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July 3, 2015 CapitalPress.com Water utility teams up with farmers to fight hazelnut worms By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A three-year research project involving a water utility, grow- ers and university researchers showed pheromone trickery can reduce the use of pesticides 60 to 75 percent in hazelnut orchards. At orchards along the McK- enzie River east of Eugene, Ore., and in the Northern Willamette Valley, researchers placed pher- omone-laden rings in the up- per-third of the tree canopy. The rings, about 3 feet in diameter with a texture similar to baling twine, release a plume of pher- omones in the air space above the orchard. That confuses male filbert moths and makes it dif- ficult for them to find females, which attract mates by releas- ing similar come-hither com- pounds. Filbert worms emerging from the moth’s eggs cause se- vere damage to nuts. The mating disruption tech- nique reduced the filbert worm Courtesy of Oregon State University A moth that damages hazelnuts can be controlled by phero- mone mating disruption tech- niques, researchers learned. population. Some moths find each other by accident, but the process takes longer and weak- ens the reproductive cycle, Oregon State University horti- cultural entomologist Vaughn Walton said. Applied at a rate of 10 pheromone rings per acre, the option works as well as spraying and costs slightly more, Walton said. The Oregon Hazelnut Commission provided about $100,000 and Eugene Water & Electric Board contributed about $60,000 to fund the proj- ect. Faculty research assistant Betsey Miller of OSU did much of the field work. EWEB’s interest is in keep- ing pesticides out of the McKen- zie River, which provides drink- ing water for the city of Eugene, utility spokesman Joe Harwood said. Hazelnut grower Garry Ro- dakowski said he appreciates the utility’s willingness to work with farmers. “Having that type of help makes you want do more,” he said. Rodakowski said he’s will- ing to continue using mating disruption against filbert moths but said growers could use help monitoring traps. That work is key to tracking the presence of moths in the orchard, although it doesn’t tell growers if the moths are mating. “Any time you’re spraying less you’ve got dollar savings, time savings, equipment,” Ro- dakowski said. Walton, of OSU, said grow- ers who use mating disruption may still want to spray around the border of their orchards, be- cause other trees, such as oaks, can be hosts to the moths. Grow- ers may find it necessary to do a “knock-down” spray every two or three years, he said. Walton estimated the pher- omone method costs about $55 an acre, compared to $52 or $53 per acre with chemical control. Pheromone mating disrup- tion techniques are widely used to protect crops such as apples, which are attacked by coddling moths, but hazelnuts is a small crop by comparison, Walton said. Chemical companies pre- fer to develop products that can be used on a wide range of crops, and generate more busi- ness, he said. But the Oregon hazelnut in- dustry has grown significantly over the years, and the moth compound has been found to work in pecans as well, which expands the market, Walton said. Oregon adds century, sesquicentennial farms and ranches By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Eleven farms and ranches that have been in continuous operation by the same family for 100 years have been add- ed to the state’s list of Century Farms, the Oregon Farm Bu- reau announced. Five more farms reached the 150-year mark and will be honored as Sesquicentennial Farms during the Oregon State Fair in August. With the additions, Oregon now has 1,175 Century Farms and Ranches and 33 Sesquicen- tennial Farms and Ranches. The Century Farms added this year are: Cheyne Farm, Klamath County; the Louis an- dAnna Falk Farm and Charles Ludwig Falk Farm, both in Linn County; Hynes Farm, Marion County; Taghon Farm, Washington County; Fisher Patterson Farm, Mari- on County; Christensen Farm, Linn County; McCready Ranch, Klamath County; Padget Ranches, Sherman County; Gentleacres, Polk County; and Bingaman En- terprises, Union County. Courtesy of Oregon Farm Bureau The George W. Smith Ranch of Coos County is among Oregon’s Sesquicentennial Farms and Ranch- es, places that have been in continuous family operation for 150 years. Sesquicentennial Farms added this year are: Mid Val- ley Farm, Washington Coun- ty; George W. Smith Ranch, Coos County; James Mon- roe Hemphill Farm, Umatilla County; Lieuallen Century Ranches, Umatilla County; and John F. Adams Farming Enter- prise, Umatilla County. To be eligible, the farm or ranch has to have remained in continuous family opera- tion and attain a gross income from farm use of at least $1,000 per year in at least three out of five years prior to application. Family members must live on or actively man- age the farm or ranch. Documentation can include photos, original deeds, per- sonal stories or other historic records. The program is supported by a partnership that includes the Oregon Farm Bureau the State Historic Preservation Office and Oregon State Uni- versity Archives. 