YAKIMA, Wash. — The Northwest Horticultural Council — representing tree fruit growers and shippers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho on national and international issues — soon will be back up to full staff.

Barbara Madden, who retired in October as an acting chief of risk assessment in the pesticide division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will become NHC’s vice president of scientific affairs on Jan. 15. She is moving from Arlington, Va., to Yakima.

Anne Morrell, formerly general manager of BZ Blackrock, an orchard in Moxee, became NHC’s technical issues manager in October.

Mark Powers, who succeeded Chris Schlect as president of NHC last March, said he’s pleased to have both on staff, that there’s no shortage of issues for them to work on and that it brings NHC back up to full staff.

Kate Woods is vice president. Mariosol Oviedo is regulatory information specialist and Roberta Lucas is office manager.

Madden was at EPA 26 years, starting as a biologist in the registration division. Her work has included food safety evaluations, compliance with laws and regulatory approval for crop protection production.

“She understands how the agency functions and how to navigate the regulatory process. She has a keen understanding of international compliance issues on Minimum Residue Levels. Our industry exports 30 percent of its fruit so we increasingly have to make sure we are in compliance,” Powers said.

“How we do that and advocate for growers internationally and with our government will be a key part of her job,” he said.

Madden succeeds Mike Willett, who left NHC two years ago to become manager of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.

Morrell succeeds Laura Grunenfelder, who joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Yakima.

Morrell received her bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics from the University of California-Davis in 1988, her master’s degree in plant science from California State University-Fresno in 1991 and her doctorate in horticulture from Washington State University in 1995.

Morrell held research and teaching positions at WSU and Yakima Valley Community College from 1995 to 2004. She was field stock manager at Northwest Horticulture, an ornamental nursery in Mabton, from 2004 to 2010. She was a horticulturist advising buyers for Walmart Global Food Sourcing in Yakima from 2010 to 2011. She was food safety manager at E.W. Brandt & Sons, a Wapato tree fruit company, from 2011 to 2012 and was food safety manager at Hansen Fruit Co., Yakima, from 2012 to 2017. She was general manager of BZ Blackrock from May to October.

“Working at NHC is my dream job. I feel like this is the job I was meant to have,” Morrell said.

She said she will focus on invasive pests and pesticides as they relate to federal regulation and international trade, interacting with the industry in the Northwest while Madden works with agencies in Washington, D.C.

Currently, Morrell is working with Willett, WSU and UC-Davis on a new model to more accurately estimate pesticide spray drift.

“The EPA assumes all orchard applications from airblast sprayers are made on young, dormant orchards. Small trees with no leaves. But most applications are made in orchards when leaves are on. We’re making a more realistic model to measure risk,” she said.

To feed the world’s growing appetite for french fries, Lamb Weston announced Thursday it will build a new, state-of-the-art processing line at its Hermiston facility on Westland Road.

The $250 million expansion will add capacity for another 300 million pounds of fries per year, while also creating approximately 170 full-time jobs, according to the company.

Tom Werner, president and CEO of Lamb Weston, said demand for french fries around the world has challenged the industry’s capacity to keep up in recent years.

“This investment in a new french fry processing line in the Columbia Basin reflects Lamb Weston’s continued commitment to support our strategic partners as they continue to grow their businesses in North America and abroad,” Werner said.

Elsewhere around the basin, Lamb Weston finished a similar $200 million expansion at its french fry factory in Richland, Wash., which opened in October.

The company also spent $200 million to expand its Boardman facilities at the Port of Morrow in 2014. All potatoes are sourced from local farms.

Shelby Stoolman, spokeswoman for Lamb Weston, said the Hermiston facility was established in 1972 and has 450 employees. The new line is expected to be up and running by January 2019, supporting growth in North America and overseas exports to Asia.

“It’s really to keep up with demand,” Stoolman said.

Mark Morgan, Hermiston assistant city manager, said the project is the largest ever investment in the Greater Hermiston Enterprise Zone, both in terms of capital investment and annual payroll.

“We’re very happy that Lamb Weston is choosing to make this investment in the Hermiston area,” Morgan said. “This is an advanced operation, so these are not your run-of-the-mill processing jobs. We anticipate these full time jobs to pay an average of at least $18 per hour, plus benefits.”

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown also approved an award from the state’s Strategic Reserve Fund to move the project forward, which she said is part of her focus to boost the economy statewide.

“In addition to supporting our rural economies and booming agriculture industry, this investment provides critical workforce training opportunities in well-paying jobs in Eastern Oregon,” Brown said.

Nathan Buehler, spokesman for Business Oregon, said the state is indeed finalizing the contract on a half-million dollar loan to Lamb Weston. That loan will include requirements for job creation, workforce training and building a wastewater system at the site.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A mistrial marked a major step this week in favor of a family of ranchers accused of leading armed standoffs in two states to oppose U.S. control of vast stretches of land in the American West.

But states’ rights activist Cliven Bundy and his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy are not clear of legal troubles and say they are not gearing up for another fight in a decades-long dispute with the government over management of public lands.

The Bundys and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne are charged with conspiracy, assault and threats over an armed confrontation with federal agents who were rounding up of Bundy cattle on public land in 2014.

Here is what is expected next in the case:

Cliven Bundy, 71, remained behind bars as a protest Thursday, a day after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial. She set a Jan. 8 hearing to decide whether charges should be dismissed outright.

Bundy had refused Navarro’s Nov. 30 offer to be freed to house arrest during the trial, with GPS monitoring and other restrictions. His sons and Payne took the deal, but the elder Bundy is holding out on principle until he is completely free, his lawyer and family members say.

Attorney Bret Whipple asked Wednesday for federal detention officials to take another look at his client’s file and submitted court documents seeking Bundy’s release without conditions. A hearing wasn’t immediately set.

Cliven Bundy has been behind bars since Feb. 10, 2016. He was arrested at Portland International Airport in Oregon after flying to visit his sons in jail.

Ryan and Ammon Bundy had led an armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge in early 2016 to demand the government turn over public land to local control. They were arrested during a traffic stop outside the refuge that ended with police fatally shooting a spokesman for the occupation. They were later acquitted of all charges.

