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2 CapitalPress.com September 9, 2016 People & Places Farmers test biochar’s beneits Kelpie Wilson investigates substance to improve cropland Western Innovator By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Calling Kelpie Wilson a “bio- char believer” isn’t a joke. “I’m a believer in science,” she said, “and the science tells us bio- char is worth pursuing.” And at this point in her life, Wil- son is in chase mode. She is part of a Southern Oregon group, the Umpqua Biochar Education Team, or UBET, that is working with 10 farmers to make biochar, mix it with manure and apply it to their land. The work is funded by a two-year, $75,000 grant from the USDA’s Nat- ural Resources Conservation Ser- vice. The UBET group’s biochar findings will be shared with others through extension agents and NRCS. “One of my roles, I feel, is to thoroughly investigate it and under- stand it, and communicate that to others,” Wilson said. Among other things, the group has teamed up with welding students at Umpqua Community College, who make farm-scale kilns in which farmers can burn debris and produce biochar. The group’s work was dis- played during a biochar conference held Aug. 22-25 at Oregon State University. About 300 researchers, educators and producers attended. Biochar is essentially charcoal made from burning such things as woody debris or straw in the pres- ence of little or no oxygen. As a soil amendment, it retains moisture and nutrients, increases pH and seques- ters carbon. Limited field trials have shown it can increase crop yield. Agricultural interest is high, but Kelpie Wilson Occupation: Principal consultant at Wilson Biochar Associates. Personal: Age 60, married to George Shook, a noted banjo player. Lives on rural property outside Cave Junction, in Southern Oregon. Avid hiker and backpacker, loves gardening, raises worms. The name Kelpie is Scottish, and refers to a water fairy said to inhabit ponds and lochs. Background: Lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia and overseas growing up as her father worked for the government, was an English literature professor and eventually served as president of California State University at Chico, commonly known as Chico State. Wil- son earned a mechanical engineering degree from Chico State. Turning Point: Wilson got her driver’s license as the Arab oil embargo of 1973 was unfolding. The disruption to American life, with motorists restricted to buying gas on alternate days, con- vinced her that pursuing renewable energy was critical. Courtesy of Wilson Biochar Associates Kelpie Wilson heads a project in Southern Oregon in which farmers are making biochar and applying it to their soil. biochar is expensive to make. Re- search and commercial development is advancing in a herky-jerky fash- ion, in part because of the diversity of biochar sources and applications. In addition to being a soil amend- ment, for example, it can be used to control odor and absorb pollutants. In some instances, it’s being used to help clean up mining sites. Wilson said the industry needs to focus. “It is all over the map,” she said. “There are so many things to do with biochar, and so many ways to make it, and it impacts so many oth- er industries. It needs to have suc- cess in one aspect.” She has an idea about that, too. During the biochar conference at OSU, one speaker said California has an estimated 66 million dead trees in its public forests. The speak- er, Raymond Baltar of the Sonoma Biochar Initiative, said dead trees could be logged and burned in con- verted biomass plants to make bio- char, which then could be applied to California’s drought-stricken farm- land. And that, Wilson said, could be the one big, quick, focused move that gets biochar off and running. “Let’s save California agricul- Activist and advocate: Worked for environmental groups, particularly on forest issues, and lobbied for protec- tion of roadless and wilderness areas on public land. These days: Believes biochar has great potential to improve soil, retain water, boost crop yield and sequester carbon. Website: www.wilsonbiochar.com ture from the drought,” she said. “It’s one region, but it could have a huge impact.” Capital Press Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate oficer John Perry Chief operating oficer Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... 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California Tim Hearden .................... 530-605-3072 E Idaho John O’Connell ................. 208-421-4347 Idaho Carol Ryan Dumas .......... 208-860-3898 Boise Sean Ellis .......................... 208-914-8264 Hanjin pledges $90M to resolve shipping cargo chaos By YOUKYUNG LEE AP Business Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hanjin Group said Sept. 6 it will inject $90 mil- lion, including $36 million from chairman Cho Yang-ho’s personal assets, to help re- solve disruptions to contain- er cargo transport caused by Hanjin Shipping Co.’s inan- cial troubles. The move follows South Korean government demands that the parent company do more to help as Hanjin’s ves- sels remain stranded outside ports after the company iled for bankruptcy protection last week. Hanjin Shipping is seeking protection from creditors in dozens of countries, hoping to minimize seizures of its assets. With the company’s assets fro- zen, its ships are being refused permission to ofload or take on containers at ports world- wide, out of concern tugboat pilots or stevedores may not be paid. Out of 141 vessels the company operates, 68 were not operating normally, were stranded or seized, as of Sun- day. The world’s seventh largest AP Photo/Elaine Thompson File The Port of Seattle is shown in this ile photo. The bankruptcy of Hanjin has sent shock waves through the container shipping industry. ocean shipper, Hanjin Ship- ping is part of the Seoul-based Hanjin Group, a huge, fami- ly-dominated conglomerate, or chaebol, that also includes Korean Air. The Hanjin Group said in a statement Sept. 6 that it will provide its stakes in over- seas terminals, such as the one Hanjin operates in Long Beach, California, as collateral to borrow 60 billion won ($54 million). That still falls short of the fees that Hanjin Shipping must pay for services it needs to off- load cargoes already on its ves- sels. According to local media reports, that amounts to 600 billion won ($543 million). It was unclear if banks or the government might provide more inancing to resolve the immediate crisis. In the meantime, South Korean regulators said they are directing Hanjin Shipping vessels to unload cargoes in a few key ports, including in Singapore and Hamburg, Ger- many. With the country’s largest ocean shipper idled and the shipbuilding industry also in crisis, a government task force is directing moves to salvage the container ship- ping sector, which like ocean shipping worldwide has been