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2 CapitalPress.com April 17, 2015 People & Places OSU Extension leader seeks wider impact Sam Angima looks for ways to get researchers out of their ‘silos’ 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 Capital Press Entire contents copyright © 2015 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 offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Oregon State University College of Ag Assistant Dean Sam Angima, left, and Associate Dean Dan Edge are touring extension and research centers. Angima hopes to get researchers to cooperate more with each other and the public. tack at a Kenyan university. When he goes home and is hit up for advice, Angima shares information drawn from OSU’s small farms program. Collaboration can’t be forced with “rules and guidelines,” Angima said. “The best thing is to involve people in defining this prob- lem,” he said. Being the “new kid in the building,” as he puts it, An- gima is taking time to listen first. He and Dan Edge, the College of Ag’s new asso- ciate dean, recently toured some OSU research sta- tions. “You don’t want to come into a new office and assume everything’s fine,” Angima said during a stop at the North Willamette Western Innovator Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff University Extension Service N. California Tim Hearden .................... 530-605-3072 Position: Assistant Dean of Outreach and Engagement, Oregon State Personal: Age 49, married with a 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old E Idaho John O’Connell ................. 208-421-4347 son. Professional: An agronomist by training, at OSU since 2006, worked as regional administrator of OSU Extension on the North Coast, based in Newport. Moved to the Corvallis campus March 1. Background: Grew up in the Kisii region, a rich agricultural area in the highlands of Southwestern Kenya, where his family owns a tea and coffee farm. The farm remains in the family, with Angima, two brothers and three sisters as shareholders. Came to the U.S. for college and has a doctorate in soil science from Purdue University. Perspective: His home country recently suffered a terrorist attack in which 148 Christian university students were murdered. “So insane,” he says. Approach to his new job: “We can’t sit in an ivory tower and expect things to happen.” station in Aurora, south of Portland. Station staff made it clear they are spread thin. All the more reason, Angi- ma said, to engage others across counties, offices and departments. “We don’t want every- one doing it by themselves, so we help one another,” he said. 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 Classified Ads Ad fax .............................. 503-364-2692 or ...................................... 503-370-4383 Telephone (toll free) .......... 866-435-2965 Online ......www.capitalpress.com/classifieds Subscriptions Mail rates paid in advance By LEE JUILLERAT For the Capital Press Photos by Lee Juillerat/For the Capital Press Dan Taylor tosses fish food into ponds filled with white sturgeon on the Willow Creek Ranch near Likely, Calif. Sturgeon swim in a pond at the Willow Creek Ranch near Likely, Calif. They are raised for caviar and meat. hold steady at 65 degrees Fahr- enheit, the ideal reading for white sturgeon that grow best in 63- to 68-degree water. Testing was done in 1989, a bitterly cold winter when tem- peratures frequently dropped below zero. A year later, the first raceways were installed. Since then the raceways have been replaced by a series of tanks — six metal, three con- crete and three dirt. Warm wa- ter from the natural hot springs flows into a pipe that, using the natural gravity flow, fills the series of carefully terraced tanks. The constant flow, com- bined with motion created by sturgeon constantly circulating their ponds, provides the neces- sary oxygen. “We didn’t have the talent, intelligence or resources to do it,” Flournoy explains of why others developed and oversee the infrastructure. He and his hired hand, Dan Taylor, handle the day-to-day feeding chores and basic maintenance for the sturgeon and cattle — thus the surf and turf moniker. The sturgeon, all females, are 2 or 3 years old and typi- cally weigh 25 to 30 pounds when they’re delivered to Flournoy’s tanks. They’re usu- ally kept five years, when they typically weigh 120 to 150 pounds, before they’re cap- tured and returned to the San Francisco Bay area. After the eggs, or caviar, are harvested the fish are slaughtered, with the meat sold to fish distribu- tors and restaurants. Flournoy says caviar sells for about $50 an ounce, or $800 a pound, while the meat brings about $20 a pound. White sturgeon can live up to 100 years, grow 20 feet long and weigh nearly 1,800 pounds, but not those at the Willow Creek Ranch. The big- gest, the 200-plus pounders, are exceptions, carryovers 10 or more years old. For Flournoy, raising stur- geons is a business, and a plea- sure. “It’s extremely rewarding,” he says of raising sturgeon and allowing friends to view the ponds. Viewing is controlled because “we’re not geared to make a tourist attraction out of it.” Whether it’s with friends or by himself, the sense of won- der when seeing the huge fish persists. “I enjoy it as much as ever,” Flournoy laughs. “Every time I drive up it’s still, ‘Holy Mack- erel, look at that!’” Easy Pay U.S. $3.75/month (direct with- drawal from bank or credit card account) 1 year U.S. ...................................$49.49 2 years U.S. .................................$89.89 1 year Canada .................................$275 1 year other countries ......... call for quote 1 year Internet only ............................