Cliven Bundy was not charged in the Oregon standoff. Whipple said his client has been jailed for more than 22 months without being convicted of any crime in the Nevada standoff near his ranch.

Navarro found prosecutors violated the four defendants’ due process rights by failing to turn over records that could help the defense and denying that federal authorities had positioned snipers and surveillance cameras on hilltops around the Bundy ranch.

The judge cited 3,300 pages of previously undisclosed FBI and Bureau of Land Management records relating to the standoff and the abandoned roundup of Bundy cattle that should have been provided to defense attorneys ahead of the November trial.

Navarro also ordered a review and the refiling of many key documents that were submitted under seal. Media organizations including The Associated Press had objected to the secrecy.

The judge scheduled the hearing next month to give prosecutors and defense teams time to submit written arguments about whether the case should be dismissed.

“A fair trial at this point is impossible with this jury,” the judge declared Wednesday. But “the court is not determining or making a finding (that) the defendants are in fact not guilty.”

She also set a new trial date, Feb. 26. Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre didn’t immediately say whether he would seek to retry the case.

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in an email Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has personally ordered a review of the case to decide what to do next.

With their legal fate unresolved, one of the two eldest Bundy brothers said they were not immediately looking for another battle to protest federal land policies.

Ryan Bundy, who has been representing himself at trial, said during a brief interview that others could take up the fight.

“We only have what rights we’re willing to fight for. Why don’t others start fighting for freedom?” he asked. “It’s not only our fight. People who want freedom should take up the battle and not leave it up to someone else.”

Bundy said he would “follow the spirit of the Lord” and that he didn’t know what that would be.

Fridays

In a humorous video viewed more than 300,000 times on Facebook, a Christmas tree grower named Mark ridicules his own lack of social media skills.

Bantering with his daughter in a field of growing trees, Mark repeatedly mistakes the names of several popular social media applications: “Face Face” instead of Facebook, “Snaptalk” instead of Snapchat, “Tweezer” instead of Twitter.

The video concludes with a positive message, as Mark tells the viewers, “Forget all that. Get your family together, head out and pick a real Christmas tree!”

The light-hearted video also illustrates a real-life dilemma for the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, which produced the video as part of its new social media-driven promotional campaign, “It’s Christmas. Keep It Real.”

The board was launched by USDA in 2015 at the request of farmers who wanted to raise funds for industry promotions and research with a “checkoff” fee of 15 cents per tree, generating roughly $1.8 million a year.

But unlike the young consumers who are targeted by its promotional campaigns, some farmers who pay for the program are indifferent to social media. This year, the board invested $1.1 million in promotions.

“All these social media things they’re doing, I don’t have a clue,” said Bob Schaefer, manager of Noble Mountain Tree Farm near Salem, Ore.

The question is whether farmers will be supportive of continuing to pay for a promotional strategy that some may find confusing or unfamiliar. The answer will be provided next year, when Christmas tree farmers across the U.S. will vote whether to retain the program.

Despite his apathy toward social media, Schaefer said he recognizes the program’s value because the Millennial generation — people born between 1978 and 1998 — consumes information differently.

“They don’t read newspapers or watch TV,” he said.

Retailers have told Schaefer the promotional campaign is effective, which is important if real Christmas trees are to remain a viable retail item, he said.

“If they can’t sell the trees, it’s going to trickle down to the farmer,” Schaefer said. “They’ve got to get a return on their investment.”

Christmas trees are grown by about 3,400 U.S. farmers on 178,000 acres, generating roughly $367 million in annual sales, according to USDA data from 2014, the most recent year available.

Generally, it appears that farmers who are part of the Christmas tree industry support the checkoff and are excited to see their crop promoted, said Tim O’Connor, the board’s executive director.

However, there is a small contingent of farmers who happen to grow Christmas trees but don’t see the crop as their main specialty and may not care about paying for promotions, he said.

Whether these less-invested growers will favor continuing the program — and how much they will influence the referendum — will remain a mystery until the votes are tallied, since the board doesn’t plan to devote money to conduct polling, O’Connor said.

Checkoff fees are tax-deductible as business expenses.

In the board’s early days, some older farmers didn’t understand the social media emphasis of the promotional campaign, but they’ve since warmed to the concept, said Phil Hunter, president of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association and a grower near Port Orchard, Wash.

“As an industry, I think we’d be foolish not to pass the referendum,” he said.

A couple hundred growers don’t use email, so the board must make a special effort to keep them in the loop about promotions, said Betty Malone, a farmer near Philomath, Ore., who spearheaded the effort to start a checkoff.

The program will do more outreach through traditional mail, in case digital communications aren’t reaching the decision-makers at a farm, she said.

“Where I get my information is not where my kids get their information,” Malone said.

Regardless of the potential generational disconnect over social media, some growers object to the checkoff for philosophical reasons.

Robert Brown, a Christmas tree grower in New York, said he’s comfortable with promoting his own business over social media but doesn’t like the idea of a mandatory program.

“To me, it’s just another form of government: Let’s tax the little people,” Brown said. “They mean well. I’m just not sure it’s something I want to be involved with, but I’m stuck with it.”

His sentiment is echoed by Edward Steigerwaldt, a Wisconsin tree producer, who doesn’t see the purpose of spending on promotions when there’s a shortage of Christmas trees.

Several years ago, growers cut back on planting trees after overproduction put prices in a slump and forced some out of the industry. The pendulum has now swung the other way, with tight supplies bringing up prices. Wholesale prices to growers are in the range of $17 per tree for Douglas firs, up from about $10 during the slump, while Noble firs are selling for about $30 per tree, up from about $18.

It’s unlikely the industry will see another major surplus soon, particularly since farmers are getting older and leaving the business while younger people are reluctant to enter it, Steigerwaldt said.

“There are so many people who don’t want to do this type of work,” he said.

While Steigerwaldt believes the checkoff was created at the behest of “big growers,” a major Christmas tree producer shares his lack of enthusiasm.