3 U.S. potato acreage up 1.9 percent, NASS reports By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Idaho potato industry officials say they aren’t too concerned about recent reports estimat- ing a slight increase in planted acres, both in the state and na- tionwide. U.S. potato growers plant- ed 955,300 acres this season, — a 1.9 percent increase from the 936,900 acres they planted in 2014, according to June 30 estimates from USDA’s Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service. Idaho’s crop, at 325,000 acres, is up 4,000 acres from last season, according to the report. USDA estimates Wash- ington state growers planted 170,000 acres, up 5,000 acres from last season. Oregon growers held steady at 39,000 acres and California growers planted 7,500 acres, down 1,000 acres from 2014. The NASS estimates are in line with numbers also re- leased June 30 by United Po- tato Growers of Idaho, which sent teams driving 14,000 miles to physically count potato fields. According to UPGI, Idaho growers plant- ed 323,956 acres, up from 321,462 acres last season. Based on the weakness of the fresh potato market during the past two seasons and its sensitivity to higher yields, University of Idaho Extension economist Paul Patterson an- ticipated reports would show a slight decrease in Idaho’s planted acres. “The market is signaling for people to plant fewer po- tatoes, which typically should be a reduction, not an in- crease,” Patterson said. Patterson said other indi- cators that a decrease was in order include the strength of the dollar hampering exports, recent efforts by Europeans to expand potato markets and the lingering effects of the la- bor slow-down at West Coast ports. However, IPGA officials say both their numbers and the NASS estimates show the John O’Connell/Capital Press Potatoes grow in Idaho Falls. Potato acres are up slightly, both in Idaho and the U.S., from last season, according to a new USDA report, but industry lead- ers believe hot weather may keep Idaho’s yields in check. Idaho increases are coming from southwestern counties, which produce spuds mostly to fill processing contracts, rather than flooding the open market. According to IPGA’s count, growers in counties associated with fresh produc- tion planted 1,717 fewer acres this season, while planting in counties associated with processing was up by 4,402 acres. Randy Hardy, an Oakley, Idaho, grower who chairs the fresh cooperative Sun Valley Potatoes, explained Ore-Ida moved many of the addition- al processed acres into Ida- ho from Oregon to be closer to its plant in Ontario, Ore. Though the other major pro- cessing companies reduced their Idaho contracts slight- ly, based on the port issue, Hardy said they’re “currently running hard now. They’re swamped.” Hardy believes the acreage report is “as neutral as it could possibly be” and believes Idaho’s current spell of tem- peratures peaking above 100 degrees will ultimately have a greater impact. In 2007, when hot temperatures also arrived at about the same growth stage, Hardy said plants lost tubers, and yields were down. He said early digs in the Ru- pert area have confirmed re- duced tuber counts, though there’s still ample time for plants to rebound. REIT purchases 6,000 acres of Willamette Valley farmland Capital Press More organic acreage is expected to become available in Oregon’s Willamette Val- ley due to a recent real estate transaction involving a 6,000- acre farming operation. The owned and leased properties of Olsen Agricultur- al Enterprises, a family-owned company, were recently taken over by a real estate invest- ment trust operated by the Farmland LP investment firm. Much of that acreage will be converted to organic pro- duction and rented to other growers who hope to expand their operations. “The biggest thing holding them back has been access to organically certified land,” said Craig Wichner, managing partner of Farmland LP. As part of the overhaul, the firm plans to significantly reduce the amount of property devoted to grass seed — tradi- tionally one of Olsen’s staple crops — to use it for high- er-value crops. USDA certification rules require that land be managed without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers for three years be- fore the crops it yields can be marketed as organic. During that transition peri- od, Farmland LP plans to grow clover on former grass seed acreage or use the fields for livestock pasture. The real estate investment trust, or REIT, operated by Farmland LP is not the only one dedicated to agricultural properties. Farmland Partners Inc. owns 53,000 acres, primarily in the Central and Southern U.S., while Gladstone Land Corp. owns about 11,500 acres, mostly in California and Florida. While these companies are focused on buying land from farmers and then leasing it back to them, Farmland LP is unique in that it invests in or- ganic certification and infra- structure upgrades to allow for more complex and profitable operations, Wichner said. “We very much focus on adding value,” he said. Aside from the former Ol- sen properties, Farmland LP has 1,500 acres near Corvallis, Ore., and 5,700 acres near San Francisco. In all, the REIT manages 13,500 acres, roughly 10,000 acres of which it owns, and has roughly $100 million in assets. Though the investment firm’s main business is leas- ing property to other growers, it will retain the employees of Olsen Agricultural Enterpris- es to run a farming subsidiary called Green Spring Farms. The structure is similar to that of the Corvallis opera- tion, where its Vitality Farms subsidiary uses part of the land for livestock production. rop-6-26-5/#17 By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Bag needs? Bag solutions! 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