July 24, 2015 CapitalPress.com 3 Bushue running for American Farm Bureau Federation presidency SALEM — The leader of the Oregon Farm Bureau has announced his bid for the pres- idency of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Barry Bushue, who has been president of the Oregon Farm Bureau since 1999 and vice president of American Farm Bureau since 2008, will seek the national organization’s top office at its January con- vention, according to an OFB press release. “In recent years, Oregon has been on the front line of numerous challenges facing American agriculture. We continue to engage in public policy debates around genet- ically modified organisms, immigration, animal welfare, pesticides, water use, endan- gered species, and other en- vironmental issues,” Bushue said in the press release. “I’ve been blessed as a leader to work for farm- ers in my com- munity, county, state, and across Bushue the country. To serve as AFBF president would be an unri- valed opportunity to use these experiences for the benefit all American farmers and ranch- ers on the national stage.” Bob Stallman, AFBF pres- ident for 16 years, announced last week that he would not seek re-election. Bushue has served as pres- ident of Multnomah County Farm Bureau, a regional direc- tor on the Oregon Farm Bu- reau Board of Directors, and as OFB’s first vice president. In 2008, in addition to re- taining the presidency of the Oregon Farm Bureau, Bushue was elected vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. His leadership at the national level includes ser- vice on the AFBF Nursery & Greenhouse Committee, AFBF Trade Advisory Committee, a national labor taskforce, and a National Food Quality Protec- tion Act workgroup. Bushue continues to serve on the USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology & 21st Cen- tury Agriculture, the Executive Committee of the United States Biotech Crop Alliance, and the Board of Directors of the Gener- ic Event Marketability & Access Agreement Biotech Accord. In Oregon, he serves on the Executive Committee of Ore- gonians for Food & Shelter, a coalition that protects and advo- cates for access and safe use of pesticide, fertilizers, and biotech tools for the agriculture and nat- ural resource communities. Named Agriculturalist of the Year in 2014 by the Oregon Agri-Business Council, Bushue has worked on numerous task forces at the request of the gov- ernor, the state legislature, and with natural resource agencies on critical issues, including wa- ter quality and quantity, pesti- cide use, biotech, labor, naviga- bility, public land grazing, and wildlife depredation. Bushue is the third member of his family to run the farm in Multnomah County, Ore. He and his wife raise vegetables, berries, flowers and pumpkins at the nearly century-old farm near Portland. They sell directly to the public and host events for the local community. After attending college, Bushue taught high school in South Australia. It was during those years “down under” that he met his wife Helen. The Bushues returned to Oregon in the late 1980s to take over the family farm. They have three grown children. “At the county, state, and national level, Farm Bureau is a true grassroots, democrat- ic organization,” Bushue said. “Farms and ranches of all sizes, commodities, and production types have an opportunity to bring their issues forward and have their voices heard. Our unity is our strength, and there is no more effective way for family agriculture to be heard in the legislative arena than Farm Bureau. It would be an honor to serve our members at the nation- al level.” NE Washington wolves linked to more cattle deaths Ranchers urge quick and lethal response By DON JENKINS Capital Press Courtesy of WSU Joseph Davidson, WSU doctoral student, and Changki Mo, assistant professor of mechanical engi- neering, talk about physical design of apple-picking robot. Researchers hope to test robotic apple picker By DAN WHEAT Capital Press RICHLAND, Wash. — En- gineers and scientists hope to test a robotic apple picker this fall that is able to pick apples fast and gently enough to make it economically viable. Such a system could be a huge boost to the apple in- dustry in labor savings and in overcoming labor shortages. The Washington State Uni- versity team has been working on the project with a USDA National Robotics Initiative grant of $548,000 awarded in 2013. Apples require a system delicate enough to pick fruit without bruising it while ma- neuvering around tree branch- es, leaves and other obstruc- tions, said Manoj Karkee, assistant professor of biolog- ical systems engineering and project lead. “That’s why it is more chal- lenging and difficult compared to the robotics we have in in- dustrial applications,” he said. The robot will do 95 to 98 percent of the job with the as- sistance of a human operator. Eight motors will operate an arm and hand using cameras and sensors. Using algorithms to identify color, shape and texture, the machine differ- entiates fruit from the rest of the plant and determines fruit location so the robotic arm can be directed for picking, Karkee said. He said he is pleased with the progress that’s been made and optimistic that a prototype could be commercialized in the near future. Others involved in