Oregon farmers who want to crack the organic market might think about growing strawberries. Raspberries and dry bean varieties such as garbanzos, pintos and black beans wouldn’t be a bad bet, either.

But a new analysis from Oregon Tilth, which certifies organic operations, makes it clear that figuring out what to grow is only part of puzzle. The report, on-line at https://tilth.org/resources/organic-market-in-oregon/, says supply gaps, infrastructure problems and technical issues hamper what is otherwise a strong segment of Oregon agriculture.

Make no mistake, organic sales aren’t hurting. Nationally, sales expanded 12 to 21 percent annually between 1997 and 2008, slowed during the recession and picked up again in 2012, according to the analysis. By 2014, organic sales hit nearly $36 billion, an 11.4 percent increase over the previous year.

But a closer look at Oregon’s organic scene shows producers will have to step it up, according to Oregon Tilth. A number of issues snag production, processing and distribution, the report showed.

“A look at trends in the mainstream grocery industry suggests that even if Oregon farmers are meeting the majority of market needs now, continued expansion of grocery chains’ organic offerings will necessitate a crop supply increase to keep up with demand,” report author Tanya Murray wrote.

Generally, buyers want more organic berries and stone fruit and more of the less common vegetable crops, baby vegetables, heirloom varieties and varieties that have exceptional flavor, according to the report. Some also want a certain level of processing — items that are cut a certain way, peeled or roasted, for example.

Other gaps persist. Buyers want producers trained on food safety regulations and grading standards. Farmers are sometimes stymied by the organic certification process, including the need to develop new record-keeping systems, affording certification fees and waiting out the three years it takes to certify a field. Appropriate crop rotations, necessary for field health, have to be planned out as well.

Farmers also need assurance that the market will still exist after the three-year transition period, during which “yields might be down, costs might be up and the premium prices that certified organic crops earn aren’t accessible,” the report concludes.

The analysis suggests one-on-one relationships between buyers and farmers are important. Such relationships can protect confidential company information while shielding farmers from downward price pressure that comes with supply gluts.

To help solve those problems, Oregon Tilth created the Transitioning to Organic Network, or TON, an on-line service directly connecting farmers, processors, handlers, buyers and other service providers and stakeholders. Members can ask questions, share information and stay informed about educational opportunities. The listserv is at

http://goo.gl/forms/iTPJTpeiSa.

In compiling the analysis, Oregon Tilth considered responses from 31 processors and manufacturers, three natural food grocery store buyers and four wholesale produce distributors.

The report was funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant administered by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — One of the four finalists to become chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has withdrawn his name.

Several Washington state media outlets have reported that Sabah Randhawa has been selected to become president at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.

University of Nebraska spokeswoman Melissa Lee says Randhawa told University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds about his decision Wednesday.

Randhawa is Oregon State University provost. His withdrawal leaves three candidates to replace Lincoln’s chancellor, Harvey Perlman: Ronnie Green, University of Nebraska interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs; April Mason, Kansas State University provost; and Daniel Reed, University of Iowa vice president for research and economic development.

Lee says Bounds doesn’t plan to name Perlman’s successor this week. Bounds’ selection is subject to a Board of Regents confirmation vote.

PENDLETON, Ore. — After five months of pregnancy, “Magnificent Mary” was so big she could barely walk.

Finally on March 24, the nanny Nigerian dwarf goat was ready to give birth. She had four kids in just half an hour, which was remarkable enough. But it was the fifth that came an hour later and really took Mary’s owners, Richard and Jeannie Prowse, by surprise.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Richard Prowse said. “It just blew my mind when number five popped out.”

The Prowses, who live outside Pendleton, have raised dairy goats for 30 years and they’ve never seen quintuplets before. Goats usually have between one and three kids per litter, but five are extremely rare; the odds are about one in 10,000, according to one estimate.

