Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2016)
2 CapitalPress.com October 21, 2016 People & Places Big pumpkins, big business John Hawkley specializes in record-setting mega-squashes Western Innovator For the Capital Press John Hawkley Associated Press KEY LARGO, Fla. — A narrow ribbon of road link- ing the Florida Keys with the mainland is the front line in a renewed ight against maggots that can eat livestock alive. Near a Key Largo visitors’ center painted with larger- than-life tropical ish and sea turtles, northbound drivers with animals must stop for agriculture oficials check- ing for signs of New World screwworm. The parasite once cost the U.S. livestock industry mil- lions of dollars every year. There hadn’t been a U.S. in- festation in over 30 years, un- til the USDA conirmed Sept. 30 that screwworms were kill- ing rare, dog-sized deer found only in the island chain. The source of the infes- tation isn’t known, but the Keys’ isolation may help stop Calendar Occupation: Competitive pumpkin grower Family: Wife, Patty, three grown children and one grandchild Quote: “Growing pumpkins takes an extreme amount of labor and love from April through July 1. After that you hope to see the fruits of your labors.” Courtesy of New York Botanical Society Napa, Calif., competitive pumpkin grower John Hawkley still holds the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh- Off competition record with this mega-squash that tipped the scales at 2,058 pounds in 2014. The seeds from the huge pumpkins are highly prized for their genetics. I have a plant and in six to eight days I begin to see baby pumpkins that I transfer to mini-greenhouses and then outside.” He said he needs 750 square feet per plant for the big ones. This year’s winner, To- beck, told an NBC reporter that she regularly sent pump- kin samples to a laboratory for tests so she could adjust her fertilizer blend. screwworm from spreading, Florida Agriculture Commis- sioner Adam Putnam said. “We are obviously in a more remote part of the state with one way in and one way out,” Putnam said. Fifty years ago, Florida’s ight against screwworm pio- neered a kind of birth control for insect pests — a tech- nique that’s potentially useful against Zika and other mos- quito-borne viruses. What are screwworms? New World screwworms, or Cochliomyia hominivo- rax, are about the same size as common houselies as adults, but have orange eyes. They only lay eggs near open wounds in warm-blooded an- imals. Unlike most maggots, these larvae feed on living lesh. They don’t ly very far, but infected animals can spread infestations if they 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. room 16th Annual Fall Harvest Din- ner and Fundraiser, 5 p.m. CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State University, 725 SW 26th St., Cor- vallis. The social hour and silent auction start at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 and the oral auction at 7:45. oregonaitc.org/ Through Saturday Oct. 22 Tuesday-Wednesday Oct. 25-26 2016 National FFA Convention and Expo. Bankers Life Field House and Indiana Convention Center, In- dianapolis, Indiana. www.ffa.org Friday-Saturday Oct. 21-22 Montana Farmers Union Con- vention, Best Western Heritage Inn, Great Falls, Montana. montana- farmersunion.com Saturday, Oct. 22 Oregon Agriculture in the Class- Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Hometown: Napa, Calif. Hawkley began com- peting for prize money in 2012 and won a Morgan Hill, Calif., weigh-off with a 1,647-pounder. In 2014, he was the irst person in the U.S. to grow a 1-ton pumpkin, which weighed 2,058 pounds. After that win, the New York Botanical Society lew Hawkley, his wife and the pumpkin — in a specialty– built crate — to New York. The pumpkin went on display and Hawkley appeared on TV shows. The society harvested the seeds and mailed them back to Hawkley. Hawkley still holds the state and Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-Off records. “Contrary to popular opin- ion, growers do not make a batch of pumpkin pies after competitions,” he said. “Most of the big ones are not really edible. People are fascinat- ed by the big pumpkins and want to display them. There are large casinos in Las Vegas that buy the huge ones at 40 cents to $1 a pound just for displays.” When he does sell one of the scale-busting pumpkins, he wants the seeds returned. They are valuable for