August 28, 2015
CapitalPress.com
3
Brief break in the heat forecasted Pack of gray
El Nino casts long
wolves observed
shadow over
3-month outlook
in N. California
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Northwest may have
a brief break in its historically
hot and dry summer before be-
ginning what’s expected to be
a drought-intensifying fall, the
U.S. Climate Prediction Cen-
ter reported Monday.
Odds are Washington, Or-
egon, Northern California and
Western Idaho will have below
normal temperatures through
Sept. 7, according to the cen-
ter, a branch of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration.
Also, Washington, Ida-
ho’s panhandle and Oregon’s
northern half are likely to have
above average precipitation,
possibly bringing relief to fire-
fighters, fish and farmers.
“It looks like we’re in for
a spell of cooler and wetter
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
A low flow exposes rocks in the Newaukum River near Chehalis in
southwest Washington on Aug. 20. The U.S. Climate Prediction
Center forecasts that the odds favor cooler-than-normal tempera-
tures and above-average precipitation in the Northwest through the
first week of September, briefly reversing a months-long pattern of
hot and dry weather.
weather. I think that’s a pret-
ty welcome turn of events,”
Washington State Climatolo-
gist Nick Bond said. “Let’s get
it while we can.”
The climate center on
Tuesday rescinded a “hazard-
ous weather” alert for expect-
ed heavy rains Aug. 29-30 on
the Olympic Peninsula and
northwest Washington, two
areas where irrigation districts
have had to cut water use. Rain
moving down from the Gulf
Alaska is now expected to fall
primarily in Canada.
“We are super dry. It’s un-
usual for us to have such a
long streak without a good
downpour,” said Don McMo-
ran, director of the Washing-
ton State Extension office in
Skagit County. “Crop-wise,
I think a majority of farmers
would appreciate a good rain
here.”
The two-week forecast
for Washington stands out
like an oasis. The center’s
three-month outlook calls for
a strengthening El Nino to
raise temperatures in the state
through at least November.
“It’s rare that we have an
El Nino this strong at this time
of year,” Bond said.
The center predicts the El
Nino will peak in late fall and
slowly weaken through the
winter and early spring. Even
a diminished El Nino would
warm the winter, but Bond
said he expects more snow
to accumulate in 2015-16
than during last winter, when
snowpacks were at record
lows.
“Highly unusual things
just don’t happen that often,”
he said. “I still think it will be
on the warm side, just not as
warm.”
Washington may see aver-
age precipitation in Septem-
ber, but the odds favor below
average rain from September
through November, according
to the center.
Oregon exports find expanding market in Asia
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Oregon’s agricultural ex-
ports, already the third leading
sector among the $21 billion
worth of products leaving the
state annually, appear poised
for continued expansion.
In particular, marketers and
trade experts say Vietnam and
the Philippines may approve
imports of fresh blueberries,
and fresh or processed pota-
toes may find greater accep-
tance in those countries, Japan,
China, Taiwan and elsewhere.
Bryan Ostlund of the Or-
egon Blueberry Commission
said fresh berry exports to
Courtesy of Port of Portland
South Korea, approved in
2011, reached 1.4 million Oregon ag and food products, such as this grain shipment, are the third leading sector among the
pounds in 2014 and are on state’s $21 billion in annual exports.
pace to top that in 2015. Korea
had a strong retail system in Potato Commission.
market for processed potatoes agricultural and food products
place, which aided distribution
In Vietnam, for example, and accepts fresh potatoes for third.
after exports were approved, fresh potatoes are primar- chipping, but also could be
Barry Horowitz, an interna-
but Vietnam is developing the ily used in soups, but Or- good market for table stock tional trade consultant in Port-
economic infrastructure and egon representatives have potatoes, he said.
land, said Oregon food and
middle class that could make it demonstrated western cook-
Potato grower Jeff Urbach, crop commissions previous-
a “really nice fit” for Oregon ing styles, which generated of Amstad Produce in Sher- ly operated on their own but
products as well, Ostlund said. a “great deal of interest,” wood, Ore., said he’s visited now are beginning to cooper-
“The economy, you can Brewer said.
the Philippines twice and Viet- ate in presentations to foreign
feel it, is just ready to explode
The appearance of pota- nam five or six times. He sells buyers. Thinking of Oregon’s
in a positive way,” he said. toes from Oregon, Washing- to both, and said exports have high-quality food products as a
“The buying power is rapidly ton and Idaho is totally dif- grown from 7 percent of his series of meals, complete with
coming to the table.”
ferent than potatoes, usually business four years ago to 35 Oregon beer and wine, sharp-
Pests and diseases that may from China, that Vietnamese percent now.
ens the focus, he said.
arrive with imports are always consumers are accustomed
“The potential there is
“That is a package that is
a concern to be worked out, he to, he said. Restaurants and huge, they want our products,” unbeatable in the international
said, as are food safety proto- hotels that cater to western Urbach said.
marketplace,” he said.
cols.