As Mary — short for Marigold — got bigger and bigger, Jeannie Prowse said she knew multiple births were coming. Prowse thought triplets or maybe even quadruplets were possible, but she certainly didn’t count on delivering quintuplets.

“It was total shock and surprise,” Jeannie Prowse said. “It’s pretty sensational to have five live babies.”

All of the kids survived, and on March 30 they were already prancing and jumping lively around the Prowses’ red barn in front of their house. There’s Minnie and Benson (who was born back-end first, Mariota (named after the former Oregon Ducks quarterback), Polly and fifth and final: Cinco.

In all, Marigold gave birth to three billies and two does, each one inheriting the striking blue eyes of their father, Picasso. The Prowses say they will likely keep both females for their herd, which is registered with the American Dairy Goat Association. The rest they will sell the others to families looking for a pet or 4-H animal.

Nigerian dwarf goats are smaller and easier to handle, Jeannie Prowse said, but still deliver a good amount of milk for their size. The Prowses use goat milk to make cheese, yogurt and are venturing into making soap.

It will take two months to wean the quintuplets off their mother. Until then, Jeannie Prowse watches closely over the babies, bottle feeding when they’re hungry and setting up a heating lamp in the pen where they huddle up to sleep.

Successful breeding starts with good genetics and ends with good feeding and care, she said.

“We’ve always worked hard at what we do,” Jeannie Prowse said. “And then, when something like this happens, we just feel very blessed.”

BANDON -- Entries are being sought for the 2016 Will & Celia Piehl Youth Poetry Contest. This year's theme is "What Makes Me Happy" and the contest is open to all students in grades 5-12 who live in Bandon, Langlois…

BANDON -- The Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center will host a show of artworks created reflecting upon the theme of “Home.” The show will feature art from local and regional artists responding to the theme and what home means…

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is looking to fill 74 openings on its 23 agricultural and commercial fishery commodity commissions.

That includes seven commissions looking for public members, according to an ODA press release.

Public members cannot be directly associated with the production or handling of the commodity a commission addresses.

ODA Director Katy Coba appoints commissioners and is expected to begin making appointments as early as next month. Successful public member candidates will join producers and handlers — those who are first purchaser of the commodity — to make up each of the commissions.

Commission activities are funded through self-assessments. While those activities and accomplishments vary from commission to commission, each have the same general mission — to fund projects for research, promotion or education.

Commission members meet four to seven times a year. It’s a volunteer position with reimbursement for travel and meals associated with meetings. Sometimes, public members have an opportunity to travel as part of a trade mission involving the commodity.

For information on all commodity commission openings, including public member openings, go to http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/MarketAccess/Pages/OregonCommodityCommissions.aspx or contact Commodity Commission Program Manager Kris Anderson at 503-872-6600.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Food manufacturers and pesticide applicators could be subject to “stop work” orders under new regulatory authority being considered by Oregon’s farm regulators.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture may seek new regulatory power to halt specific unlawful actions that endanger public safety.

Currently, the agency can suspend or revoke the license of a food establishment or pesticide applicator that’s violating the law, but such sanctions may be overkill in some situations, said Lauren Henderson, ODA’s assistant director.

“We don’t have anything that’s specific to an activity. It’s all or nothing,” he said during this week’s meeting of the Oregon Board of Agriculture in Corvallis.

Revoking a license or obtaining a temporary restraining order in court also involves fairly high legal hurdles, Henderson said.

Taking such drastic steps would be overly burdensome for the agency and the business in the case of minor violations, such as a faulty thermometer in a refrigerated meat cooler, he said.

Under the proposed “stop work” authority, the ODA could simply require a company to cease using that cooler until it’s fixed, he said.

“We’re looking at something very narrow and probably short-term,” Henderson said.

At this point, the proposal is in a very early stage but the agency is considering it as a possible “legislative concept” for the 2017 legislative session, he said.

Henderson acknowledged the “stop work” idea has met with some trepidation among regulated companies.