their ge- netics, he said. Jesse Ramer, interim ex- ecutive director of the Napa County Farm Bureau, pointed out Hawkley’s contribution to agriculture. “We have the greatest farmers in the world here in the winegrape business,” he said. “I think it is important to spotlight other folks that are doing other interesting projects. We are pleased to have John as a Farm Bureau member.” Hawkley trades seeds with growers all over the world. After the season is over, he gets envelopes with return addresses from people want- ing seeds. Clubs use them for fundraisers or for members to grow their own. “We in the Napa Valley have a history of world record holders,” he said. “But the biggest challenge is keeping the pumpkins growing as long as possible while keeping them whole.” Florida oficials hope quarantine, irradiated lies stop screwworm By JENNIFER KAY 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 By JULIA HOLLISTER NAPA, Calif. — In a re- gion known for its vineyards and wineries, John Hawkley grows pumpkins. Big pumpkins. Pumpkins so big he needs a forklift to move them. Pumpkins that can bring him a paycheck worth thousands of dollars. Hawkley thinks big — over 2,000 pounds or more — and the rewards lie in the con- tests he attends, not the pies. “I grew up in Napa but wasn’t interested in growing pumpkins until 10 years ago,” he said. “That was about the time I watched a couple of lo- cal people load a huge pump- kin on a carrier to take to a weigh-off.” He said he was fascinated. “That season I grew a 200-pound one and was hooked,” he said. Hawkley said growers in the area help each other produce the big ones, which is extremely dificult. Pests such as beetles and white lies can attack the big squashes. Soil-borne diseases are also a threat. Several weigh-offs take place each year in Califor- nia, and the winning pump- kins are getting bigger, along with the crowds — and the paychecks. This year’s winning pump- kin at the Half Moon Bay, Ca- lif., contest tipped the scales at 1,910 pounds and garnered a cash prize of $11,460 for the winner, Cindy Tobeck of Lit- tle Rock, Wash. The path to a winning pumpkin starts with the right seeds, which Hawkley keeps from year to year and swaps with other competitive grow- ers. “In April, I start the seeds indoors in quart-sized cups in a preheated, insulated hot house,” he said. “In two days Capital Press Oregon Society of Weed Sci- ence annual meeting, 8 a.m. Best Western Hood River Inn, 1108 E. Marina Way, Hood River, Ore. Wednesday-Friday Oct. 26-28 FSPCA Preventive Controls for Animal Food Course, 8 a.m. Sprin- ghill Suites by Marriott,424 E. Park Center Blvd., Boise, Idaho. The course will cover an overview of the FSMA requirements for animal food, current good manufacturing move to new areas. Livestock are most at risk, but human infections can occur in rare instances. Screwworm lies are found throughout South America and a handful of Caribbean countries. Miniature deer Key deer are a unique subspecies of white-tailed deer about 3 feet tall at the shoulder — the size of a large dog. Found only in the Flor- ida Keys, their population rebounded from just a few dozen in the 1950s to a herd of roughly 1,000 now. About 30 Key deer have been found dead or have been euthanized in the last two weeks because of screwworm, said National Key Deer Ref- uge Manager Dan Clark. Ref- uge records indicate at least another 30 deer deaths over the summer were linked to screwworm. Sterilizing screwworms Agriculture oficials have announced the release of mil- lions of male screwworm lies, sterilized with radiation, to mate with wild female lies in the refuge. Any eggs pro- duced won’t hatch, killing the ly population over time, said Cris Young, a veterinarian with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The screwworm’s life cycle is about 24 days. The releases may continue twice weekly for six months, Putnam said. Chemical treatments are available for infested cattle and pets, but the sterilized insects are so effective that pesticides aren’t necessary, Young said. Sterile insects, Zika The “sterile insect tech- nique” developed in the 1950s is still widely used. Irradiated Mediterranean fruit lies have been released regularly since 1998 in South Florida and the Tampa area. Texas and Cali- fornia also release irradiated fruit lies. The promise of pest control without pesticides is a selling point for those trying similar