tourists are good markets for
Because Oregon “faces”
Expanded trade with Viet-
“The Vietnamese and Phil- Northwest potatoes, as are Asia, as exporters like to say, nam is an example of the ex-
ippine governments are very supermarkets whose custom- Asian trade is a natural, ex- port potential that could bene-
keen on broadening the scope ers include people who have perts say. About 80 percent fit the state, he said.
of what comes in from the lived in or visited the U.S.
of what Oregon exports goes
“You have a country with
U.S.,” he said. “The growth
“Whenever they’re ex- to 21 Pacific Rim nations, a almost 100 million people and
potential seems huge to me.”
posed to our potatoes, they like category that includes the five a literacy rate over 95 per-
Processed and frozen prod- them,” Brewer said.
largest markets: Canada, Chi- cent,” Horowitz said. “West-
ucts such as french fries are
Asia’s two biggest econo- na, Japan, Korea and Malay- ern countries can’t get in there
popular in Asian countries, as mies hold continued econom- sia. Those five alone receive fast enough.”
are “chipping” potatoes used ic promise for Oregon. China 60 percent of what Oregon ex-
for snacks, but grower groups now accepts only processed ports, according state econom-
are trying to expand the trade potato products and could be a ic analyst Josh Lehner.
to include more fresh “ta- great market for chipping and
Oregon’s largest export
ble stock” potatoes, said Bill table stock potatoes, Brewer sector is electronics, followed
Brewer, director of the Oregon said. Japan is the number one by heavy manufacturing, with
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
YREKA, Calif. — State
wildlife officials have gained
photographic evidence that
five gray wolf pups and two
adults have ventured into
Siskiyou County in Northern
California.
The state Department of
Fish and Wildlife installed ad-
ditional cameras in the woods
after spotting a lone wolf in
the county in May and July
and have obtained photos of
what appear to be a family of
wolves, officials announced
Aug. 20.
The agency has designated
the group the Shasta Pack.
“This news is exciting for
California,” CDFW director
Charlton Bonham said in a
statement. “We knew wolves
would eventually return home
to the state and it appears now
is the time.”
The prospect of wolves
re-entering California has
excited
environmentalists
and worried ranchers since
late 2011, when the lone gray
wolf OR-7 wandered into
California. OR-7 hasn’t been
in California for more than a
year and is now the breeding
male in the Rogue Pack in
Southern Oregon, CDFW of-
ficials said.
The arrival of OR-7
marked the first time since
1924 that a gray wolf had
been confirmed in California.
The wolves’ presence here
Courtesy Calif. Dept. of Fish and
Wildlife
A gray wolf roams in southeast-
ern Siskiyou County in Northern
California. State officials have
photographed five gray wolf
pups and two adults in the area
and dubbed it the Shasta Pack.
unnerves ranchers and the
Siskiyou County Board of
Supervisors, which passed a
resolution in 2001 opposing
the reintroduction of wolves
and grizzly bears into the
wild.
Despite protests from
ranchers around the state,
California’s Fish and Game
Commission voted 3-1 last
summer to list the species as
endangered in the state.
Fish and Wildlife has held
numerous meetings with
farm groups, including the
California Farm Bureau Fed-
eration and California Cat-
tlemen’s Association, as well
as other affected groups as it
has worked on a draft wolf
management plan. Officials
say the plan will be completed
soon.
Hazelnut harvest expected
to increase over 2014
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Oregon’s hazelnut crop is
projected to hit 39,000 tons
this fall, an 8 percent increase
over 2014, according to the
USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service in Portland.
The crop won’t be a record
— the state produced 47,000
tons in 2009 and 45,000 tons in
2013 — but Oregon accounts
for 99 percent of U.S. pro-
duction and continues to add
orchard acreage at a pace of
3,000 to 5,000 acres per year.
The state has an estimated
40,000 acres of hazelnuts.
Whether the price for this
year’s crop will approach the
record set in 2014 is an open
question. Last year, frost se-
verely damaged the crop in
Turkey, the world’s leading
producer. Candy, nut spread
and snack companies quickly
sought other sources, and the
price for Oregon nuts soared
over $1.70 a pound as a result.
At one point last fall, an Ore-
gon grower estimated every
nut on his trees was worth 1.3
cents.
Michael Klein, executive of
Oregon Hazelnuts, an industry
group, said Turkey’s crop this
year appears to be average.
Frost hit again, but not as bad-
ly as in 2014, he said.
Like many other crops this
year, hazelnut harvest will like-
ly happen two or three weeks
earlier than normal, Klein said.
According to the NASS
harvest projection, 87.2 per-
cent of the Oregon nuts tested
as “good” and the average dry
weight was 3.17 grams, down
from 3.23 grams recorded in
2014. About 43 percent of nuts
tested by NASS were catego-
rized as “large” and 36 percent
as “jumbo.”
Hazelnuts are Oregon’s
ninth leading crop, with a 2013
value of $120 million, accord-
ing to NASS.
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