American Malting Barley Association added all-malt guidelines for barley breeding in 2014, specifying all-malt varieties should have less than 11.8 percent protein, a percentage point lower than standard malts that are blended with adjunct ingredients.

“A low protein, dryland barley would potentially be useful throughout craft brewing, and would be especially desirable considering increasing environmental pressure throughout barley growing regions,” said Damon Scott, technical brewing projects coordinator with the Brewers Association.

Both the Brewers Association and AMBA have supported research regarding drought tolerance.

“The whole malting barley industry would be interested in any lines that would be more drought tolerant,” said Scott Heisel, AMBA’s vice president and technical director.

Soda Springs dryland farmer Scott Brown, who serves on the Idaho Barley Commission, raises malt barley for large brewing companies, and he generally meets their protein specifications. But Brown believes a lower-protein dryland variety would allow his growing area to tap into the craft market, and potentially enable dryland growers in other regions that now raise only feed barley to produce malt.

WILDER, Idaho — Idaho is projected to pass Oregon this year to become the second largest hop-producing state in the nation.

According to Aug. 10 projections by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Idaho hop growers will produce 12.83 million pounds of hops in 2017 and Oregon farmers will produce 12.75 million pounds.

“We have a chance” at that No. 2 spot, said Idaho hop grower Mike Gooding. “It’s going to be close.”

Gooding said his family has been producing hops in Idaho for 70 years “and Idaho has always been in the third spot for as long as anybody can remember.”

Nabbing the No. 2 spot — Washington is an unchallenged No. 1 with an estimated 72 million pounds this year — won’t mean anything other than bragging rights, Gooding said, but it is a good sign of the health of the Idaho industry.

Idaho has been bearing down hard on Oregon for the No. 2 spot for several years and even if the state doesn’t pass Oregon this year, it appears it’s only a matter of time before that happens.

Idaho hop acres have soared from 3,743 in 2014 to 4,863 in 2015, 5,648 in 2016 and 7,169 in 2017. During that same period, Oregon’s hop acres have also increased, although more slowly, from 5,410 in 2014 to 6,612 in 2015, 7,765 in 2016 and 8,045 in 2017.

But average yield per acre is greater in Idaho — hop yields are forecast to be 1,790 pounds per acre in Idaho this year and 1,596 pounds in Oregon — and NASS projects that will nudge Idaho past Oregon this year.

Idaho yields are higher because the state’s hop farmers grow more of the high-yielding, high-alpha varieties, which grow better in hot, dry climates such as southwestern Idaho, where most of Idaho’s hops are produced, Gooding said.

Those high-alpha varieties produce much higher yields than the aroma varieties popular in Oregon’s hop growing region of Marion and Polk counties, said Oregon Hop Commission Administrator Michelle Palacios.

The difference in land availability and expense between the states’ hop growing regions is a big reason Idaho has added more acres in recent years, Palacios said.

She said Oregon’s hop industry has experienced healthy growth in recent years and Idaho’s success has not come at Oregon’s expense and is good for the overall domestic hop industry.

“I don’t think there are going to be any hard feelings,” Palacios said of the possibility her state could lose its No. 2 hop ranking. “We are still being very successful in our corner of the world. We feel good any time the U.S. hop industry is successful.”

While the battle for the No. 2 spot will be close this year, Gooding said Idaho’s first-year, or baby, hops likely won’t yield as well as some people thought they would when NASS gathered the data it used for its projections.

“The way the babies look, I don’t know that we’ll pass Oregon this year,” he said. “Those babies are not turning out the way people expected when that information was gathered.”

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff shot and killed a third member of the Harl Butte pack Thursday night and will shoot one more as it tries to deter the pack from devouring cattle in Wallowa County.

The latest “lethal take” is the department’s escalated response to eight confirmed livestock attacks attributed to the pack over the past year. The most recent was a calf found dead Aug. 16 on private pasture. The department killed two pack members earlier this month and announced it would monitor the situation. After the most recent attack, ODFW decided to kill two more adult wolves.

Ranchers represented by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said ODFW should kill the entire pack, which apparently included 10 adults and three pups before the three adults were shot this month. Todd Nash, the association’s wolf chairman and a Wallowa County commissioner, said the pack gets after cattle every day.

