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September 25, 2015 CapitalPress.com 11 Oregon Poplar test plots may hold key to biofuels By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Wiman new OSU hazelnut specialist By MITCH LIES For the Capital Press Nik Wiman, an entomolo- gist with extensive experience in integrated pest management, is Oregon State University’s new orchard crops extension specialist, a position designed to focus on hazelnuts. Wiman, 38, started in his new position Sept. 16. He is based out of the North Willa- mette Valley Research and Ex- tension Center in Aurora, Ore. Wiman replaces Jeff Olsen as the lead hazelnut extension specialist in Oregon. Olsen served the hazelnut industry for nearly 30 years as a Yam- hill County Extension agent before he died unexpectedly in January of 2014. Wiman, however, will have more research responsibility than did Olsen, according to Mike Bondi, regional adminis- trator of the Clackamas County Extension Office and director of the North Willamette Valley Research and Extension Center. “Nik has more of a research expertise background (than Olsen did) and will be able to fill a role that more fully inte- grates the applied research as well as the extension and out- reach piece,” Bondi said. “We really felt that Nik was by far the strongest can- didate,” Bondi said. “And we are very, very fortunate to get someone who has been work- ing some with hazelnuts, be- cause, obviously, it is hard to find people with a background with that crop.” Wiman holds a doctorate in entomology from Washing- ton State University, where he worked extensively in tree fruits, and holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree from Montana State University. Wiman, who spent the past three years working as a post doctorate in Oregon’s brown marmorated stink bug proj- ect, said he already has started working with hazelnut grow- ers to identify and prioritize research projects. “I plan to be involved in issues like irrigation, weed management and cover crops,” Wiman said. “But the biggest thing I think is needed is effective communication to growers, particularly new growers com- ing on. There is really good information out there that OSU has put together. And also the hazelnut commission has good information, but there is not a one-stop place people can go and find out everything they need to know,” he said. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Rick Stonex, right, tree farm manager for GreenWood Resources, extols the biofuel potential of poplar trees to incoming Oregon State University students. production, for example, might work for poplars, he said. The trees regrow after be- ing cut and can produce six crops in a 20-year period. After the initial planting cost, they require little care and can be harvested and chipped The ultimate goal of the project is to produce “drop in” fuel that is compati- ble with conventional cars, trucks and aircraft. Given the state of the oil industry, how- ever, the partners are focus- ing on high-value bio-chem- icals such as acetic acid, ethyl acetate and cellulosic ethanol, that are produced in the first stages of the biofu- el process. Those chemicals can replace petroleum-based products used to make plas- tics, paints and even runway de-icer. In additon to the Jeffer- son project site, researchers are growing hybrid poplars in Hayden, Idaho; Pilchuck, Wash.; and Clarksburg, Calif. GreenWood also has a poplar plantation growing alongside Interstate 84 near Boardman, in Eastern Ore- gon. Those trees are intended to feed a refinery planned by ZeaChem Inc. The company plans to break ground on the plant next spring. Sixteen students who will be freshmen at Oregon State University this fall toured the Jefferson test plot Sept. 15 with GreenWood’s Stonex and Rich Shuren, the compa- ny’s director of tree improve- ment operations. Free pesticide collection set for Malheur County By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press ONTARIO, Ore. — A free pesticide collection event for agricultural producers in Mal- heur County will be held Oct. 23. The first-ever such event for farmers and commercial applicators in Eastern Oregon was last year. Oregon State University Cropping Systems Extension Agent Bill Buhrig, who is helping coordinate the event, said, “It’s a pleasant surprise” that another free collection is being held so soon. “We’re trying to get the word out to everybody to take advantage of it.” A total of 10,506 pounds of unusable pesticides were col- lected during the 2014 event and organizers are expecting a similar amount this year, said Kevin Masterson, toxics coordinator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The collection event is be- ing funded by ODEQ and the Oregon Department of Agri- culture and the work has been contracted out to Clean Har- bors Environmental Services. Masterson said a house- hold hazardous waste col- lection is being held the day before and because Clean Harbors is the waste collector for both events, it made sense to hold another pesticide col- lection. “It allows us to stretch our dollars further by pairing those two events,” he said. The pesticide collection event will occur from noon to 4 p.m. at Ontario Sanitary Service, 540 SE Ninth Ave. in Ontario. Growers must fill out an application and pre-regis- ter with Clean Harbors. The pre-registration requirement is only for logistics purposes so the company can sched- ule drop-off times and not be overwhelmed, said Graham Gadzia of Clean Harbors. People can use only their first names if they wish, he said. “The only reason I ask them for a name at all is so I can contact them and make an appointment,” he said. Buhrig said the sole pur- pose of the event is to get rid of unwanted