“The industry as a whole is pretty nervous about us having that authority,” he said.

Aside from possibly affecting pesticide applications, the proposal could impact on-farm processing, such dairymen who make farmstead cheese.

Doug Krahmer, a blueberry farmer and board member, said companies should have a way to challenge a “stop work” order.

“I would caution you to put some sort of judicial mechanism in there, so if a grower or an owner takes issue with a stop work order, there is a quick way to get adjudication,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Labor did not provide such recourse when it issued “hot goods” orders in 2012 that halted the sale of perishable fruit based on alleged labor violations, he said.

Krahmer said he would characterize the DOL’s actions as “tyrannical” and he doesn’t ever want to describe ODA that way.

Katy Coba, ODA’s director, said the agency is still examining similar authority in other states and recognizes the importance of protecting due process while ensuring public safety.

“It’s finding in statute the right balance,” she said.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30

LANGLOIS -- The Langlois Lions Club will hold its annual spaghetti feed and dessert auction on Saturday, April 2, with dinner starting at 5 p.m. and the dessert auction starting at 6 p.m., followed by dancing with live music by…

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two weeks after the signing of new legislation that upholds in state law the delisting of the gray wolf as endangered, Oregon’s top attorney has now launched an effort to end wolf advocates’ lawsuit once and for all.

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a notice with the state appellate court on Monday, using an attached copy of the new law, House Bill 4040, as justification for why wolf advocates’ complaint against the state is likely no longer relevant.

This is what conservative lawmakers hoped to accomplish with HB 4040 and what environmentalists had feared. In December environmentalists sued state wildlife officials over their decision to remove the gray wolf from the state’s Endangered Species Act list, saying the decision was premature.

Nothing is settled yet and the judge will have the final say. But parties on both sides agree the situation is gloomy for the wolf advocates’ case.

“We don’t have a next step yet,” said Arran Robertson, a spokesman for Oregon Wild, adding they’ll be discussing a game-plan this week with the other environmentalists that are part of the suit.

The issue dates back to November, when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission determined the gray wolf’s population was robust enough to remove the species from the state’s endangered list. Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity followed with their lawsuit, arguing the commission used flawed scientific evidence and the delisting decision should therefore be independently re-examined.

That’s where HB 4040 — backed by the Oregon Cattleman’s Association and others concerned with wolves’ attacks on livestock — comes into play.

HB 4040 essentially says the commission did everything it was supposed to do by law in reaching its final decision to delist. That’s the very thing wolf advocates want re-examined, but with the Legislature’s seal of approval now established in state law, their “challenge is likely moot,” Rosenblum wrote in Monday’s court filing.

Rosenblum’s filing — submitted about a week after the wildlife commission began revising its wolf management plan — stands in contrast to the way HB 4040 was initially portrayed at the Legislature in early February.

In hearings, GOP lawmakers in the Oregon House repeatedly denied claims that the intent was to end the lawsuit.

“Does this basically prevent litigation? ... and the answer that I have come up with, or the answer that I could find was, no it doesn’t,” Rep. Greg Baretto, a Republican who helped sponsor HB 4040, said during a Feb. 12 House floor session when the bill was up for vote.

“They can still have their day in court. But what this does is it’ll allow the Legislature to affirm or agree with this commission, this Fish and Wildlife Commission, that has basically approved delisting, and that is what this bill does.”

Rep. Chris Gorsek, a Democrat, was among the first vocal critics, who followed Baretto’s comments during that February floor session by saying, “I’m concerned that the Legislature is being asked to step in a process that could involve any endangered species ... it’s not about the wolf, it’s about due process.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon farm regulators are objecting to USDA’s proposed deregulation of a genetically engineered grass variety that escaped field trials more than a decade ago.

Last year, USDA reached an agreement with Scotts Miracle-Gro, which developed the glyphosate-resistant biotech creeping bentgrass, to lift federal regulations on the crop as long as it’s not commercialized.

