March 27, 2015
CapitalPress.com
9
Oregon
Lawmakers ponder increase
in farm-to-school grants
Legislation would
make grants
non-competitive
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A nearly five-fold increase
in Oregon farm-to-school
funding has cleared its first
hurdle in the state legislature.
On March 19, the House
Committee on Rural Com-
munities, Land Use and Water
voted to approve the legislation,
which increases farm-to-school
funding from $1.2 million to
$5.6 million per biennium.
House Bill 2721 has now
been referred to the Joint Com-
mittee on Ways and Means
with a unanimous “do-pass”
recommendation.
Apart from boosting the
total amount of money that
schools can use to buy food
from Oregon producers, the
bill also changes the program
to make grants available on a
non-competitive basis.
Schools currently compete
for farm-to-school funds but
many find that the process of
applying for the grant is too
burdensome, said Rep. Brian
Clem, D-Salem. “We want to
remove barriers.”
While the amount of per-
meal assistance to schools
would be lower, the bill would
make the program available
to everyone, he said. The bill
also allows schools to use
grant funds for all meals, not
just lunches.
House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, said the legislation
marks the evolution of a pro-
gram that “masterfully con-
nects” education and agricul-
ture in Oregon.
“This is the next phase of
this program,” she said during
a March 19 hearing before the
House Committee on Rural
Communities, Land Use and
Water.
Roughly $4.6 million would
be disbursed to schools on a
non-competitive process based
on the number of meals they
serve.
Some $900,000 in com-
petitive grant funds would be
available to schools and oth-
er organizations that conduct
food-related education and
about $100,000 would be used
to administer the program.
Since
the
legislature
launched the program in 2011,
26 school districts have been
awarded grant money, accord-
ing to supporters.
Supporters claim the pro-
gram encourages children to
eat more healthful foods while
providing Oregon farmers with
a meaningful source of income.
Aside from directly stim-
ulating local food sales, the
program can change long-
term buying habits and in-
spire parents to buy frozen
and canned products from Or-
egon companies, said Molly
McCargar of Pearmine Farms
near Gervais, Ore.
Brown keeps water train moving
EO Media Group
PENDLETON, Ore. —
The $51.6 million Columbia
River water development fund
is among Gov. Kate Brown’s
top priorities this session, and
she said Friday she hopes to see
the budget item approved by
the end of April.
During a meeting with the
East Oregonian editorial board,
Brown said she is urging the
legislature to “move quickly”
on a package that would pro-
vide funding to expand irriga-
tion in the Columbia Basin.
The expenditure was in-
cluded in former Gov. John
Kitzhaber’s proposed budget,
which is now being discussed
by the Ways and Means Com-
mittee. Brown, who replaced
Kitzhaber on Feb. 18, said the
biggest hurdle to getting the
development fund approved
would be if the fund becomes
a bargaining chip. She said
she is encouraging leadership
During a visit to
Pendleton, Ore., Friday,
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown said the $51.6
million Columbia 7iver
water development
fund is among her top
priorities.
EO Media Group/ E.J. Harris
to pass the funding early in
the session and let other piec-
es of the budget be decided
from there.
State Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, said the Senate
is supportive of the project
and willing to carve out the
dollars early, but he’s not so
sure about the House. He said
Brown’s visit east is a show
of support, and he hopes that
when she returns to the cap-
itol she will help finalize the
funding.
The $51.6 million would
help fund a three-phase plan
developed by the Northeast
Oregon Water Association that
would allow farmers to pump
extra water from the Columbia
Basin and also fund upstream
projects that would help restore
native fish runs. The plan could
put 200,000 acres of farmland
into production in Umatilla and
Morrow counties.
Richard Whitman, who
served as Kitzhaber’s top nat-
ural resources advisor, has
continued his role in Brown’s
office. He traveled with the
governor this week and said he
has a high level of comfort in
the policy that has been present-
ed to lawmakers.
13-2/#14
Electric ATV plays
many roles, including
robotic farm dog
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
NEWBERG, ORE. — Me-
lissa Brandao says she takes
an evangelistic approach to
marketing her electric ATV,
complete with toiling in the
vineyards. Maybe substituting
sustainability for salvation
when customers get to the
precision ag promised land.
Brandao is founder and
CEO of Rogue Rovers LLP,
and her product is called the
FarmDogg, a battery-pow-
ered vehicle that will be ca-
pable of collecting crop data,
powering implements and
autonomously accompany-
ing workers up a vineyard or
orchard row.
Brandao demonstrated
the vehicle at Adelsheim
Vineyard in Newberg and
planned a trip to a cher-
ry orchard in The Dalles.
The prototype, nicknamed
“Sparky,” has a body in-
spired by the Willy’s Jeeps
of World War II fame. Test
drivers found it to have
quick acceleration with
somewhat twitchy steering,
but overall were impressed
if not yet ready to buy.
“Very nice,” said vineyard
manager Chad Vargas after a
spin around the Adelsheim
parking lot.
“I’m going to take it up in
the vineyard,” he said later.
“Enough with this asphalt
stuff.”
Vargas said ATVs are the
vineyard’s workhorse, used
for chores such as spraying,
hauling water to crews and
even hazing birds. Precision
agriculture, sustainability and
efficiency are the buzzwords
of the day, however, and the
vineyard is interested in tech-
nology and entrepreneurs that
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Chad Vargas, manager of Adelsheim Vineyard near Newberg,
Ore., tries out an electric ATV during a demonstration March 19.
The vehicle can be outfitted with data collectors and can oper-
ate robotically.
can advance those concepts.
Eliminating emissions from
gas-powered vehicles is a de-
sirable goal.
Brandao believes her vehi-
cle can do all that and more,
The FarmDogg is powered by
lithium-ion batteries that in
the prototype provide four to
six hours riding time and can
be recharged in a couple hours
by plugging in a cord. Other
tools can be plugged into it,
anything from “a laptop, a
weed whacker or what have
you,” Brandao said.
It can be equipped with
sensors, upload data, be pro-
grammed to ferry tools and
supplies and can zip up to
25 mph.
“The idea was to build a
vehicle that’s a platform,”
Brandao said.
The company hopes to
take orders from vineyards
and orchards and begin pro-
duction in late summer or
fall, she said. The base price
is projected at $10,000. The
vehicles will be assembled
in Ashland; some of the
parts and components, in-
cluding the knobby tires, are
made in Oregon.
Brandao said the Farm-
Dogg is a work in progress.
A robotics firm with military
contracting experience has
expressed interest in work-
ing with her, she said, and
Rogue Rovers is prepping
for an appearance on “Shark
Tank,” the TV reality show
in which entrepreneurs try to
win financial backing from
a panel of moguls. Brand-
ao said she’s hoping a grant
from Drive Oregon, a non-
profit established by state
government to promote elec-
tric vehicles, will subsidize
production and reduce retail
costs.
She’s confident the vehi-
cles will find a market among
farmers, who are quick to use
technology that can save them
time and money.
“It’s an Oregon story,”
Brandao said. “We’re pio-
neers, we’re early adopters.”
ROP-10-6-2/#14