FARM-LEVEL ORGANIC SALES APPROACH $5.5B IN 2014
Page 3
Capital Press
The West’s
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

VOLUME 88, NUMBER 39
A g
Weekly
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
OSP asks
for info
about wolf
killings
REBUILDING
SOIL
HEALTH
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Growers fi nd a combination of no-till
farming, cover crops and livestock
grazing can improve bottom line
c
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
ALDWELL, Idaho — The beginnings of a radi-
cal new cropping system Brad McIntyre credits
with improving his yields and reducing input costs
started about six years ago when he was looking
for a good deal on a mechanical rock picker.
He never bought the machine. Instead, he came across
a story about another grower who had abandoned his rock
picker after switching to direct seeding, a farming practice
that eschews tillage and builds the soil instead of exposing
buried rocks.
The purchase of a no-till drill used in direct seeding
proved to be the fi rst step for McIntyre, who has now de-
veloped an innovative cropping system that’s replen-
ishing the soil on his 1,600-acre Caldwell farm and
$2.00
ranch and boosting his bottom line.
His cropping system is patterned after an approach that a
growing number of farmers are adopting, especially in the
Midwest. By using a combination of direct seeding, cover
crops and livestock grazing they have found they can pro-
duce as much food as conventional farming while reducing
their costs.
Adopting the new way of farming took trial-and-error,
but it was worth it, McIntyre said.
“Don’t rest on your crutches of just what you’ve always
thought was possible,” McIntyre said. “Push the limits.
You learn through failure.”
Turn to SOIL, Page 12
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Caldwell, Idaho, farmer Brad McIntyre stands in a fi eld planted in a multi-species cover crop mix while his cattle recycle nutrients by feeding in a temporary paddock behind
him. His management-intensive grazing approach is part of an integrated system that boosts soil health on his farm.
Wolf pups from North-
eastern Oregon’s Sled
Springs pair haven’t been
seen since their parents
were found dead within 50
yards of each other during
the week of Aug. 24th, an
Oregon Department of Fish
& Wildlife spokeswoman
said.
Oregon State Police have
been investigating the kill-
ings since the wolves were
found dead in Wallowa
County, but didn’t make the
case public until Sept. 16.
“We didn’t want to tip
our hand,”
spokesman
Lt. Bill Fu-
gate said.
Wo l v e s
are protect-
ed
under
state
and
federal en-
dangered species
laws, and killing them is a
crime. OSP is asking any-
one with information about
the case to contact Senior
Trooper Kreg Coggins at
541-426-3049, or call the
agency’s TIP line at 1-800-
452-788, or email TIP@
state.or.us.
Fugate said OSP won’t
disclose the cause of death
at this time.
Oregon Wild, the Port-
land-based
conservation
group that pushed for con-
ditions adopted in Oregon’s
wolf management plan, said
the deaths were “definitely a
cause for suspicion.”
“Wolves have been
killed illegally in Oregon
before, and there is a very
vocal minority that enthu-
siastically encourages it,”
the group said in a prepared
statement.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association, whose mem-
bers bear much of the ex-
pense of defensive measures
against wolf attacks on live-
stock, called the killings
“surprising news.”
“The Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association encour-
ages Oregon ranchers to fol-
low the Oregon Wolf Plan
and will continue to do so,”
association spokeswoman
Turn to WOLF, Page 12
Sage grouse won’t be added to endangered species list
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Voluntary and collaborative measures to
protect and improve greater sage grouse habi-
tat on public and private land across the West
paid off as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally
Jewell announced the bird will not be added to
the endangered species list.
In a video announcement released Tuesday
morning, followed by a ceremony in Colora-
do, Jewell said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice, which implements the Endangered Spe-
cies Act, decided the listing is not warranted.
Jewell called the decision a result of “epic
collaboration” and “a glimpse into the future
of the West.”
“The truth is, we’ve never done anything
like this before,” Jewell said at a ceremony
outside Denver. “This is the largest, most com-
plex land conservation effort ever in the histo-
ry of the United States of America, perhaps the
world.” she said.
Four Western governors and offi cials from
“This is the largest, most complex
land conservation effort ever in
the history of the United States of
America, perhaps the world.”
Greater
grouse
Greater sage
Sage-Grouse
range
range in
in decline
decline
Saskatchewan
Wash.
Mont.
N.D.
Idaho
Ore.
S.D.
Wyo.
Neb.
Nev.
Colo.
Utah
Calif.
Miles
Ariz.
Turn to GROUSE, Page 12
Current range
(As of Aug. 15, 2014)
Alberta
British Columbia
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Sally Jewell
USFWS, Bureau of Land Management, For-
est Service, Natural Resources Conservation
Service and U.S. Geological Survey attended.
The decision affects about 167 million acres
in the West.
Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ash
said his agency’s representatives on the project
unanimously agreed sage grouse should not be
listed. He called it the “most science-rich de-
cision ever made.”
“I never thought I would be so happy and
so proud to hear the words, ‘Not warranted,’”
Historic range
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
N.M.
0
N
100
200
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press