Holiday Tree Farms, a company based in Corvallis, Ore., that sells up to 1 million trees a year, is willing to go along with the program but doesn’t see a direct benefit, said Greg Rondeau, its sales manager.

The firm sees more value in working directly with its chain store customers, which can afford to pay for a national television advertising blitz, he said.

“It’d be difficult for the checkoff to come up with that kind of money,” Rondeau said.

Farmers who support the program see such arguments as short-sighted.

Promoting the Christmas tree industry as a whole — rather than farmers promoting themselves individually — is necessary to keep the crop relevant in consumers’ minds, according to checkoff supporters.

A sustained promotional campaign is the best way to accomplish that goal, said Jim Rockis, the board’s chairman and a West Virginia farmer.

“Changing a mindset takes time,” Rockis said. “You’re not going to do this overnight.”

Aside from promotions, the checkoff also raises funds for agronomic research across several regions, he said.

The program is investing about $300,000 with eight universities, which will test new tree species, study disease problems and seek new slug control methods, among other projects.

Unless growers are willing to pay for the studies, they may simply never be done, Rockis said. “A lot of funding for extension and land grant universities, especially for minor crops like Christmas trees, is no longer available.”

Farmers should also remember that they’re competing with rivals who have deep pockets: Artificial tree manufacturers and marketers, said O’Connor, the board’s executive director.

“We need to go toe-to-toe with them as best as we can,” he said.

Consumer research conducted by the board found that Christmas tree growers face serious obstacles in winning over Millennial consumers, the next generation to form families, O’Connor said.

“This is really a critical factor for the industry to understand,” he said.

One serious misconception is that artificial trees are environmentally superior to real trees because they’re not chopped down.

Most Millennials hold this view, not understanding that Christmas trees are specifically planted to be harvested as a farm crop, similar to Halloween pumpkins, O’Connor said.

Only about 32 percent of Millennials grew up celebrating Christmas with a real tree every year, compared to 57 percent for the baby boomer generation, the board’s research found.

People who grow up with artificial trees are more likely to buy them when they form families, O’Connor said. “That’s the experience they had as a kid.”

To counter these forces, the promotional campaign focuses on three core messages.

The first is that real trees are better for the environment because they absorb carbon and release oxygen while they grow, then can be recycled or mulched instead of spending thousands of years in a landfill.

The second is that choosing a real tree is a fun family experience that people will cherish and remember for years. It’s also a way to connect directly with agriculture, which Millennials desire.

The third is that real trees create business for American farmers, as opposed to overseas manufacturers who rely on petroleum-based plastics.

Due to consumer research and a strong public response, the board decided on a social media-heavy campaign that focuses on about 30 videos created by Concept Farm, an advertising agency in New York City.

In its advertisements, the program must be careful not to be derogatory toward artificial trees, which is prohibited by USDA, O’Connor said.

For example, an advertisement comparing them to toilet brushes was rejected by the agency, he said.

On the other hand, the program can discuss how artificial trees are manufactured and disposed of, O’Connor said. “We can deal with facts.”

USDA’s edict against negative campaigning even extends to the term “fake,” which the board can’t use in its promotions, said Malone, a farmer and board member.

“They think of it as a pejorative,” she said.

Although Facebook videos and posts are the “main hub” of the promotional campaign, the program is also using Instagram and Twitter.

Print, online and television reporters can pull information from the program’s media resources, such as a “myth-busting” infographic about Christmas trees.

The board is sponsoring Christmas tree lightings in multiple major cities and conducting a “satellite media tour” with several news stations, which will conduct remote interviews with a Christmas tree farmer.

Several lifestyle bloggers, who typically have a reach of a quarter-million readers, are being targeted as “social influencers” who can advise their followers on the benefits of real trees.

The 200,000th tree will be delivered to military families through the “Trees for Troops” program, which will be highlighted in promotions.

Throughout these different communication channels, the program’s three core messages are heavily emphasized.

“People should be proud of their decision to have a real tree,” said Malone.

PORTLAND — Two Democratic lawmakers have released details of a carbon “cap and invest” bill that their party has prioritized for approval during Oregon’s legislative session in February.

Modeled after a program in California, their proposal would effectively charge Oregon industry for emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The goal of the program is to encourage businesses to embrace technologies and practices that curb the release of greenhouse gases that warm the climate and to invest in projects that help the general population reduce their carbon footprint.

A similar bill in 2016 drew strong opposition from certain Oregon business groups, including Associated Oregon Industries, since merged into Oregon Business & Industry.

Since then, Democrats Sen. Michael Dembrow of Portland and Rep. Ken Helm of Beaverton, have assembled a series of work groups to address concerns from business and industry, environmentalists and advocates for minorities and residents of rural areas.

A bill summary released Wednesday outlines changes to the proposal that address some of those concerns.

“We have two competing needs: We want to reduce emissions, but we don’t want to put businesses out of business so their progress is light in the early years,” Dembrow said. “Heavy emitters that are at risk of competition from other states or countries that don’t have high standards they are going to be given allowances in early years to help them transition into the program. We want to keep it predictable and not have rate shocks.”

The bill is scheduled to be drafted by Jan. 8 and released to the public that same week. Some of the highlights of the changes are:

• About 20 percent of the hundreds of millions of dollars generated from carbon allowance sales would go toward projects only in rural areas, addressing a concern that a cap-and-invest law would largely benefit already-thriving urban centers, such as the Portland metro area.

• Some of the proceeds also could be used to pay for “carbon sequestration” on farms, which could involves changes in cover plants and a reducing soil disturbances.

• Rulemaking for the program will have legislative oversight. Some members of the business community resisted the idea of the Department of Environmental Quality having unilateral authority in rulemaking.

• Commissions and advisory groups on global warming would be consolidated into one advisory committee and one legislative committee.

Despite the changes, some business groups said they’re still opposed to the idea.

Jenny Dresler, director of state public policy at the Oregon Farm Bureau, is a member of a coalition campaigning against cap and invest, Oregonians for Balanced Climate Policy.