The ODFW action was condemned by a coalition of 18 conservation groups, which called the shootings “unnecessary and counterproductive” and asked Gov. Kate Brown to intervene. The groups include Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity, all active participants in Oregon wolf management planning and often critical of ranchers and ODFW.

In a letter to the governor, the groups said killing pack members has “deepened public mistrust of ODFW.”

“Rather than a wolf problem, the Harl Butte situation raises disturbing questions about ODFW’s ability and willingness to require livestock operations to make meaningful efforts to avoid conflict,” the groups told Brown.

The letter said killing wolves is expensive and dangerous, and leads to more conflict with livestock.

“Killing disrupts important social structures and affects a pack’s ability to hunt deer and elk. Research has shown it only makes it more likely the animals will turn to livestock to feed themselves and their offspring,” the groups said in the letter.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office was not immediately available for comment.

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — Organic Valley celebrated the grand opening of its new butter plant in McMinnville on Aug. 12 after buying the old Farmers Cooperative Creamery last year.

The plant is the co-op’s first brick-and-mortar facility outside Wisconsin, Hans Eisenbeis, director of Organic Valley public relations, said.

Organic Valley is the nation’s largest cooperative of organic farmers, with 2,013 members, 77 of whom are in Oregon and Washington. After Wisconsin, Oregon produces the next largest volume of milk in the Organic Valley supply chain. The co-op’s sales have topped $1.1 billion, and in 2016 it saw a 15 percent growth in membership and 5.8 percent growth in sales, according to the co-op.

The plant will produce butter and skim milk powder, but in the future could expand to making buttermilk powder and other products.

The creamery has 37 full-time employees on two shifts, Monday through Friday.

Organic Valley’s renovation of the former FCC plant was one of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s business development reserve fund investments to support small business growth, according to her office. The facility received a $350,000 check that Chris Cummings, deputy director of Business Oregon, presented during the opening ceremony.

“Organic Valley knew pretty quickly that McMinnville is the place to do business,” he said.

The event included a tour of Dan Bansen’s dairy in Dayton, Forest Glen Jerseys.

Bansen estimated he had about 800 guests at the farm that morning, according to Sasha Bernstein, a company spokeswoman.

Forest Glen Jerseys was the first farm in Western Oregon to join the co-op with 300 its cows, and is one of the bigger dairies associated with Organic Valley, Bansen said. He has followed organic practices for 24 years.

In Oregon, about 20 percent of the dairies are organic, said co-op member Steve Pierson of Sar-Ben Farms.

At the end of the event, official remarks were made by George Siemon, Organic Valley CEO; Lisa Hanson, deputy director of Oregon Department of Agriculture; Scott Hill, mayor of McMinnville; Pierson; and Cummings.

Siemon thanked FCC for giving them the opportunity to take over the plant, and said that McMinnville was the “strongest regions for the Organic Valley brand.”

Eisenbeis said earlier that Organic Valley had “a cultural fit” in McMinnville — a city that Hill dubbed unique because of its heritage.

“This is a historic building, we’ve seen it for many years,” Hill said of the plant, “but in partnering with Organic Valley we will be taken into the future to produce the best butter in America.”

GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Traffic is already a headache in central Oregon as thousands of people arrive before Monday’s total solar eclipse.

Traffic was backed up about 15 miles at one point on Thursday on U.S. Highway 26 near of Prineville, the last town before the turnoff for an eclipse-themed festival that’s expected to attract 35,000 people in a remote area with narrow, one-lane roads. Drivers then had to contend with another 14 miles of traffic on local roads to the venue.

A handful of gas stations in Bend and Prineville also ran out of fuel Wednesday before getting restocked.

The scene echoed one on Wednesday night, when eclipse traffic first began to swell. Traffic backed up for 12 miles on the same stretch of road, doubling the drive time between the towns of Redmond and Prineville as an estimated 8,000 cars passed through.

“The numbers of people who were coming in, we are beyond capacity really on that highway. Traffic is moving — it’s not stopped — but it’s taking a long time,” said Peter Murphy, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation in central Oregon.