the proj- ect are Qin Zhang, director of WSU Center for Precision and Automatic Agricultural Systems; Karen Lewis, WSU Extension tree fruit specialist; and Changki Mo, assistant professor of mechanical engi- neering, WSU Tri-Cities. Various levels of mechani- cal harvest assist are being de- veloped by the apple industry in Washington, New York and Michigan. Most involve mo- bile platforms replacing lad- ders for pickers. A robotic apple picker was tried in France in 2007 but proved to be too slow and ex- pensive, Terence Robinson, a Governor declares drought in 3 more Oregon counties grazing livestock over a large landscape. “We are talking about thou- sands and thousands of acres,” he said. WDFW reported the produc- er, who was grazing 166 cattle before depredations, has moved the herd. Nielsen said that other ranchers are grazing in the pack’s territory. Even if the wolves are hazed from the area, they will find cows wherever they go, he said. “It doesn’t matter which way you chase them, you’re chasing them to somebody’s cows,” Niel- sen said. “Stevens County is vir- tually blanketed with livestock. We graze everywhere.” To stop the Huckleberry pack from preying on a sheep herd in Stevens County last year, WDFW authorized lethal remov- al of up to four wolves. The agen- cy suspended the hunt after one wolf was shot because the sheep were no longer in the pack’s ter- ritory. WDFW killed seven mem- bers of the Wedge Pack in 2012 after the department concluded the wolves were targeting livestock over natu- ral prey in Stevens County. Where History Comes Alive! The Great Oregon Steam-Up July 25-26 and August 1-2 his s for t l u n i o J tiona Educa event! N U and F A COMPLEX OF HERITAGE MUSEUMS OPEN WED.-SUN. 9AM TO 5PM SPONSORED IN PART BY AMTRAK AND COVANTA *Photos by Ron Coop er Photog raphy • ACTION! Trains, Tractors, Threshing Machines, Steam-Powered Engines • KID FUN! Prizes, Kid Tractor Pulls, Tractor Parade • HISTORY COMES ALIVE! Quilts, Heritage Museum, Steam Engines, Cars, Trucks, Farm Equipment www.antiquepowerland.rom Exit 263 off I-5 between Woodburn and Salem • SHOPPING! Swap Meet, Flea Market, Souvenirs • FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT! Including Ice Cream made with Steam Power ROP-29-2-1/#7 ing with it is part of the “con- tinuing challenges of climate change.” The governor’s drought declaration does not bring any help in the form of aid or loans, but does allow in- creased flexibility in how wa- ter is managed. Last winter saw a re- cord-low snowpack, leading to low streamflows this sum- mer that have affected irriga- tors as well as fish. rop-6-26-5/#17 GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown has declared drought emergencies in three more Oregon coun- ties. With Tuesday’s declara- tion, 23 out of 36 counties are under drought emergen- cies. The new ones are Curry, Hood River and Union coun- ties. Brown says this year’s ex- treme drought reflects a new reality for Oregon and deal- Cornell University fruit physi- ologist, said at the Washington State Horticultural Association annual meeting in 2013. The robot detected only 80 percent of the fruit, pulled 30 percent of stems and picked eight apples per minute com- pared to humans detecting 100 percent of fruit, pulling 2 to 3 percent of stems and picking 33 apples per minute, he said. Stevens County ranchers are calling on Washington state wild- life managers to take lethal action to deter wolves in the Dirty Shirt pack, which has now claimed three adult cows and a calf. “I think when there are four dead cows, the department should have initiated removal by now,” Stevens County Cattle- men’s Association Vice President Scott Nielsen said Monday. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported 10 days ago that the pack, known to have six members, had killed two cows on a U.S. Forest Ser- vice grazing allotment in north- eastern Washington. The agency has not disclosed details of the discovery of a third cow and a calf from the same herd killed by wolves, though sources say the department confirmed the dep- redations. The cattlemen’s association Monday posted a statement on its website reporting that the dep- redations occurred on or before July 10. “We know that wolf attacks on livestock can only be stopped by immediately removing the of- fending wolves before the behav- ior spreads to the whole pack,” the association’s president, Justin Hedrick, said in a written state- ment. Efforts to reach WDFW offi- cials Monday were unsuccessful. Shawn Cantrell, Defenders of Wildlife’s Northwest director, said it’s too early for WDFW to consider shooting wolves. Cantrell, a member of the de- partment’s wolf advisory group, said the depredations occurred before WDFW put range riders in the area to haze Dirty Shirt wolves away from the herd. The department’s policy de- mands for multiple depredations to occur after non-lethal mea- sures have been employed before it will authorize shooting wolves. Considering lethal removal now “seems, A, unnecessary, and, B, inappropriate, given the fact these other tools are work- ing,” Cantrell said. Nielsen said non-lethal mea- sures such as range riders, flags and loud music won’t protect Also In-Stock 1800 Series Small Square Baler - Call for Pricing & Special Financing 30-7/#14