“Oregon has made tremendous progress toward reducing our carbon emissions and is now one of the cleanest economies in the country,” Dresler said. “Driving up gas and energy prices on consumers, farmers and employers — as a cap and trade bill will do — will only result in fewer jobs and more pressure on family budgets. There are better ways to fight climate change, and Oregon is already at the forefront of that effort.”

What’s the cap, and what’s the investment?

The cap limits the amount of carbon a business may emit to less than 25,000 tons of CO2 per year, beginning in 2021. Those that emit more than that amount — currently about 100 businesses in Oregon — would be required to buy market-priced allowances for the excess. The program essentially puts a “price” on emissions.

Meanwhile, the allowances would be sold at a North American auction and generate revenue that would then be invested in projects that slow climate change.

Supporters say the bill could generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year for those projects.

Investments could include rebates for electric vehicles, solar panels on homes or safety improvements on bicycle lanes, among other things, said Brad Reed of environmental advocacy group Renew Oregon.

“Oregonians really value where we live and making a cleaner economy. … Once those investments start to show, then people are going to understand how beneficial this program is going to be,” Reed said.

How much would it cost?

Cost estimates for starting the program have yet to be calculated. That process will begin once the bill is finished, Dembrow said.

The state will achieve some cost savings by participating in the same auction market as California and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, the senator said.

The program will drive up the cost of fuel and electricity. Electric rates could climb by about 1 to 3 percent, Dembrow said. It’s unclear how much fuel prices could increase.

A study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality indicated the costs could have an inordinate effect on people in low-income and rural communities because they already spend a larger percent of their income on fuel.

Dembrow has proposed using another chunk of the program’s proceeds for utility payment assistance for low-income Oregonians.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. judge in Nevada declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case against a states’ rights figure, his two sons and another man accused of leading a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents during a cattle grazing dispute.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas dismissed a jury seated last month for the long-awaited trial of Cliven Bundy, his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy and self-styled Montana militia leader Ryan Payne.

It is the latest in a string of failed prosecutions in Nevada and Oregon against those who have opposed federal control of vast swaths of land in the American West.

Jurors in Portland, Oregon, acquitted the two Bundy sons of taking over a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month in early 2016 amid calls for the U.S. government to turn over public land to local control.

In the Nevada case, Navarro faulted federal prosecutors for failing to turn over all evidence to defense attorneys, including records about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents during the standoff.

“The government is obligated to disclose all evidence that might be favorable” to the defense, the judge said.

The case stemmed from an armed confrontation that capped a decades-long dispute over Cliven Bundy’s refusal to pay grazing fees. The 71-year-old rancher says his family has grazed cattle for more than a century in the area and insists public land belongs to states, not the U.S. government.

Government agents began rounding up his animals. The four on trial were accused of enlisting armed gunmen to force government agents to abandon the effort.

“A mistrial is a very bad result for the government,” said Ian Bartrum, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law professor who has followed the case closely.

Bartrum had cast the trial as a test of whether U.S. authorities could enforce their own land policy in Western states where the government owns or controls vast expanses.

“It looks even worse because it isn’t the sort of jury nullification we’ve seen before, but actual incompetence (or worse) by the prosecution,” Bartrum said in an email. “It certainly erodes a lot of confidence in the federal government’s motives.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre had no immediate answer about whether prosecutors would retry the case. If so, the Bundys and Payne still would face 15 felony charges including assault and threats against federal officers, firearms counts, obstruction and extortion.

Prosecutors also failed to win full convictions against others at the tense confrontation near Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Six men who acknowledged carrying assault-style weapons faced a trial and a retrial. Two were acquitted, two were convicted of some charges and two are free after pleading guilty to misdemeanors to avoid a third trial. None was found guilty of a conspiracy charge.

In the case against the Bundys, the judge hinted last week that trouble was afoot. She sent the jury home to review sealed documents following closed-door hearings over complaints about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents during the standoff.

Jurors got a glimpse of the claims when Ryan Bundy, who represented himself, spoke at opening statements about seeing government snipers and surveillance cameras positioned on hilltops surrounding his family home in the days before armed supporters answered his family’s calls for help.

A whistleblower memo by a lead U.S. Bureau of Land Management investigator that was released last week alleges widespread bad judgment, bias and misconduct, as well as “likely policy, ethical and legal violations among senior and supervisory staff” in the days leading up to the standoff.

The memo said agents who planned and oversaw the cattle roundup mocked and displayed clear prejudice against the Bundys, their supporters and Mormons.

The investigator, Larry Wooten, said he was removed from the investigation last February after he complained to the U.S. attorney’s office in Nevada.

The judge freed the Bundy sons and Payne to house arrest during the trial after nearly two years in jail. Cliven Bundy refused the judge’s offer, with his lawyer saying the patriarch was holding out for acquittal.

Three years after it was designated Oregon’s newest American Viticultural Area, Steve Robertson says big things are beginning to happen in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater.

Robertson, owner of SJR Vineyard and Delmas Winery, was a key figure in establishing The Rocks District, which was approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in February 2015. He serves as president of the Rocks District Winegrowers, a nonprofit formed last summer to promote the unique landscape and wines within the district.

“We’ve been busy,” Robertson said. “There’s been quite a bit of progress made over the last couple of years now.”

It can take decades for a new AVA to gain acceptance in the wine world, Robertson said, though The Rocks District is already garnering recognition from some of the industry’s biggest names. Harvey Steiman, longtime editor at Wine Spectator magazine, recently described the district as “the most distinctive terroir in America” for its rugged, stony soils.

The wines themselves are also receiving acclaim, with 25 local wineries scoring 90-plus points out of 100 with Wine Spectator. Critics are especially impressed with the quality of Syrah varieties.

“When you can taste the difference, those markers are telling you there’s something special about that place on planet Earth,” Robertson said. “That’s a really remarkable thing. It’s limited. It’s rare. It’s distinctive.”

Robertson said there is evidence of wine grapes being grown in the area as far back as the early 1900s. The unique geography, he explained, makes for premier growing conditions.