Traffic officials reprogramed traffic lights to provide more time on green lights on east-west routes. The Prineville police also closed the eastbound lane of the highway for a time Thursday and diverted traffic onto local roads so the crush could clear.

In Madras, to the north, traffic also picked up Thursday. Gas stations were still stocked, said Joe Krenowicz, executive director of the Jefferson County-Madras Chamber of Commerce.

The town of about 6,000 is considered one of the best viewing locations in the nation and is expecting at least 100,000 people over the next four days.

“We know that we will run out of gas at some times, but they will refuel. There will be some inconveniences,” he said.

“We’re encouraging people to come into Madras with a full tank of gas if they possibly can.”

Traffic elsewhere in the state was still normal, officials said, but more visitors were expected into the weekend.

“When it comes, it will come as a rush,” said Dave Thompson, chief ODOT spokesman.

About 1 million people are expected to visit Oregon in the coming days — and up to 200,000 to Central Oregon — in the coming days to see the rare celestial event. It’s the first total, coast-to-coast solar eclipse in the U.S. in 99 years and totality — when the moon’s shadow blocks the sun and casts a shadow on Earth — first makes landfall in Oregon, making the state a top destination for eclipse watchers.

State officials are urging travelers to log onto www.TripCheck.com before they leave or call 211, an information number about the eclipse set up for the public.

SISTERS, Ore. (AP) — With the solar eclipse just days away, a wildfire raging within Oregon’s path of totality threatened more than 650 structures Thursday and led officials to issue evacuation warnings.

Gov. Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act so the Oregon fire marshal can mobilize resources from around the state to protect homes.

“State agencies are already working around the clock and across the state, and as we get closer to the total solar eclipse, we’ll need all resources available to keep communities, visitors, and property safe,” Brown said in a statement.

The wildfire was burning in the center of the state near the town of Sisters in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. The blaze started last week and stayed relatively small and tame for days. It expanded Wednesday to more than 5 square miles, charring dead timber in the scar of a 2006 wildfire.

More than 200 firefighters were working to establish containment lines.

The homes where people were told to prepare to evacuate lie west of Sisters, the Western-themed town where eclipse observers will see 34 seconds of totality on Monday. The Red Cross has opened a shelter at Sisters Middle School for those who choose to leave.

Late Thursday, Oregon Department of Transportation officials closed McKenzie Pass Highway, also known as Highway 242, west of Sisters. Campers and hikers were being escorted from the area, the agency said.

Other wildfires are burning in what is typically Oregon’s busiest month for wildland firefighters. The state after a very wet winter and spring has so far been spared the kind of wildfire that destroys neighborhoods and burns areas the size of Rhode Island.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A month-old wildfire flared up in western Montana, forcing the evacuation of hundreds more homes and devouring another large chunk of forest as the drought-stricken state struggles with one of its worst wildfire seasons in years.

Fires burning across the west include one threatening 400 homes near an Oregon town within the path of Monday’s total solar eclipse and another near Yosemite National Park.

The glow from the flare-up Wednesday night and early Thursday near the community of Lolo in western Montana was visible from the airport in Missoula, about 20 miles north of the blaze, said fire information officer Jordan Koppen.

Just over 500 homes had been evacuated by Thursday morning, but additional evacuations were ordered in Missoula and Ravalli counties at noon. Officials did not know how many homes the mid-day evacuation order affected.

Ravalli County deputies were going door-to-door and asking people to leave on Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Steve Holton told KGVO-AM.

Hundreds of other residents in areas along U.S. Highway 93 and U.S. Highway 12 had been warned to prepare for evacuation.

The Lolo Peak Fire has burned 23.5 square miles of timber. No homes have been reported burned. A Hot Shot firefighter working on the fire — 29-year-old Brent Witham of California — died on Aug. 2 when he was hit by a falling tree.

A report released Thursday shows drought across the entire state of Montana, with two-thirds of the state in “severe” drought conditions — or worse. Drought conditions in an area around Fort Peck Reservoir of northeastern Montana are rated as exceptional, with crops and livestock languishing under parched conditions.

The 13 largest active fires in Montana have burned nearly 182 square miles of land.

Elsewhere, a fire that started last week near Sisters, Oregon, expanded Wednesday to more than 5 square miles and led officials to issue evacuation warnings.

