Wednesday, September 21, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
HEMp: Crop is sensitive
to moisture and frost
impacts
Continued from page 1
That raised concern among
some local people that heli-
copters will be a regular fea-
ture of ongoing operations.
According to Cyrus, that is
not the case. The prospect of
a longer-term need prior to
harvest in mid-October led to
a change in the operation.
“Given the long-term fore-
cast for more frost, we’ve
ordered some wind-generat-
ing machines,” Cyrus said.
Those machines were to
be in place by last Tuesday,
which Cyrus said will remove
the need for a disruptive,
costly aerial operation.
Cyrus told The Nugget that
his family is raising industrial
hemp on about 30 acres.
“We’re one of a few farm-
ers in Central Oregon and one
of I think 77 farmers state-
wide,” he said.
Industrial hemp is distinct
from its relative, marijuana;
by regulation it can only con-
tain a tiny percentage of THC,
the chemical compound that
creates the high associated
with marijuana use. Cyrus
said his crop contains .3 per-
cent THC, below the man-
dated limit.
“It’s regulated by the
Oregon Department of
Agriculture, and they evalu-
ate the THC levels before
harvest,” he said.
Hemp has myriad uses
— from paper products and
clothing made out of the
fiber to food (hemp hearts are
featured at Costco) to use of
hemp oil for industrial lubri-
cation and skin-care products.
Industrial hemp-derived
CBD oils are believed to have
a range of medicinal benefits
in treating chronic conditions.
In addition to having broad
market potential, the crop is
farmer-friendly, Cyrus notes.
It uses little water. Cyrus said
he is using only 10 to 20 per-
cent as much water on his
hemp acreage as he would if
it was in pasture or hay. And
the crop does not severely
deplete the soil, allowing
multiple replantings on the
same fields.
It has the potential to
reinvigorate production
agriculture in Central
oregon. IF, in fact,
we can produce it...
— Matt Cyrus
Given the extensive poten-
tial of the crop, Cyrus said, “I
know dozens more farmers
who are expecting to raise it
next year.”
However, frost and mois-
ture sensitivity raise ques-
tion marks for the viability of
the crop in Central Oregon.
The Cyrus crop will be an
indicator.
“It has the potential to
reinvigorate production agri-
culture in Central Oregon,”
Cyrus said. “IF, in fact, we
can produce it — but at this
point that’s an unknown.”
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31
oregon settles lawsuit for botched rollout
By gillian Flaccus
Associated Press
P O RT L A N D
(AP)
— Oregon settled with a
California software giant in
a lawsuit that accused Oracle
America Inc. of collecting tens
of millions of dollars to create
a state health care exchange
website that didn’t work.
The state initially asked for
more than $6 billion in puni-
tive damages when it filed the
lawsuit in 2014 against the
Redwood Shores, California
company, but Oregon ulti-
mately accepted a package
that included $35 million in
cash payments and software
licensing agreements and
technical support with an esti-
mated upfront worth of $60
million.
The state paid Oracle $240
million to create its Cover
Oregon website but ultimately
abandoned the site and joined
the federal exchange to com-
ply with the Affordable Care
Act.
Most of the money used to
pay Oracle was from federal
funds designated to help states
comply with the new health
care law and that is likely why
the settlement relies mostly
on non-cash value, said David
Friedman, an associate pro-
fessor of law at Willamette
University who has closely
followed the litigation.
“The government would
say, ‘Thank you for being
our collection agency. We’re
going to take that back,’” he
said. “That’s why this is com-
ing out as credits and things
Jeff Jones
Principal Broker
541-480-7201
jeffjoneslcl@
gmail.com
that are a little bit to the side
of the direct verdict. Oracle
has probably convinced them
that this is their best shot at
collecting the best value.”
Six years of unlimited
Oracle software and techni-
cal support included in the
deal will save the state hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in
years to come and ends a bit-
ter legal battle that has dam-
aged Oregon’s “collective
psyche,” Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum said in a
statement.
“The beauty of the deal is
that if we choose to take full
advantage of the free (soft-
ware), we are uniquely situ-
ated to modernize our state-
wide IT systems over the next
six years — something we
could not otherwise afford to
do,” she said.
The cash payments include
$25 million to reimburse the
state’s legal fees and a $10
million grant to fund math,
science and technology edu-
cation in Oregon schools.
Oracle has insisted the
website worked but former
Gov. John Kitzhaber chose
not to use it for political
reasons.
“We are pleased to have
this contentious litigation
behind us and to provide
Oregon with the flexibility
to obtain the software and
technical support it desires to
address the State’s needs over
the next several years,” said
Dorian Daley, the company’s
executive vice president and
general counsel. “This is an
innovative resolution to a
complex matter.”
Oregon produced the
country’s worst rollout of the
new national health insurance
program. While the crippled
website eventually worked,
Oregon’s failed to enroll a
single person online. The
state had to resort to hiring
400 people to process paper
applications.
the beauty of the
deal is that if we choose
to take full advantage
of the free (software),
we are uniquely situated
to modernize our
statewide It systems...
— ellen rosenblum
In March 2015, Gov. Kate
Brown signed legislation dis-
solving Cover Oregon.
“This was going to go on
and on forever and ever,”
Friedman said. “A lot of peo-
ple can claim victory over
this.”
She can now put the messy
litigation behind her as she
runs for election in her own
right, Friedman said. Brown
inherited the governorship
after her predecessor quit
amid a federal investigation
in February 2015. The win-
ner of the November election
will serve out the two remain-
ing years of former Gov. John
Kitzhaber’s term.
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