The Rocks District is a subset of the Walla Walla AVA, though it is located entirely in Oregon. It is the only AVA predicated on one single soil series, characterized by basalt cobblestones — and lots of them.

The land was essentially formed over thousands of years by the nearby Walla Walla River, which washed down from the Blue Mountains and depositing gravels up to several hundred feet deep.

Geologists call it an alluvial fan. Robertson calls it tremendous terroir. Not only do the rocks allow for incredible drainage, he said, but the surface stones also act as miniature radiators to ripen grapes later in the season.

“It’s not because we’re geniuses. It’s because of that terroir,” Robertson said.

The Rocks District covers 5.9 square miles and has grown to include 37 vineyards, with more in development. Robertson said a producer from Rioja, a wine region in northern Spain, has purchased 10 acres in the district, while Willamette Valley Vineyards, one of Oregon’s top wine producers, will plant its first 5 acres in the district in early 2018.

Willamette Valley Vineyards, based south of Salem, is not new to the Walla Walla Valley. The company first purchased 42 acres in SeVein Vineyards near Milton-Freewater in 2015, growing mostly Cabernet Sauvignon.

Christine Clair, winery director for Willamette Valley Vineyards, said they purchased 36 acres of former apple and cherry orchards in The Rocks District, which will eventually become an estate vineyard for their local brand.

“We think this is one of the most interesting wine growing areas in all the new world,” Clair said.

The goal of The Rocks District Winegrowers, Robertson said, is to continue telling the district’s story as the AVA garners more attention and investment from around the world.

The nonprofit currently represents 20 different growers. Robertson said another 165 acres are in development. In 10 years, he said, The Rocks District could become a major player at the global level.

“The hardest thing about the wine industry is being patient,” Robertson said. “I think our first steps can’t necessarily be in New York or San Francisco. Our first steps need to be in Seattle and Portland.”

Robertson said the nonprofit will be meeting in mid-February to decide upon its members’ ambitions and marketing goals. First, he said, they need to build up their volume. Consumer awareness will then follow.

“Our biggest job in the Northwest is going to be Portland,” Robertson said. “But the upside is strong, because so few people from Portland have had the opportunity to taste these wines.”

Tom Danowski, president of the Oregon Wine Board, already likes what he sees out of The Rocks District. The AVA, he said, is like a “turbo-charger” for highlighting the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley.

Along with critical acclaim and a passionate group of advocates, Danowski said those are the tail winds that can help an AVA take off fast.

“The potential is just going to be extraordinary,” Danowski said.

Robertson said The Rocks District must prove it can walk before it runs, but ultimately he believes it will become the most important AVA in the Northwest.

“It’s going to be an exponential rise in planted acres, which then drives everything else,” Robertson said. “It’s not a causal thing. It’s serious business.”

An oysterman would forfeit his oyster plats in Tillamook Bay if he prevails in a lawsuit alleging inadequate regulation of dairy pollution, according to Oregon’s attorneys.

Jesse Hayes, president of the Hayes Oyster Co., filed a complaint accusing the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality of allowing dairy pollution to effectively shut down oyster harvests in the bay.

The lawsuit seeks $100,000 for lost profits and reduced property value, as well as an order for DEQ to regulate pollution more strictly in the region.

The State of Oregon denies taking the plaintiff’s property by sanctioning pollution, but if he’s successful in this claim, ownership of the affected oyster beds should go to DEQ, according to the state’s attorneys.

The title to the oyster bed lease would “vest” to the agency because Hayes is pursuing a claim of “inverse condemnation,” under which a government action is alleged to have take property without compensation, the state’s attorneys said in a counterclaim against Hayes.

Hayes objects to the state government’s argument because the lawsuit’s goal is to “regain economically viable use of its oyster plats” rather than being forced to sell them to DEQ “for a disputed price so that the pollution easement can continue indefinitely,” according to a letter sent by his attorney, Thomas Benke.

“If nothing else, public policy should preclude DEQ from extinguishing a ‘beneficial use’ that it is mandated by law to protect,” Benke said in the letter to Tillamook County Circuit Judge Mari Garric Trevino.

The fair market value of the oyster plats would be in the “millions of dollars” if Oregon properly regulated pollution, rather than the $100,000 cited in the complaint, Benke said.

If his “only remedy at law” is to seek the full value of the oyster beds, Hayes should be allowed to modify the complaint to reflect the actual value or withdraw the unjust takings claim, Benke said.

The judge has asked for a formal motion to be submitted on the matter.

Earlier this year, the judge rejected Oregon’s motion for the case to be dismissed, allowing Hayes to proceed with the lawsuit.

Because it involves regulations affecting dairy farmers, the litigation is being monitored by the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, which has disputed that dairy cows are predominantly responsible for bacterial contamination in the bay.

NYSSA, Ore. — A proposed major rail reload facility in Eastern Oregon that could greatly help the region’s onion industry is on track to be built within three years.

The region’s onion shipping companies face constant transportation challenges. Industry leaders say the problem is getting worse and the reload facility is sorely needed.

“Transportation is a chronic problem for us (and) it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it right now,” said Kay Riley, manager of Snake River Produce, one of 30 onion shipping companies in southwestern Idaho and Malheur County, Ore.

Riley said the planned reload facility is so important “it could keep us in business, and we could go out of business without it.”

The facility would allow shipping containers to be transfered between truck and rail. It could benefit a wide range of agricultural commodities grown as far away as southcentral Idaho.

Most onions produced here are sold to markets on the East Coast. Shippers must currently truck them 216 miles west to the nearest reload facility in Wallula, Wash, before they begin their journey east.

Eliminating that step will reduce the cost of shipping onions, improve timeliness of delivery and possibly open new markets, said Grant Kitamura, general manager of Baker & Murakami Produce, the region’s largest onion shipper.

“This is a major game changer for onion shippers,” he said. “It will help us maintain our viability as an industry. Transportation has been a real issue for onion shippers in Oregon and Idaho for many years and it’s been getting worse and hopefully this will help us turn it around.”

Bruce Corn, an Oregon farmer, said the facility could markedly speed up delivery times to East Coast markets.