Gov. Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act so the Oregon fire marshal can mobilize resources from around the state to protect homes.

“State agencies are already working around the clock and across the state, and as we get closer to the total solar eclipse, we’ll need all resources available to keep communities, visitors, and property safe,” Brown said in a statement.

In California, crews fighting a fire in Yosemite National Park are trying to guide the flames away from the small town of Wawona and into the wilderness. The fire has closed campgrounds and trails in the park but authorities have not ordered anyone to leave. No structures have been damaged.

A fire in Glacier National Park in Montana has closed a trail that provides access to a popular backcountry chalet. The Sperry Chalet has been closed for the season.

Oregon’s water regulators are proposing to devote more of the money in the state’s $20 million water supply development fund to loans.

During the first round of funding last year, nearly $9 million was disbursed from the fund entirely in the form of grants.

After those disbursements, there was $5 million remaining in the fund, to which Oregon lawmakers appropriated another $15 million this year.

The Oregon Water Resources Department, which administers the fund, plans to spend that $20 million over the next three years.

Of the 32 applications for funds in 2017, only three sought money in the form of loans — and those were to provide “matching funds” for their grant proposals, said Kim Ogren, the agency’s senior water resources development advisor.

To “incentivize” more loan applications, OWRD is contemplating setting aside roughly half the funds available for the 2018 and 2019 funding for loans, Ogren said.

About $6 million of the fund is expected to be spent during 2017, leaving $14 million for the remaining two years unless more money is appropriated by lawmakers.

In 2015, the Oregon Legislature authorized $30 million to a separate water development loan fund, but nobody applied for the money.

It’s possible the lack of interest was due to a requirement that borrowers compensate OWRD for the cost of administering the loan program, which would result in a higher interest rate, said Racquel Rancier, the agency’s senior policy coordinator.

That requirement doesn’t exist for the $20 million water supply development fund, which could make such loans more attractive, she said. “There’s more flexibility and the cost to the borrow could be less.”

Members of the Oregon Water Resources Commission, which oversees the agency, appeared to have a lukewarm reaction to the proposal during an Aug. 17 meeting.

Commissioners questioned whether OWRD wanted to take on the added responsibility involved in issuing loans and overseeing their repayment.

“We’re going to be very risk averse as we practice these loan reviews,” said Tom Byler, the agency’s director.

The agency would be better off not assigning a specific proportion of the fund to loans, said April Snell, executive director of the Oregon Water Resources Congress, which represents irrigation districts.

The commission should “flesh out” the idea of dedicating a specific amount to loans, considering the amount of funding is already limited and there hasn’t been much enthusiasm for loans, she said.

Commissioners concluded the conversation without making a decision on the matter.

“It will be an ongoing discussion,” said Rancier.

YAKIMA, Wash. — The Pacific Northwest is closing in on the end of a sweet cherry harvest memorable for record volume, great weather and quality and likely one of the longest.

Picking began June 6 in Mattawa, Wash., and will finish about the end of August in high-elevation orchards near Hood River, Ore., and Wenatchee, Chelan and Brewster, Wash. It will be an 80- to 90-day season.

Through Aug. 3, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana shipped 25.5 million, 20-pound boxes of cherries, eclipsing the previous record of 23.2 million in 2014, according to Northwest Cherry Growers, the industry’s promotions arm in Yakima.

Washington typically grows 80 to 85 percent of the five-state crop and more than 60 percent of the national crop. Washington’s crop value was $471 million in 2016, according to USDA.

An Aug. 11 NCG email newsletter indicates the Northwest could finish at 27.5 million boxes since 2.4 million had been picked in August with likely another 2 million to go. A record 15.2 million boxes were shipped in July. Shipments averaged 500,000 boxes or more per day for more than 30 days.

NCG’s promotions and retail ads were big going into the Fourth of July and have continued through summer, which has been important to compete with heavy volumes of other fruits, said James Michael, NCG vice president of promotions.

“It was critical for us to have the volume and the No. 1 advertised item in fruit for about a month,” Michael said.