Scotts would also conduct a 10-year management plan to control the grass, but some farmers have complained that the proposal will allow the company to eventually wash its hands of the problem while leaving them with spray costs and potential export barriers.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has come out against the proposal, arguing it’s inappropriate to deregulate the bentgrass while it’s still infesting areas of Central and Eastern Oregon.

“We think it needs to be eradicated,” said Lisa Hanson, ODA’s deputy director, during the March 29 meeting of the Oregon Board of Agriculture.

The ODA claims the biotech bentgrass doesn’t meet the federal requirements for deregulation because it “clearly falls into the category of a plant pest and noxious weed,” according to a letter sent to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

“It is invading irrigation canals and displacing native species in riparian areas in the affected Oregon counties,” the ODA letter said, noting that the crop should remain regulated until “a means to eradicate this pest becomes available.”

ODA also recommends that USDA convene a task force to evaluate the impacts of deregulation.

Biotech bentgrass is of particular concern near waterways because they can allow the crop to spread to new areas and potentially get out of control, said Helmuth Rogg, ODA’s plant program director.

There are also limited chemical methods for treating the bentgrass, he said. Not only is it resistant to glyphosate, but other herbicides often can’t be used in irrigation canals without potentially harming crops.

Canals can be treated with herbicides before they’re used to convey summer irrigation water, but that time window poses another challenge, Rogg said.

“The problem in early spring is it’s not easy to identify,” Rogg said.

At that point, the variety looks much like any other grass, he said. The crop is more distinctive in late summer.

Scotts developed the bentgrass for golf courses and began testing it with USDA’s consent in a “control area” in Central Oregon designated by ODA, but the cultivar escaped field trials in 2003 and continues to be found in Jefferson and Malheur counties.

TANGENT, Ore. — From Oregon 34, cutting west off Interstate 5 toward Corvallis, it looks like a tractor graveyard. Skeletons of old International, Case and John Deere tractors, combines and other farm and construction equipment sit in neat rows. Most have been plucked of parts.

That was Randy Raschein Sr.’s original vision for Farmland Tractor Supply when he started the business in 1980. A recession was draining the country’s economic life, and Raschein figured a tractor salvage yard would find a market with farmers who were patching old equipment instead of buying new.

“There was a need here, for sure,” Raschein said.

His instinct was on the money, and the business has grown steadily over the past 36 years. The view of the original salvage yard from the highway is misleading, because Farmland Tractor Supply now covers 30 acres and has two acres of covered parts storage plus a machine shop and other manufacturing, storage and office space. Individual parts are tagged and tracked by computer.

“A lot of people think it’s an old junkyard, but it’s not,” Raschein Sr. said.

The business still carries used parts, from crankshafts to radiators and rims, but in many cases they were salvaged from newer equipment that was damaged in a fire or accident. Farmland also carries after-market parts made by other manufacturers to fit various equipment lines. The business also overhauls and sells engines.

A significant number of customers are small or beginning farmers. For them, a business such as Farmland could fill an important niche, said Garry Stephenson, director of Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems.

New and small farmers are interested in used equipment for the cost savings and because older equipment is often smaller and a better fit for the scale of their farms, Stephenson said by email.

Fellow OSU Extension small farms specialist Heidi Noordijk agreed, noting that new farmers who don’t inherit family gear struggle to buy new equipment. A tractor is the biggest need for most farmers, she said.

Thanks to the Internet, new farmers and even international customers find their way to Farmland Tractor Supply.

“We’ve sent parts to Africa, Greenland, Australia — we had a guy in here from New Zealand,” Raschein Sr. said. His son, Randy Raschein Jr., has traveled to China to meet with suppliers. He’s also introduced a new line of LED lighting systems called Tiger Lights that can be plugged into existing equipment and provides more light, for longer periods, with less demand on the tractor’s electrical system.

