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Paint the paper pink! Join us throughout the month of October as we focus on Breast Cancer awareness, education & prevention Capital Press The West’s FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 VOLUME 88, NUMBER 40 A g Weekly WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 In West, women farmers carry economic clout By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press GETTING BY 84 Ore. 30 BAKER 95 Weiser 26 MALHEUR Ontario eek Vale ly Cr R. B ul eur Payette 52 201 20 Nyssa 84 Ma 30 Owyhee Reservoir Homedale S na Marsing ee R. Idaho Ore. NTARIO, Ore. — Growers along the Oregon-Idaho border who depend on water from the Owyhee Reservoir to irrigate their crops have had to change the way they farm. They have no choice. The annual water allotment for the 1,800 farms that depend on the reservoir has been slashed by about two- thirds during the past three years as a drought grips the region. The reservoir provides water for 118,000 irrigated acres in Malheur County in southeastern Oregon and around Homedale and Marsing in southwestern Idaho. This was the fourth straight year of reduced snowpack runoff in the Owyhee Basin, which feeds the Owyhee River and the reservoir. The Owyhee Irrigation District receives water from the reservoir and de- livers it to irrigators through 400 miles of canals, laterals and ditches. “I know growers who are growing onions on 1.7 to 1.8 acre-feet of water. Ten years ago that never happened; we used almost twice that number to grow an onion,” Ontario, Ore., farmer Bill Johnson said. Turn to DROUGHT, Page 12 lh Capital Press Riv e ke o By SEAN ELLIS Area in detail Ore. Idaho Eastern Oregon farmers adapt to deal with years of drought Sean Ellis/Capital Press y Ow 95 r 78 N h 10 miles Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Sean Ellis/Capital Press File Stuart Reitz, an Oregon State University cropping systems extension agent in Malheur County, discusses his research with farmers during a fi eld day. “Growers are doing what they have to do to make a crop,” he said of the drought conditions that have prevailed in Eastern Oregon. SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE OCTOBER 2, 2015 WINTER SERVICES & SUPPLIES • Winter requires preparations on the dairy farm • Timing is important when purchasing equipment PAGE 2 PAGE 4 Capital Press The West’s A g Weekly • Vineyards need to be ‘tucked in’ for winter PAGE 7 The percentage of Pacif- ic Northwest and California farmers who are women eas- ily tops the national average, according to statistics re- leased by the USDA. Nationally, 31 percent of farmers are women, and they farm more than 301 million acres and have a $12.9 bil- lion annual economic im- pact, according to USDA. In Oregon, 39 percent of farmers are women; 37 per- cent in Washington and 33 percent in Idaho and Cali- fornia. The West in general has a higher percentage of women farmers than the rest of the country. Arizona tops the list with 45 percent women; Ne- vada counts 39 percent, Col- orado 37 percent, Wyoming 35 percent and New Mexico and Montana have 34 per- cent. Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said the culture of the West is more receptive than other regions to women being involved in agricul- ture. That can’t help but in- fluence or change agricul- ture, although the women themselves may not think there’s anything special about their presence, Coba said. “When there’s a diversity of perspectives, that’s a good thing,” she said. “Women are one element of that di- versity.” Young farmers and peo- ple who grew up in urban areas and are turning to ag- riculture also bring diverse viewpoints and experience to farming, she said. “The more we can bring those people together and help shape ag policy, I think you just get better policy,” she said. In the Midwest, women make up 23 percent of the farmers in Illinois, 25 per- cent in Iowa and 28 percent in Ohio. The numbers are drawn from the 2012 Census of Women farmers in the U.S., 2012 Of the nearly 1 million women farmers nationwide, more than 10 percent come from the Northwest and California. Northwest and California: 98,263 or 10.1% Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture 40,072 Rest of U.S.: 871,409 or 89.9% Breakdown by state 22,772 22,376 13,043 Calif. Ore. Wash. Idaho Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Online • USDA’s state-by-state analysis of women farmers. http: //www.usda.gov/wps/ portal/usda/usdahome? contentid=women-in-ag.html • 2013 Capital Press article on daughters taking over the family farm. http: //www.capitalpress.com/ article/20131024/ ARTICLE/131029935 Agriculture, which actually showed a 2 percent decline nationally in women farm- ers compared to the 2007 ag census. The 2012 census also showed the number of women who are principal operators declined by 6 per- cent. Nonetheless, women’s impact in ag is evident. In Oregon, for example, they farm 7.3 million acres and have a $263 million eco- nomic impact. The USDA also an- nounced it has established a mentoring network for wom- en in agriculture. The agency invited people to take part by emailing AgWomenLead@ usda.gov or follow #wome- ninag on Twitter. ODFW won’t authorize killing wolves despite multiple attacks By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Oregon wildlife offi cials won’t authorize killing members of the Mount Emily wolf pack despite fi ve confi rmed attacks on a sheep herd since June. Under the state’s wolf recovery plan, which moved into Phase 2 this year, Oregon Depart- ment of Fish & Wildlife can authorize lethal control of wolves after two confi rmed “dep- redations,” or one confi rmed attack and three attempts. But ODFW chose not to in this case, despite four documented attacks by the Mount Emily pack in August and a fi fth in June. At least seven sheep and a guard dog were killed in pack attacks investigated June 22, Aug. 4, Aug. 15, Aug. 24 and Aug. 27. The attacks would have qualifi ed for lethal control Courtesy of Jeremy Bingham A sheep killed by wolves this summer in North- east Oregon. State wildlife offi cials refuse to take lethal action against the Mount Emily pack despite fi ve confi rmed depredations. even under Phase 1 of the recovery plan, which required four confi rmed depredations over a six-month period. Turn to WOLVES, Page 12