techniques to control the mos- quitoes that spread Zika. A representative from the United Nations’ Internation- al Atomic Energy Agency pitched the technique’s po- tential this spring to Florida Keys mosquito control ofi- cials looking for new weap- ons against the hard-to-kill species carrying Zika, dengue fever and other viruses. A proposal to test mos- quitoes genetically modiied so their larvae won’t survive is up for a referendum in the Keys next month. A separate test being considered in Flori- da involves mosquitoes steril- ized with bacteria. Entire contents copyright © 2016 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing ofices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff N. 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 Central Washington Dan Wheat ........................ 509-699-9099 E Washington Matthew Weaver .............. 509-688-9923 Oregon Eric Mortenson ................ 503-412-8846 Mateusz Perkowski .......... 800-882-6789 Graphic artist Alan Kenaga ..................... 800-882-6789 To Place Classiied Ads Ad fax .............................. 503-364-2692 or ...................................... 503-370-4383 Telephone (toll free) .......... 866-435-2965 Online ......www.capitalpress.com/classiieds Subscriptions Mail rates paid in advance Easy Pay U.S. $3.75/month (direct with- drawal from bank or credit card account) 1 year U.S. ...................................$49.99 2 years U.S. .................................$89.99 1 year Canada .................................$275 1 year other countries ......... call for quote 1 year Internet only .......................$49.99 1 year 4-H, FFA students and teachers ....$30 9 months 4-H, FFA students & teachers .....$25 Visa and Mastercard accepted To get information published Mailing address: Capital Press P.O. 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 GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE Index www.oxarc.com practice requirements, animal food safety hazards, an overview of the food safety plan and other related issues. Cost: $650/person for 2 or more people from the same compa- ny registering at the same time or $720 per individual. Friday-Sunday Oct. 28-30 Oregon State Beekeepers As- sociation Fall Conference 2016, The Oregon Garden, 879 W. Main St., Silverton, Ore. The theme for this conference is “Beekeep- ing Out of the Box.” Other topics such as honeybee health will be covered as well. Speakers include Tom Seeley, George Hansen, Ramesh Sagili, John Skinner, Elina Nino, Judy Wu and Miksa Queens. There will be a beginning beekeeping class running concur- rently with the main meeting on Saturday. OSU will have a bee lab 20 Northwest Locations on site to analyze bee samples. Sunday, Oct. 30 Farm Succession Planning Workshop. 4-8:30 p.m. Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 College Way, Forest Grove, Ore. Hosted by Tualatin SWCD, Rogue Farm Corps and Dairy Creek Com- munity Food Web. RSVP requested at 971-409-6806 or nellie@rog- uefarmcorps.org, http://www.swcd. net/event/leaving-a-legacy/ Tuesday-Thursday Nov. 1-3 2016 NIAA Antibiotics Sympo- sium. Antibiotic Use — Working To- gether for Better Solutions. National Institute for Animal Agriculture con- ference at Hyatt Regency Dulles, Herndon, Va. animalagriculture. org/2016-Antibiotics-Symposium, call 719-538-8843 or email niaa@ animalagriculture.org 1-800-765-9055 Wednesday-Friday Nov. 2-4 Washington State Weed Con- ference, Wenatchee Convention Center, 121 N Wenatchee Ave. www.weedconference.org Thursday, Nov. 3 Forestry Short Course. 6-9:30 p.m. Centennial Distributing Co. meeting room, 701 W. Buckles Road, Hayden, Idaho. This six-session program continues every Thursday through Dec. 15 and covers forest health, silviculture, and other topics. Thursday-Saturday Nov. 3-5 Equipment Manufacturers Con- ference. J.W. Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, Tucson, Ariz. The con- ference is presented by the Ameri- can Feed Industry Association and the Equipment Manufacturers Com- mittee. www.aia.org California ................................ 8 Dairy .................................... 15 Idaho .....................................11 Livestock ............................. 15 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Oregon ................................ 10 Washington ........................... 9 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.