Farmland remains a family business. Randy Raschein Sr.’s grandsons, Ty and Dustin, also work in the business, as does his daughter, Suzy Klein. His 9-year-old great-grandson, Wyatt Eastman, spends time at the business as well.

The family worked together to pull off a surprise for Raschein Sr.

In 1963, when he was farming in California, he bought an unusual narrow-tracked 1941 International Harvester from the U.S. Forest Service. He sold it when he quit farming, but always retained a fondness for International equipment. He sold parts for them at dealerships, including one that brought him to work at a store in the Willamette Valley before he started his own business.

About a decade ago, his son, Randy Jr., came across his father’s paperwork from the sale. He tracked down the buyer, convinced him to sell back the International and set about restoring it in secret. “I didn’t want to let it get away,” he said.

The family hauled the restored tractor to a show in Brooks, Ore., and took Raschein Sr. to look around. Coming across the tractor, and not yet knowing it was his, he expressed surprise because he’d never seen another one. “It’s not even in the parts book,” he said. A sign at the display told the story, and he happily realized he’d been had.

“They rebuilt it under my nose,” he said with a laugh.

He’s low-key about it, but Raschein takes pride in seeing how the business has expanded and adapted over the years. The business has only a handful of competitor in the Pacific Northwest.

“We started from scratch, one tractor at a time,” he said. “Anyway, it worked out fine.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials say a 62-year-old man has died after the semitrailer he was driving crashed and caused roughly 7,000 gallons of milk to spill on Interstate 84 near Boardman.

The Oregonian reports that Oregon State Police say in a news release that James Crow had been driving a 2016 Freightliner Monday when it drifted off the highway and rolled onto its side. Rescuers worked for two hours to pull Crow from the wreckage. He was taken to a Portland hospital and later died.

Officials say the spilled milk ended up in a ditch near the crash site and had flowed into the state-managed Coyote Springs Wildlife area.

The release says officials found no immediate loss of fish or wildlife, and are in the process of cleaning up the site.

———

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

EUGENE, Ore. — Environmentalists don’t want a federal judge to issue an official written ruling denying their motion to radically change water management in several Central Oregon reservoirs.

During a recent court hearing, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken told environmental groups they failed to convince her that a preliminary injunction was necessary to protect the threatened Oregon spotted frog.

The plaintiffs — WaterWatch of Oregon and the Center for Biological Diversity — claimed that water flows from the Wickiup, Crane Prairie and Crescent Lake dams must be significantly modified to avoid harming the protected species.

However, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and irrigation districts argued the operational changes sought by environmentalists would be disruptive to the frogs, which have adapted to stream flows since the structures were built 70 years ago.

The federal agency and three irrigation districts — Central Oregon, North Unit and Tumalo — are named as defendants in litigation that alleges the reservoirs are managed in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Rather than appeal the denial of their injunction request, the environmentalists have requested that Aiken postpone filing an official written version of the ruling.

The plaintiffs say that an “appealable final, formal opinion is not required to move the matter forward,” claiming it would instead be “more productive and efficient” to send the case into mediation.

Irrigation districts involved in the case have objected to the request, noting that environmentalists opted to move forward with their injunction motion instead of mediation.

The irrigators agree that mediation is the next appropriate step in the lawsuit but argue that such negotiations aren’t precluded by an official ruling.

A written opinion would “provide useful guidance to the mediator” and “certainly aid in setting reasonable expectations for settlement and future proceedings in this case.”

It’s likely that the plaintiffs want to avoid a written ruling because they don’t want the denial of their injunction to later be cited as legal precedent, said Scott Horngren, an attorney with the Western Resources Legal Center, a nonprofit that helps farmers, ranchers and timber companies in legal disputes.

The irrigation districts, on the other hand, would benefit from an official ruling in future litigation over the frog or other species, Horngren said.