$49 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 office 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 www.OnlyAg.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 APRIL OREGON April 18 — Oregon Women for Agriculture Auction and Dinner, Linn County Fair and Expo Center, Albany, 503-243-FARM (3276), http://owaon- line.org/ April 21 — Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission meet- ing and budget hearing, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Hayden’s Grill, 8187 SW Tu- alatin-Sherwood Road, Tualatin, 541- 758-4043, www.oregon-berries.com April 23 — Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission meeting, 7:30 p.m., Oregon Farm Bureau Building, 1320 Capitol St. NE, Salem, 503-924- 1181 April 25-26 — AgFest, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Oregon State Fairgrounds, To Reach Us Sam Angima Calif. rancher switches to raising sturgeon LIKELY, Calif. — Really big fish, some of them weigh- ing more than 200 pounds, are being raised for caviar at an un- likely location — warm water ponds outside the tiny far north- ern California town of Likely. “They’re big fellas,” Pearce Flournoy said as he fed the prehistoric-looking sturgeons — their color ranges from pale olive to grayish brown while some are a ghostly white — on his Willow Creek Ranch. The sturgeon are part of Flournoy’ s “surf and turf feed- ing company.” Years ago, he ran a large cow-calf operation at his ranch, which was home- steaded by the Flournoy family in 1871. For the past several years, however, he’s leased out grazing lands to other ranchers. Water from the just-hot-enough springs that feed the sturgeon ponds is leased to The Fishery, an Elk Grove, Calif., company that raises white sturgeon for caviar. The idea for raising stur- geon was born in 1989 when a Modoc County farm advisor was developing an aquaculture project with the University of California-Davis. At the time, cattle prices were plunging and ranchers were seeking alterna- tive ways of using their land to generate income. Tests showed water from springs at Flournoy’s ranch Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate officer John Perry Chief operating officer By ERIC MORTENSON Academics, even at a land grant university such as Ore- gon State, sometimes isolate themselves in research and specialty “silos.” It is now Sam Angima’s job to cajole them to open up more readily to each other and to the pub- lic. Angima is OSU Exten- sion’s new assistant dean in a position that melds the College of Agricultural Sciences and the universi- ty’s Division of Outreach and Engagement. He has 20 years experience in Exten- sion programs, including 10 at OSU, and knows full well how people can get locked into their specialties, espe- cially if they’re talking only to other experts. “In Extension, what walks in the door is what defines your day,” Angima said. “I’m trying to convince people there is more their specialty can do for normal Oregonians,” he said. “I’m thinking my role is to say, ‘Will you be willing to have people contact you about this area when something comes up? What is the best way you can share this?’ ” Perspective is every- thing. Angima is from Kenya, where many small farmers still use hoes, and the crops they produce are processed somewhere else and sold back to Kenyans as finished goods. Security is an issue, as evidenced by the gruesome terrorist at- Capital Press Salem, $9 for adults, under 12 are free, http://www.oragfest.com April 28 — Oregon Blueberry Commission budget hearing, noon, Chemeketa Events at Winema, Room 210, 4001 Winema Place, NE, Salem, 503-364-2944 CALIFORNIA April 18-21 — California State FFA Conference, Selland Arena, Fresno, www.calaged.org/stateconvention IDAHO April 24 — Forester map and compass workshop, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., University of Idaho Extension office, 1808 N. Third St., Coeur d’Alene, $10 fee, 208-446-1683, http://www.uida- ho.edu/extension/forestry/content/ calendarofevents WASHINGTON Through April 19 — Washington State Spring Fair, Puyallup, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Sunday, http://www.thefair.com/ spring-fair/ MAY NATIONAL May 13-14 — 19th Annual Dis- tillers Grain Symposium, Sheraton Crown Center, Kansas City, Mo. spon- sored by the Distillers Grain Technolo- gy Council, www.event.com/d/54qvf- h/4W WASHINGTON May 14-16 — Washing- ton FFA Convention, Washing- ton State University, Pullman, www.washingtonffa.org/convention CALIFORNIA May 1-2 — Forest Landowners of California annual meeting, Holiday Inn, Au- burn, www.forestlandowners.org/ JUNE CALIFORNIA June 15-26 — Postharvest Tech- nology Short Course, University of California-Davis, http://postharvest.uc- davis.edu/Education/PTShortCourse/ IDAHO June 13 — Sheep in the Foothills, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Boise Foothills Learn- ing Center, 3188 Sunset Peak Road, 208-493-2530, FoothillsLearningCen- ter-Parks@cityofboise.org WASHINGTON June 20-21 — Glenwood Ketchum Kalf Rodeo, 1 p.m. each day, 509-364-3371, http://busi- ness.gorge.net/glenwoodrodeo/ June 21-23 — Washington Potato and Onion Association Annual Convention, Northern Quest Resort and Casino, Spo- kane wa.potato.onion@gmail. com JULY IDAHO July 11 — 94th annual Idaho Ram Sale, Twin Falls County Fairgrounds, Filer, 208-334-2271 or iwga@earth- link.net NOVEMBER CALIFORNIA Nov.17-18 — Drone World Expo, San Jose Convention Center, www. droneworldexpo.com Dairy .................................... 14 Livestock ............................. 14 Markets ............................... 10 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.