“It’s been an interesting year. Phenomenal volume, which caused a lot of price pressure, but that’s how to build new markets. We went deeper into a lot of export markets in Asia, making investments on price to grow those markets,” said Tim Evans, general sales manager of Chelan Fresh Marketing in Chelan, a large cherry sales desk.

“A lot of people around the globe don’t buy fresh cherries so there’s a lot of room for growth,” he said.

The large crop also led to fruit size not being as large as last year. Many packers decided not to pack 11.5-row cherries and smaller. Size is the number of cherries in one row of a 20-pound box.

“This year was heavy to 10 and 10.5-row and last year 55 percent of our fruit was 9.5-row and larger,” Evans said.

Wholesale prices sagged into the mid to upper $20s per box in July from the heavy volume, which was “very tough on growers,” Evans said. Prices rebounded “quite well” to $35 to $50 in August, he said.

Chelan Fruit Cooperative, which markets through Chelan Fresh, was one of few packers in the state still packing cherries on Aug. 16. Evans said the industry still shipped 112,838 boxes on Aug. 15 and would wind down to finish around Aug. 26.

Cherries were still on ad in more than 16,000 stores in the U.S. and with 400 demos set for the weekend of Aug. 12-13, Northwest Cherry Growers said. That’s unusual for that time of year.

Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, Wenatchee, finished its harvest at the 3,400-foot elevation Halverson Ranch Orchard south of Wenatchee on Aug. 14.

It’s one of the highest elevation orchards in the state but matured earlier than expected due to warm weather, said Scott Marboe, Oneonta marketing director.

He said the season surpassed his highest expectations and that several of Oneonta’s retail customers hit record sales in volume and dollars.

“The cherries were very well received and retail displays were fantastic,” Marboe said, adding that export demand also was strong.

He also credited high-tech optical sizing and sorting equipment, now prevalent throughout the industry, for improving packing speed and product quality.

Critics claim an Oregon Court of Appeals ruling will undermine farmland protections by allowing developers to pay off farmers rather than avoid disrupting agricultural practices.

The State of Oregon is joined by the Oregon Farm Bureau and the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conservation group in asking the Oregon Supreme Court to overturn that decision.

The dispute emanates from a lawsuit over the planned expansion of the Riverbend Landfill onto farmland, which was permitted by Yamhill County over the protests of neighboring landowners.

Earlier this year, the Oregon Court of Appeals decided that Yamhill County didn’t violate land use law by requiring Waste Management, the landfill’s owner, to compensate farmers for impacts to their operations.

For example, Waste Management must either pay a farmer for cleaning up trash blown onto his property from the landfill, or hire a third party to perform the service.

The company must also pay another nearby farmer for orchard crops that are destroyed by waste from birds that are attracted to the landfill.

Critics argue this type of compensation isn’t allowed under Oregon’s land use law, which aims to preserve farmland and avoid disruption to agricultural practices.

“I don’t want to be paid off. I just want them not to affect my farm,” said Ramsey McPhillips, the landowner who would be compensated for trash clean-up.

Such compensation should not be a condition of county permits allowing non-farm uses, since farming operations could be rendered unfeasible even if the growers receive money, critics argue.

Such pay-offs would make it easier to site other “conditional use” developments on farmland, such as mines, golf courses, large transmission towers and power facilities, according to critics.

“Now, all they need is to force the farmer to be paid off for the loss, and they can have their development. Where does that end?” said McPhillips.

Under Oregon law, counties can issue such “conditional use” permits for non-farm uses as long as they don’t significantly change or drive up the cost of farm practices on surrounding land.

Conditions imposed on such permits should prevent such impacts, instead of allowing the disruption as long as farmers are compensated, said Tim Bernasek, attorney for the Oregon Farm Bureau, which weighed in on the case.

“That’s not how it’s supposed work,” Bernasek said of the payment requirement.

The landfill dispute is noteworthy because it’s poised to define what is a significant impact to farmland, which has been vague up until now, he said.

“This is really the first time the Supreme Court is taking a broad look at the farm impacts test,” Bernasek said.

Opponents of the Oregon Court of Appeals’ interpretation recently filed their opening briefs with the Oregon Supreme Court, to which Yamhill County and Waste Management must respond by the end of September. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for mid-November.