Environmentalists may recognize they were “shooting for the moon” in their preliminary injunction request and now want lesser restrictions imposed on the reservoirs, he said. “They might be willing to settle for less.”

Aside from issue of the ruling, environmentalists also want a “bifurcated” trial, under which the court would first consider whether the irrigators violated the law and only later consider a potential remedy, such as an injunction.

The irrigation districts oppose that proposal because it’s possible the case may be resolved or dismissed without a need for such a proceeding.

The plaintiffs may want the judge to solely consider legal issues without immediately taking into account the impact on irrigators, said Horngren.

The defendants, on the other hand, may want to avoid the ordeal of an expensive trial and fight the environmentalist claims through other legal procedures, he said.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ammon Bundy and three co-defendants who are jailed in Oregon for the occupation of a national wildlife refuge have appealed an order that requires them to fly to Nevada next month to face charges in a federal case there.

Assistant federal public defender Rich Federico sent notice Monday that the four men are appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A federal judge in Portland last week ordered the defendants to be flown to Nevada on April 13 and returned to Oregon on April 25. During that window, they would make their first court appearances on charges stemming from a 2014 standoff at Cliven Bundy’s ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada.

Defense attorneys say the clock shouldn’t start on the Nevada case until the Oregon one is finished, because it could violate their clients’ right to effective counsel.

A dead sheep found March 25 in Wallowa County was killed by wolves, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A range rider found a dead adult ram in a private pasture in the county’s Upper Swamp Creek area.

The sheep appeared to have been killed that morning, according to an ODFW depredation report. A “significant portion” of the sheep had been eaten, but bite marks and other signs confirmed that wolves were responsible, according to the report. Signals from two GPS collars showed that Imnaha Pack wolves OR-4 and OR-39 were within 500 yards of the carcass site at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., according to the report.

The Imnaha Pack is a busy one.

On March 9, also on private pasture in the Upper Swamp Creek area, a calf was found dead with all of its internal organs and most of its muscle tissue consumed. Only the skull and hide were intact of what was estimated to be a 500-pound steer. It was estimated to have been killed March 7 or 8. ODFW confirmed the wolf kill based on bite mark size and location, tracks, scat and other kill site evidence, according to a depredation report.

The livestock owner saw two wolves about 400 yards from the carcass, leaving the site. ODFW staff in a plane later in the day saw four members of the Imnaha Pack about 3 miles away.

A calf was found injured in Wallowa County March 16, but ODFW decided coyotes were responsible in that case.

A final Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Boardman, Ore., to Hemingway, Idaho, transmission line won’t be released until later this summer, but at least one potential route shows the Bureau of Land Management is heeding local concerns in Oregon’s Umatilla and Morrow counties.

The BLM updated its preliminary preferred alternative for the 300-mile line, which reflects two major changes sought by the counties: first, the line in Morrow County was shifted onto the west side of Bombing Range Road south of Boardman, onto Navy land as opposed to high-value farms across the road. Second, the alignment was pushed farther south through Umatilla County in order to avoid impacting additional farmland where growers worried the line could take acres of crops out of production.

Tamara Gertsch, national project manager for the BLM, said they are continuing to work with all agencies, including the counties, and haven’t made any final decisions yet. But the preliminary preferred alternative does provide a glimpse into the route analysis so far.

“There’s no such thing as a route without impacts. That’s just the way it is,” Gertsch said. “It’s a balancing act to do the best thing that we can to eliminate most impacts with our cooperating agencies.”

Boardman to Hemingway, proposed by Idaho Power, is a 500-kilovolt line that would run from just outside Boardman to Melba, Idaho, near Boise. It would allow the two regions to share electricity during times of peak demand. Estimates for the project have ranged between $890-$940 million.

A draft EIS was released in 2014, and the BLM continues to analyze comments that were submitted from the public. The final EIS will include analysis of the agency preferred route and alternatives. Once it is issued the public will have 30 days to review and provide additional comments.