“It can result in a substantial savings in transportation costs and also be a much more reliable source of transportation,” he said.

The $5.3 billion transportation package passed by the Oregon Legislature this year included $26 million for a reload facility in Eastern Oregon. A 400-acre piece of land just north of Nyssa was recently chosen as the facility’s location.

The plan for the facility is for it to include dry and cold storage, said Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, who is helping lead the effort to build the facility.

“All of a sudden, we become a regional location that can compete against anyone in the world,” said Smith, Malheur County’s economic development director.

The plan also includes building the infrastructure needed by food processors, Smith said.

“That way, agricultural food processors will have a one-stop location where they can produce and have a shipping hub right at their back door,” he said.

The biggest challenge now is making sure the facility is designed and built correctly, Smith said.

“I think our biggest challenge is expectation. Folks want this now,” he said. “We want to take our time and do it correctly, not do it quickly just to meet that expectation. This facility is going to be here for 100 years. Let’s do it correctly the first time.”

The change can happen overnight, a mutation at the microscopic level, causing otherwise healthy ornamentals such as daisies and chrysanthemums to sprout damaging growth defects.

Rhodococcus, a type of soil-borne bacteria, is to blame for the deformity, infecting mostly herbaceous perennial plants with leafy galls, a disease that burdens Oregon’s $900 million greenhouse and nursery industry.

But not all strains of rhodococcus are harmful, according to researchers with Oregon State University. In fact, some may be beneficial, helping to grow more root hairs and improve uptake of water and nutrients.

The transformation of rhodococcus from good to bad lies in tiny DNA molecules known as plasmids, according to OSU. Researchers are now developing tools that will allow nurseries to identify bad rhodococcus before it spreads, avoiding potentially serious losses.

Jeff Chang, associate professor for OSU in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, led a recent study published Dec. 12 in the journal eLife. He said plasmids are the switch that turns rhodococcus from beneficial to completely pathogenic, morphing from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde.

“You can see how very subtle changes in a bacterial genome can change it from being benign to pathogenic,” Chang said. “The ease to which this transition occurs is rather unusual, and it presents a difficult challenge for nurseries.”

Nurseries are the leader in Oregon agriculture production, with most sales going out of state. Not only are ornamental plants produced for aesthetics and beauty, but they also need to be free of disease before they ship out, Chang said. Otherwise, they must be destroyed.

It was Alexandra Weisberg, a postdoctoral fellow in Chang’s lab, who observed plasmids moving between strains of rhodococcus. Plasmids are molecules within bacterial DNA that replicate independently of the cell cycle, giving bacteria new advantages in their environment.

Chang said the intensive hands-on management of plants in nurseries may encourage the rhodococcus bacteria to get together and transfer the disease-causing plasmid.

“So obviously, the key is to keep the nursery site as clean as possible,” he said. “They could have rhodococcus as a persistent pathogen-causing organism on their site.”

Vigilance is crucial, Chang said, since there is no spray known to control rhodococcus. OSU is working to develop a test kit, he added, that will help nursery managers distinguish between the good and bad bacteria and avoid destroying non-infected plants.

The product is still under development, though Chang described it as resembling a pregnancy stick test.

“The hard part is extracting DNA from the bacteria,” he said.

Melodie Putnam, director and chief diagnostician at the OSU Plant Clinic, said the difference between benign and harmful rhodococcus has led to some misdiagnoses of pistachio trees, which were submitted to the university in 2014.

The trees were short and bushy, had knobby stems and would not properly graft, Putnam said. After testing, however, she found only non-pathogenic rhodococcus in the samples.

She hopes the university’s study and testing tools will help growers to accurately identify and diagnose rhodococcus themselves.

“Education is the primary thing that I’m hoping for,” Putnam said.

The project may also lead to better management tools for the harmful strains of rhodococcus, she added.

“Right now, there aren’t any good options,” she said.

Chang said his lab has pre-applied to the USDA for additional funding to continue the research, and possibly figure out what conditions cause plasmids to transfer in the first place.

“This is a huge problem in the nursery industry, which produces plants for their beauty and aesthetic values,” he said.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Bulb onion growers in southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon are enjoying much higher prices than this time last year, the result of a production year that was well below average.

The price for a 50-pound bag of jumbo yellow onions has hovered between $8.50 and $10 in recent weeks, compared to about $3.50 this time last year.

About 90 percent of the Spanish bulb onions grown in this region are yellows and most of those are jumbo size.

The onion market is extremely volatile but growers are riding a hot streak as far as prices go, said Cameron Skeen, an Oregon grower and chief operating officer for Baker & Murakami Produce Co., one of the largest onion shippers in the Idaho-Oregon growing region.

“Our market is historically higher than it’s been in awhile,” he said. “We’re having one of the best markets up to this point that we’ve had in a long, long time.”

Onion growers in this region typically produce more than 1 billion pounds of bulb onions a year but yields were off 25 to 30 percent this year due to a late start to planting and unfavorable weather, Skeen said.

The current market “is a darn good price for this time of year (and) it’s a result of lower yields,” said Grant Kitamura, general manager of Baker & Murakami Produce.

Malheur County Onion Growers Association President Paul Skeen said jumbo prices have fallen slightly from a high of about $10 per 50-pound bag to about $9-9.50 recently, but he anticipates they will increase again soon.

“I think there’s going to be a movement in the market, up,” he said. “How much up I don’t know. The onion market (has) come down a little bit but we’re anticipating that it will go back up”

Some of the 300 onion growers and 30 shippers in the area were significantly impacted by last year’s harsh winter, which resulted in about 60 onion storage sheds and packing facilities collapsing or sustaining major damage under the weight of snow and ice.

The event caused a lot of damage but the current uptick in prices is helping, Paul Skeen said.

“Onion prices are a lot better than they were last year,” he said. “We hope we can recoup some of the damage caused by Snowmageddon.”

The storage onions grown in this area are typically marketed through March and into April.

Cameron Skeen said that while it’s hard to predict what the onion market is going to do, he believes prices could increase some in January and should remain healthy through mid-March.