Tim Sadlo, general counsel for Yamhill County, said the planned landfill expansion has been greatly reduced in size but other requirements were imposed on Waste Management to prevent potential adverse effects.

“I don’t think we tried to buy anybody off,” Sadlo said. “We can fix it with conditions, and that’s what we tried to do.”

The county set the compensation requirement despite there being limited evidence of birds defecating on fruit and garbage drifting onto neighboring property, he said.

Sadlo said he’s surprised the Oregon Supreme Court has agreed to review the case and disappointed that Oregon’s state government wants the previous ruling reversed.

“I think it’s regrettable they’ve decided to pile on,” he said.

High level executives from the major wheat purchasing and flour producing operations of Wilmar International, and its operations in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, toured the region Aug. 9-16. Wilmar is Asia’s leading agribusiness group.

The tour included meeting with farmers, grain elevators, traders and researchers in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Genesee, Idaho, farmer Joe Anderson, a board member of the Idaho Wheat Commission, said he hoped to show the team the quality of the region’s wheat crop.

“Every time we bring (existing and potential customers) out here on a tour, it helps us educate them as to the production and transportation system that feeds their market,” Anderson said. “I think we show them a pretty impressive distribution and marketing chain that helps them realize there’s a lot of quality product to be had out here.”

During a summary session, Wilmar executives told U.S. Wheat Associates representatives the area’s wheat breeding programs and facilities are impressive, including the farmer investment in developing new wheat varieties.

“They said, ‘Now we understand how and why you have high-quality wheat,’” said Steve Wirsching, director of the West Coast office for U.S. Wheat in Portland. “It’s not just a slogan and it doesn’t happen by accident.”

Southeast Asia represents 40 percent of the market for wheat exports produced in the Pacific Northwest, Wirsching said.

“We see good economic growth overall, and solid population growth — two factors that lead on to some positive growth for wheat imports,” Wirsching said. “Ten to 20 years from now, they’ll be the big markets for our products.”

Anderson learned from tour members that Vietnam is not able to directly import wheat from the U.S., but can import flour. They must run the wheat through a flour mill in China, Indonesia or other locations, he said.

“There’s a real good chance that will change shortly,” he said. “This may help them be more efficient and cost-effective in their marketplace, if they can bring in our wheat directly.”

Wirsching said recent problems related to fumigation and trade have occurred in Vietnam, but are close to being resolved. Teams and groups like the Wilmar tour raise awareness and create internal pressure to resolve problems in a business-like manner, he said.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for us, and I appreciate the fact that the farmers, during their harvest, during their busy time, went out to meet them,” Wirsching said of the tour.

Members of the tour rode a combine on Anderson’s farm. He saved a field for harvest for the visit.

Anderson also joined the tour for several dinners during their time visiting Idaho.

“I think it’s easier to do business with people that we’re comfortable with on a social level, as well as on the business side,” Anderson said.

Thirteen trade teams are scheduled to visit in 2017, and 11 have or will go through one or more of the Pacific Northwest states, according to U.S. Wheat Associates. Teams are typically in the U.S. for one to two weeks, and visit two to five states.

Oregon State University Extension Cereals Specialist and Assistant Professor Mike Flowers has announced that he is leaving the university to take a position with Limagrain Cereal Seeds.

Flowers announced his departure on Aug. 8, after signing an offer letter to become new products supply manager for Limagrain Cereal Seeds. He will depart in mid-September and be based in Fort Collins, Colo.

“It is a good opportunity for me,” Flowers said. “I am going to get to do something a little bit different, but I still get to be involved with the industry. I’ll be a little bit more ‘behind the doors,’ but I’ll be working with all of their varieties and breeders, and bringing new products to market, so that is really exciting. It is just a good opportunity to do a lot of the things that I like and also learn a few new skills.”

Flowers described Limagrain as “an exciting group to go work for.”

“One of the attractive things about them is that they are interested in working with the land grant institutions across the nation,” Flowers said. “They do breeding exchanges with them, and as they bring new traits to market, they show the ability to work with the land grants to get those traits put into institutional grant and private breeding programs.”

Flowers leaves behind an acclaimed cereals program at Oregon State University that includes wheat breeder Bob Zemetra, plant pathologist Chris Mundt, field staff and extension personnel, who work closely with university-based researchers on field trials.