“We’re looking at technical considerations, environmental considerations and economic considerations,” Gertsch said.

Idaho Power estimates the project won’t come online until 2022 or later. In a recent editorial, Mitch Colburn, who’s in charge of 500-kilovolt projects for the company, said the need for Boardman to Hemingway is still strong.

“When finished, the project will help provide low-cost energy to Idaho Power’s customers in southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon,” Colburn said.

Project maps and a time line are available to view at www.boardmantohemingway.com.

ATHENA, Ore. — If you ask Tim Kennedy, Frito-Lay pretty much ruined potato chips in the mid-1980s.

“Flat and flavorless” says Kennedy, who in 1986 started his own company to make a thicker, crunchier style of chip. Thirty years later, Tim’s Cascade Snacks is an iconic Northwest brand distributed in 13 states, parts of Canada, Mexico and overseas to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

Kennedy, 68, was born in Pendleton and raised in Athena, where he lives with his wife, Lori.

Though Kennedy retired in 2005, he remains an ambassador for Tim’s Chips and a local celebrity. He recently visited the Seattle Food and Wine Experience in February, signing bags of chips for fans who just had to ask, “Are you THE Tim?”

“I take it with good humor,” Kennedy said. “I get asked a lot how did you get started with chips.”

Before he was “THE Tim,” Kennedy was an electrical engineer who worked in packaging plants for potato processors. He graduated from McEwen High School in 1966 and Blue Mountain College in 1968 before landing his first job doing electrical and maintenance work at Lamb Weston in Hermiston.

Years later, Kennedy moved to Tacoma, Wash., and got a job with a company called Mira-Pak, which at the time was installing state-of-the-art potato chip packaging equipment for Frito-Lay and other facilities along the West Coast. It was there he met Jay and Don Poore, who convinced Kennedy to partner up on a chip enterprise of their own.

They joined a man named Horace Groff, who had made potato chips in Pennsylvania and decided to branch out into Houston. Together, they launched Groff’s of Texas in 1983 and began thinking of ways they could distinguish themselves from Frito-Lay.

“Here we came, just with blinders on, to start a potato plant and compete against the giant,” Kennedy said.

For starters, Kennedy said they used peanut oil instead of lard, which gave their chips a better crunch. They were also the first in the country to introduce a jalapeño flavor, Kennedy said, which took off and gave them a 10 percent share of the market in Houston. Jalapeño remains the highest selling flavor of Tim’s Chips to this day.

“They just went nuts for it,” he said.

After three years, Kennedy decided to strike out on his own and return to the Seattle area, where he established Tim’s Chips. As for the Poore Brothers, they launched their own successful chip brand in Arizona, which is still produced today by Inventure Foods.

Tim’s Chips are kettle-cooked in relatively small 400-pound batches, made from potatoes grown in Oregon and Washington. The company marks it’s 30th anniversary this month.

“There’s not everybody who can start a business from scratch and have it last 30 years,” Kennedy said. “It’s a small business, but it’s something to be proud of.”

When Kennedy retired in 2005, he handed the reins over to his brother-in-law, Jeff Leichleiter, who was one of the first people he hired. The company has about 80 employees working out at the plant.

In 2007, Tim and Lori Kennedy moved back to Athena and transitioned from the chip business to the wine business. They own Don Carlo Vineyard — named after Lori’s grandfather — which is part of the new Rocks District of Milton-Freewater American Viticultural Area. Of course, Tim’s Chips are served with glasses of wine in the tasting room. Kennedy recommends jalapeño with the Chardonnay, and Parmesan and garlic with red wines.

Breaking into the wine business has been difficult, with competition from 120 other vineyards in the Walla Walla area alone. But, as with any other local business, it’s all about putting yourself out there, he said.

“When we started Tim’s Chips, we couldn’t get into any of the major stores,” he said. “It’s all about having people taste it, and hearing your story.”