“It’s a manageable amount of inventory and I believe we’re going to continue to have a healthy market,” he said. “I’m bullish on the onion market.”

PERRYDALE, Ore. — It was a windfall of good news this fall for Perrydale High School’s ag education and FFA programs.

In addition to celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Food For All drive benefiting families in need with a record collection of 350,000 pounds of food, the Perrydale FFA Chapter adviser, Christina Lorenz, recently brought home a national ag award and helped secure a substantial state-funded grant for the school’s ag education program.

Perrydale’s ag program was awarded $372,286 in Revitalization Grant funds from the Oregon Department of Education and fourth-year teacher Lorenz was awarded a Turn the Key Scholarship during the recent National Association of Agricultural Educators convention in Nashville.

The grant will be used to upgrade the school’s ag education program and Lorenz’s award is meant to be “a means of encouraging young teachers to remain in the profession and recognize their participation in professional activities,” according to the NAAE.

Perrydale’s iconic Food For All program has evolved into a concerted effort by the FFA students in all of the Lower Willamette FFA District — including Central, Dallas, Willamina, Sheridan, Perrydale, Amity, Dayton and Yamhill-Carlton high schools — in making a massive effort in gathering, packaging and distributing donated produce to needy families.

The vegetables and produce collected and distributed range from local rutabagas, beets, parsnips and other root vegetables to pears from the Hood River area, potatoes from Hermiston and even oranges and fruit from area distributors.

Food For All was begun in 1998 by former Perrydale FFA adviser Kirk Hutchinson with one donated tote of potatoes. In 2015, over 260,000 pounds were collected and last year the students collected and distributed 320,000 pounds.

All of Perrydale School District’s students, from preschool to 12th grade, participate in the Food For All program’s activities each year, Lorenz said. What they get out of the effort is much more than just a chance to do some hard work.

Students make about eight to 10 trips to reach out to partners prior to collection efforts, Lorenz said.

“The trips are beneficial for a number of reasons,” she said. “Students are getting out from a school environment and into a business setting and are able to see how those businesses operate and to make a sales pitch to them.

“They get to translate what they learn in the classroom to real life.”

Food For All works with community outreach groups to identify families in need and distribute 40- to 50-pound bags of food to them each year. Food banks, local organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, the Elks Club and churches that adopt families in need are all put into the distribution mix.

“This project is amazing in so many ways,” Lorenz said. “But the most obvious way is that it gives to families in need and teaches students to serve their communities and pay it forward.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Campbell Soup will spend $4.87 billion in cash for Snyder’s-Lance, gorging on a snack market that has grown increasingly competitive.

The soup maker said Monday that the acquisition will allow it to expand its distribution channels in the crowded field.

Campbell Soup Co., based in Camden, New Jersey, is paying $50 per share, a 6.8 percent premium to Snyder’s-Lance’s closing price Friday. That’s about a 27 percent premium to the stock’s close last Wednesday, just before rumors of a deal began to circulate.

Snyder’s-Lance, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, makes pretzels and chips. Its most well-known brands include Snyder’s of Hanover, Kettle Brand and Pop Secret. It will join the Campbell’s division that makes Pepperidge Farm and Goldfish crackers.

The Snyder’s-Lance purchase marks Campbell’s sixth and largest acquisition over the last five years. It bought beverage-maker Bolthouse Farms in 2012, baby food company Plum and biscuit company Kelsen in 2013, hummus and salsa maker Garden Fresh in 2015, and soup maker Pacific Foods in 2017.

In midday trading, Campbell Soup shares added 36 cents to $49.95. Snyder’s-Lance gained $3.10, or 6.6 percent, to $49.89.

Tuesdays

Nick Nelson, an animal science instructor at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, is set to become the first teacher from Oregon and first from a postsecondary institution to serve as president of the National Association of Agriculture Teachers.

Nelson was chosen during the NAAE annual convention Dec. 5-9 in Nashville. The group represents more than 7,800 members and 12,000 agriculture teachers across the country.

As NAAE president, Nelson said his primary focus will be working to solve the agriculture teacher shortage nationwide. According to the association, there were 770 open teaching positions in 2016, and 98 schools were forced to eliminate their agriculture programs due to budget cuts, low enrollments or inability to find a qualified instructor.

“Ag teachers are truly dynamic individuals that wear numerous hats,” Nelson said in a statement. “They teach in the classroom, serve as the FFA advisor and then make project visits to students’ homes all year long.

“They are also very active in the community, doing numerous tasks, all the while raising a family and farming on the side,” Nelson said. “It is no wonder why we are seeing an increase in the number of schools that want ag programs, but not enough ag teachers to fill the positions.”

Nelson said the biggest thing is to get more states participating in the NAAE Teach Ag campaign, which helps to recruit, retain and mentor more young agriculture teachers.

Nelson is a second-generation teacher, whose father, Veril Nelson, taught agriculture in Roseburg, Ore. Together, they also raise Red Angus cattle and market bulls through the Lorenzen Red Angus program.

Before arriving at BMCC, Nelson taught high school in Clackamas and Hermiston. He will serve one year as NAAE president, and travel to Washington, D.C., for board meetings as well as the National Policy Seminar, hosted by the Association for Career and Technical Education.

“It’s a service job, and the Western states really pushed me to continue that on,” Nelson said. “That’s really why I did it, to represent them.”

SALEM — Members and employees of Wilco gathered Thursday evening to celebrate the retirement of longtime president and CEO Doug Hoffman, who led the farmers’ cooperative based in Mt. Angel, Oregon for 23 years.

Hoffman, 65, will officially retire Dec. 31, but first the co-op sent him off with a party at the Salem Convention Center featuring hors d’oeuvres, speeches and a 13-minute video tribute.

Sam Bugarsky, president of retail farm stores for Wilco, also presented Hoffman with more than $91,000 in donations raised by the co-op, which will go toward charities supporting Hoffman’s missionary work overseas.

The money, Hoffman said, will go around the world to help those in need.

“That’s the aspect which I believe we need to our live our lives,” he told the crowd seated in the Willamette Ballroom.