battered by weak demand and overcapacity. “The government is mak- ing all-out efforts to minimize damage and loss of consign- ors,” Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho told reporters Sept. 5. “Korean government-led re- sponse teams will be formed in the selected offshore ports to swiftly receive stay orders or guaranteed protection,” Yoo said in Hangzhou, Chi- na, where he was attending a Group of 20 summit. Oficials appear set on a consolidation, without com- mitting huge sums of taxpayer cash, of Hanjin and its smaller rival, Hyundai Merchant Ma- rine, which already is being restructured. Hanjin Shipping was han- dling nearly 8 percent of the trans-Paciic trade volume for the U.S. market, and with its container ships marooned offshore, major retailers have been scrambling to devise contingency plans to get their merchandise into stores. The shipping company has posted net losses every year since 2011. Last week, creditors led by the Korea Development Bank rejected a plan by Hanjin Group to spend another 500 billion won ($447.2 million) to rescue the shipping irm, way short of Hanjin Shipping’s more than 6 trillion won ($5.37 billion) in debts. Hanjin’s shares jumped 20 percent on Sept. 6 on hopes for government help for the company, after falling 13.7 percent on Sept. 5. Illness linked to imported produce inds foothold in Texas By DAVID WARREN Associated Press DALLAS — Health ofi- cials are trying to determine why there’s been a dramat- ic increase in the number of people in Texas each year who contract a food-borne illness that’s often linked to produce imported from Mex- ico and other warmer climes. Although there have been outbreaks in several states in recent years, including one in 2005 in Florida that sickened nearly 600 people, cyclospo- riasis infection rates returned to normal levels after the sources were contained. But in Texas, the number of cases shot up from 44 in 2012 to 351 in 2013 and has remained in the triple digits ever since, with 200 in 2014, more than 300 last year and more than 100 so far this year, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. State and federal health oficials say an increasing amount of produce that’s imported from tropical and subtropical regions — where the parasite that causes the illness is endemic — is like- ly contributing to the recent outbreaks. Some in the past few years were traced to tainted pro- duce from Mexico, but ofi- cials haven’t found a com- mon source for this year’s cases in Texas, said Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the Texas department. “It’s very challenging for epidemiologists to investi- gate food-borne outbreaks,” Mann said, explaining that investigators must consider myriad factors like the travel itinerary of people who be- come ill. She said there are oth- er circumstances that could be driving up the number of cases, such as the outbreaks raising more awareness of the disease, leading to addi- tional testing for it and more diagnoses. And given its long bor- der with Mexico, Texas could be consuming more imported produce than other states, raising the risk of infection, Mann speculated. 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Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 News: Contact the main ofice or news staff member closest to you, send the in- formation to newsroom@capitalpress.com or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press. Include a contact telephone number. Letters to the Editor: Send your comments on agriculture-related public issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital Press. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Deadline: Noon Monday. Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com www.AgDirectoryWest.com marketplace.capitalpress.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller www.facebook.com/onlyAGdotcom twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo www.blogriculture.com Index Calendar Sponsored by: To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www. capitalpress.com and click on “Sub- mit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301. Saturday, Sept. 10 Practical Application of Soil Management Principles: Down and Dirty, 9 a.m.-noon SOREC Exten- sion Building Auditorium, 569 Han- ley Road, Central Point, Ore. Wear work clothes and bring gloves for the second session of this two-ses- sion class. Move beyond theory and learn about the Rogue Valley soils. https://secure.oregonstate. edu/osuext/register/1064 Washington State Fair, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup. (253) 845-1771, www.thefair.com/ Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97 Park St., Blackfoot. 208-785-2480, https://funatthefair.com/ Sunday, Sept. 11 Oregon State Board of Agricul- ture meeting. Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Pendleton. www.oregon. gov/ODA/AboutUs/Pages/Board- Agriculture.aspx Washington State Fair, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.thefair.com/ GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com Monday, Sept. 12 Oregon State Board of Agricul- ture meeting. Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Pendleton. www.oregon. gov/ODA/AboutUs/Pages/Board- Agriculture.aspx Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.thefair.com/ Tuesday, Sept. 13 Oregon State Board of Agricul- ture meeting. Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Pendleton. www.oregon. gov/ODA/AboutUs/Pages/Board- Agriculture.aspx Oregon Invasive Species Coun- cil 2016 Summit and Awards Lun- 20 Northwest Locations cheon 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Chemeketa Community College Eola Wine Studies Center, 215 Doaks Ferry Road NW, Salem. In addition to the strategic plan discussion the council will also celebrate champions in in- vasive species efforts at the awards luncheon. tinyurl.com/OISCSummit Wednesday, Sept. 14 Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup. (253) 845-1771, www.thefair.com/ Thursday, Sept. 15 Small Farm School, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, Ore. Small Farm School 1-800-765-9055 is aimed at beginning small-scale commercial farmers in the Willamette Valley. Workshop topics include goat, hazelnut, cut lower and vegetable pro- duction, on-farm veterinary care, elec- tric fencing for pastures, new farmer business and marketing, tractor safety and operation, small engine repair, farming with native beneicial insects and pasture care. Several classes will be held at the OSU North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora. Small Farm School is a col- laboration between OSU Extension, Clackamas Soil and Water Conserva- tion District and Clackamas Communi- ty College. Cost: $75 for adults, $50 for youths 13-18 with an adult Dairy .................................... 10 Livestock ............................. 10 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.