pesticides and the registration information is for internal use only and won’t be shared with any gov- ernment agency or third party. After an application is sub- mitted, Clean Harbors will call the grower and schedule a drop-off time. Blue Mountain buys Barenbrug’s land, plant in Imbler By MITCH LIES For the Capital Press IMBLER, Ore. — The spark from a cutting machine that ignited a blaze at Barenbrug USA’s seed-cleaning facility near Imbler earlier this year did more than damage the facility. It also served as the catalyst be- hind the purchase of the facility by Blue Mountain Seeds. After the March 31 fire, Barenbrug decided to stop cleaning seed at the facility, cre- ating an opportunity for Blue Mountain to expand. “We needed room to ex- pand,” said Bill Merrigan, man- ager of Blue Mountain Seeds. “We were right at capacity, both cleaning capacity and storage, and we were out of land to build on. We viewed this as a good opportunity. “If growers choose to in- crease grass seed acres in Union County, we’ll have the facilities to handle it,” he said. The purchase includes the plant’s 4-acre lot and 5 acres connecting an existing Blue Mountain seed-cleaning facility and the former Barenbrug plant. The purchase also includes a slightly damaged seed-clean- ing line, which Blue Mountain plans to refurbish and use for cleaning fine-leaf fescue and bluegrass seed. A second line was destroyed in the fire. Blue Mountain has already begun storing seed in the west end of the Imbler facility, which was not damaged in the fire, Merrigan said. That section alone adds about 2.5 million pounds of seed storage capac- ity to Blue Mountain’s current capacity of 12 million pounds, he said. Depending on how much of the facility Blue Mountain rebuilds, it could increase its storage capacity by another 2.5 million pounds, he said. “We may not rebuild that fa- cility the way it was,” Merri- gan said. “We may put up a new building, or we may try and change the design of Merrigan that building. That is some- thing we are discussing right now.” After the fire, Barenbrug USA decided to reinvest in a seed cleaning facility it operates in Boardman, Ore., rather than rebuild the Imbler plant, said company CEO and President James Schneider. The Tangent, Ore.-based company has since added square footage to its Boardman plant and installed a third seed cleaning line, which is dedicat- ed to cleaning bluegrass seed. “Overall, it increases our capacity because it makes it more centralized,” Schneider said. “We will actually be able to clean more product.” Adding to the incentive to sell the facility was its age, Schneider said. “It was an old facility, and because of our strategic plans, we felt it better to reinvest in our Boardman fa- cility.” He added: “We are thankful that good came out of such an unfortunate event. Blue Moun- tain Seeds has always been a great neighbor, and we can’t think of a better outcome than for the sale to allow both our companies to continue to invest in future growth.” Barenbrug plans to continue contracting with growers to pro- duce seed in the Grande Ronde Valley, Schneider said. “We’re not abandoning the Grande Ronde Valley,” he said. “We still have a field man based there and we are contracting di- rectly with growers there. But we are now cleaning that seed in Boardman.” Utilize CleanBoost diesel fuel additive to protect your equipment, increase fuel economy and reduce maintenance downtime issues. • Fuel Injector Lubricity • Stabilizes Fuel • Reduced Emissions • Less Soot • Better Cold Weather Starts Solutions and Products for you and your equipment. Contact us today about pricing, service and delivery options. 39-2/#6 JEFFERSON, Ore. — It’s like leasing ground to the future. On about 90 acres that in the past was planted in vegetables and corn for silage, researchers are rais- ing varieties of fast-growing poplar trees that can be used to make biofuels and other products. It’s an idea that’s been promoted and federally fund- ed for several years, but the promise of making fuel and industrial chemicals from re- newable plants instead of pe- troleum has yet to fall in step with market reality. If the two link up — be- lievers say it’s inevitable — Pacific Northwest and North- ern California farmers might have another crop to consider. Jefferson, Ore., landown- er and farmer Rob Miller, who leased about 90 acres to GreenWood Resources, a global timber company based in Portland, said marginal land in Oregon’s Willamette Valley might be ideal for growing hybrid poplars. Acreage in the 45-mile stretch from Albany south to Eugene that is not irrigat- ed and is used for grass seed with forage cutting machin- ery. With additional irriga- tion water likely to be hard to get in the future, growing trees for bio-chemicals is an attractive option, Miller said. “It would be a really good crop if the market turned around,” he said. There’s the rub. The U.S. push to develop alternative fuels is stalled by a drop in oil prices and reserves tapped by fracking technology. Bio- fuels require simultaneous cart-and-horse development of expensive refineries and the acreage to feed them. But many believe biofu- els’ time is coming. The envi- ronmental cost of fossil fuels, instability in the Middle East and the limit of U.S. supplies could raise oil prices. “Which puts this stuff right back into the sweet spot,” said Rick Stonex, westside tree farm manager for GreenWood Resources. GreenWood is part of the Advanced Hardwood Biofu- els Northwest consortium, which includes other industry partners and researchers from six universities. The consor- tium is one of six research efforts funded by the USDA since 2011, compiling a total of $146 million. (800) 422-7611 • www.pggcountry.com PENDLETON GRAIN GROWERS, INC.