Mundt received the Oregon Wheat Commission’s 2017 Distinguished Service Award. Flowers received the same award in 2015.

Flowers said he plans to complete his 2017 trial work by the time he departs and hopes the university will continue to conduct variety trials that he ran point on for several years.

“I am working with the university and the Oregon Wheat Commission to figure out who is going to take over those variety trials, so they can continue,” he said. “My technical staff is still in place and the funding is there to continue with the work, so I am hoping that the university will continue on those trials for the short term, and, for the long term, replace my position so the industry has that voice there for them.”

Flowers said he will miss working with growers.

“Working with the growers, and working on practical problems was the most fun part of my job,” he said. “I will definitely miss that.”

Flowers holds a Ph.D. in crop science from North Carolina State University, a master’s degree in soil science from Ohio State University and a bachelor of agricultural science from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OSU in 2005, Flowers worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Plant Sciences Research Unit in Raleigh, N.C.

Limagrain is an international agricultural cooperative based in France specializing in field seeds, vegetable seeds and cereal products.

Stoller Family Estate, a Dayton vineyard and winery, is the latest Oregon agricultural operation to gain “B Corp” certification for meeting social and environmental standards.

Companies granted the certification are part of an international movement that seeks to redefine business success and to follow business practices that make them a “force for good.” To that end, they are judged on the way they treat their employees, engage with their communities and protect the environment.

Worldwide there are 2,221 Benevolent Corporations in more than 50 countries and involving 130 industries. Oregon agriculture is well represented, with companies such as Glory Bee Honey and Rogue Creamery already certified.

Several Willamette Valley wineries also have gone through the certification process. In addition to Stoller, A to Z, Sokol Blosser, Winderlea and Patton Valley are certified. Oregon Wine Board President Tom Danowski said Oregon has more B Corp certified wineries than any other state.

Stoller founder and owner Bill Stoller explained his thinking in a news release.

“I wanted to build a company that could last at least 200 years,” he said, “and to do this, we must take care of our land and community.”

Patton Valley, which gained B Corp certification in June, explained the decision on its website: “We became a B Corp because we believe that doing business goes beyond the financial performance of a company, and is the natural extension of what we do in the vineyard, in the winery, and beyond.”

Glory Bee Honey, a Eugene, Ore., company, made a similar decision three years ago. Senior Executive Vice President Rae Jean Wilson, whose parents Richard and Pat Turanski founded the business and are still active, said certification was an opportunity for the company to “walk the talk.”

“We’re not trying to be anything we’re not already,” she said. “We’re a faith-based and values-based organization — but for profit, of course. The combination is always interesting.”

The family went through “angst and anxiety” about whether certification would be too controlling of their business, but decided it aligned with their values. In addition to her parents, the discussions included her brother, Alan Turanski, who is company president, and their sister, Carole Walls, who is a board member.

They had to create some paperwork to document what they were doing in terms of worker wages and how decisions are made, made a more complete list of unacceptable product ingredients and wrote a code of conduct for their suppliers, some of which are international. Among other things, suppliers have to state they don’t use slave labor and aren’t involved in such things as sex trafficking.

“You’re somewhat on the honor system when you do business with people internationally, but we let them know the dos and don’ts,” Wilson said.

As a B Corp, the company would have been excluded from a business tax increase proposed by the Legislature a couple years ago. But Wilson said the company opposed the tax anyway because it would have put the state at a disadvantage.

“My brother and I are aligned on fact that our job is to be a company that our employees can feel proud to work at,” she said. “All in all, we carry the torch of using our business to make our community be a better place.”

Wolves from the Harl Butte pack are suspected to have killed a calf Aug. 16 in northeast Oregon.

Wallowa County rancher Todd Nash said his calf was grazing on a private pasture he leases when the attack occurred.

He said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating, and he expects the depredation will be confirmed.

The department planned to conclude its investigation by the afternoon of Aug. 16.

The department shot two of the pack’s adult wolves after a series of attacks on cattle.

Nash and other ranchers have called for the entire pack to be killed. He said the pack goes after cattle every day and has not changed its behavior as ODFW hoped.