Throughout the event, Hoffman was described by friends and employees as humble, generous and driven. Steve Keudell, former chairman of the Wilco board of directors, praised Hoffman for establishing a team-building culture at the co-op.

“Doug gets the job done,” Keudell said.

Bugarsky said it wasn’t always smooth sailing during Hoffman’s nearly quarter-century at Wilco. Over the years, he was faced with a number of difficult, often unpopular decisions that saw the co-op divest itself of several businesses, including the tire sales, grass seed cleaning and gas stations.

Hoffman made those decisions with the long-term future of Wilco in mind, Bugarsky said.

“We definitely wouldn’t be where we are today without Doug,” Bugarsky said.

Today, more than 3,000 agricultural producers from across the Willamette Valley are members of Wilco, and the co-op has grown during Hoffman’s tenure from 70 to 900 employees.

Hoffman said he could not have accomplished what he accomplished at Wilco without the support of his employees.

“It’s a team effort. I could work 10,000 hours a day and not get done what we’ve gotten done,” he said.

Hoffman and his wife, Jan, will continue to live in Keizer and serve on humanitarian missions overseas in Africa. His first trip is already scheduled for March 2018 in Kenya and Togo. He said he will also continue to support local organizations including FFA, Corban University and the Resource Education and Agricultural Leadership Program of Oregon.

“I’ve enjoyed my career here at Wilco, no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s because I enjoy working with farmers. You’re the salt of the earth. You’re the seed.”

Tim Ramsey, the former CEO of Oregon Cherry Growers, is poised to become the next president and CEO at Wilco, and will oversee the organization’s recent merger with Hazelnut Growers of Oregon

But Thursday was all about Hoffman, whom Bugarsky described as the hardest worker in the company and a man who was never satisfied with business as usual.

Bob May, who has served on the Wilco board since 1995, said Hoffman’s intention was always to do what’s best for Wilco.

“Thank you for your leadership and your friendship for the last 23 years,” May said.

There’s no shortage of confusion over Oregon’s cannabis rules.

Establishing a regulatory regime for the crop has been compared to building an airplane while it’s in mid-flight, said Sunny Jones, cannabis policy coordinator for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

“When you’re trying to start an industry from the ground up, there are going to be some learning curves and bumps in the road,” she said.

Jones is charged with helping cannabis producers navigate the byzantine regulatory system they must traverse to legally grow the crop.

Consider the complex layers of its legal status.

Varieties of the plant with minuscule levels of THC, a psychoactive substance, can be grown for research purposes as hemp under federal law, but cultivars with higher levels of THC, which are considered marijuana, remain federally prohibited.

Nonetheless, Oregon has legalized marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, with both uses regulated differently under state law.

Several state agencies are involved in overseeing marijuana’s cultivation and sale, including the Liquor Control Commission, the Health Authority and the Department of Agriculture.

Regulating pesticides used on marijuana is within ODA’s jurisdiction, as is the food safety enforcement of edible marijuana products and the testing of scales used for weighing the crop.

Meanwhile, the state’s licensing system for industrial hemp is also administered by ODA.

If all this wasn’t complicated enough, Oregon lawmakers are also continually revising the state’s cannabis laws as the industry finds its legs.

“We’re only a few years in. It’s going to continue to change,” said Jones, who began working as the agency’s cannabis policy coordinator in 2015, a year after Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana.

Some aspects of the cannabis industry have evolved in unexpected ways.

When Oregon lawmakers legalized industrial hemp, they expected the crop would be primarily cultivated for oilseed and fiber.

Instead, most Oregon hemp growers are focused on cultivating hemp flowers, which produce cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive substance thought to possess healthful qualities.

At this point, Oregon hemp farmers lack nearby processing facilities for fiber and oilseed, Jones said. “We don’t have a lot of infrastructure for other uses.”

The production of cannabidiol extract from hemp is also becoming intermixed with the marijuana industry, as cannabis entrepreneurs are seeking to create novel products by combining the substance with THC extract.

Such developments require Oregon lawmakers and regulators to clarify how these interactions are regulated, Jones said.

Jones often fields questions about pesticides and cannabis, which is a tricky subject because the crop is illegal under federal law.

Because no pesticides are specifically labeled for cannabis, growers can only use products that aren’t subject to federal residue tolerance rules. The pesticides must also be labeled for use on a broad plethora of plants, as opposed to distinct crops.

The federal illegality of cannabis imposes a problem for growers seeking agronomic advice, since Oregon State University’s Extension system is prohibited from advising on the crop.

“Not having extension services is hard,” Jones said. “Who do you look to for the best practices?”

The solution may be found in cannabis farmers working together.

Jones believes it may be wise to form commodity commissions for hemp or marijuana, which would allow growers to pool resources and steer research.

The cannabis community isn’t limited to the “Birkenstock, tie-dye crowd,” and includes engineers and others from diverse backgrounds, she said.

“It’s really cool the wide group of people I get to work with on a regular basis,” Jones said. “Community is a core value for me as a person, and I get to put that value into action in this position.”

Community interactions have played a significant role in Jones’ career since she graduated from OSU in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in bioresource research.

She initially advised people on pesticides at the National Pesticide Information Center, then was hired by ODA to run its pesticide use reporting system.

The system never worked well due to the disparity between needed information and farmers’ privacy interests — the data was too general to be useful while growers chafed at reporting requirements.

When the program was eventually scrapped, Jones remained at ODA as a pesticide investigator before taking the cannabis policy coordinator job.

Though the pesticide use reporting system wasn’t successful, the experience has proven valuable in her new role.

“I’m used to jumping into a position that hasn’t existed before,” Jones said.

Sunny Jones

Occupation: Cannabis policy coordinator for the Oregon Department of Agriculture

Age: 36

Education: Bachelor of science in bioresource research, Oregon State University in 2003

Hometown: Salem, Ore.

Family: A partner and two children

March 9, 1922 – Nov. 29, 2017

Donald Holmes Tate- 86, of Langlois, passed away Dec. 7, 2017. Arrangements are pending with Redmond Memorial Chapel, 541-548-3219.