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
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