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8 CapitalPress.com October 2, 2015 Oregon Oregon Ag Department developing new strategic plan process. “It’s got to be something that’s used on a day-to-day basis,” Sarazin said at the re- cent Oregon Board of Agri- culture meeting in Boardman. The department decided to By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI update its strategic plan be- Capital Press cause the most recent version BOARDMAN, Ore. — was completed before ODA The Oregon Department of Director Katy Coba was ap- Agriculture is drawing up a pointed in D003, said Bruce new strategic plan to guide Pokarney, the agency’s com- the agency’s activities in the munications director. future. ³:HUHDOO\ZDQWWR¿QGRXW The goal is to develop a what we do well and what we document that’s actually use- need to improve upon,” he IXO WR 2'$ RI¿FLDOV UDWKHU said. than gathering dust on a shelf, To that end, members of said Ron Sarazin, a consultant the Oregon Board of Agri- who’s assisting ODA with the culture weighed in on the Agency faces new challenges as agriculture evolves Capital Press File Oregon Department of Agri- culture Director Katy Coba is VKRZQLQWKLV¿OHSKRWR challenges facing the agency, including: • Coexistence: The farming industry, and by extension the ODA, is struggling with coex- istence among different types of agriculture, said Coba. The battle over cross-polli- nation between biotech, con- ventional and organic crops is a prominent example, but the issue isn’t limited to genetic engineering, she said. A similar dispute involves hemp and marijuana, as well as canola and the specialty seeds that are related to that crop, Coba said. • Water: ODA is rolling out a program to increase its over- sight of water quality in “stra- tegic implementation areas” throughout the state, which involves identifying problems and persuading landowners to correct them. The agency aims for voluntary compli- ance but can issue civil penal- ties if landowners refuse. While the agency has PDGH VLJQL¿FDQW SURJUHVV LQ its water quality program, the objectives yet to be accom- plished are “daunting and the resources are limited,” said board member Steve Van Mouwerik, vice president of RSHUDWLRQV IRU WKH 3DFL¿F$J forage and residue harvesting company. Even when the ODA does ensure that a landowner cor- rects water quality problems, the same property can easily slip back into non-compli- ance when it changes hands, said board member Doug Krahmer, a blueberry farmer in the Willamette Valley. • Outreach: Some non-tra- ditional farmers, such as those in urban areas, don’t know how to access services pro- vided by the ODA or don’t feel like the agency speaks for them, said Laura Masterson, the board’s chair and a Port- land-area farmer. Such growers often aren’t involved in commodity com- missions and other traditional channels that ODA is used to working through, she said. Threemile Canyon general manager appointed to Oregon Ag Board the advisory board, which makes policy recommenda- tions for the Oregon Depart- ment of Agriculture, due to his past experience with task forces on dairy air quality and biotechnology, as well as his involvement in international trade programs. ³,WU\WR¿QGVROXWLRQVUDWKHU than take hard line positions,” By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI he said. Capital Press The appointment is not Marty Myers, the general without controversy, however. PDQDJHU RI D GLYHUVL¿HG GDLU\ Friends of Family Farm- and crop farm in Boardman, ers, a group that advocates for Ore., has been appointed to the environmentally responsible Oregon Board of Agriculture. agriculture, criticized Brown’s The company he operates, choice as misguidedly bending Threemile Canyon Farms, has to corporate farming. about 50,000 cows and raises “For us, it shows the gov- potatoes and organic produce ernor wants to take agriculture on more than 90,000 acres in in the direction of industrial- the Columbia River Basin. ization,” said Ivan Maluski, the “I’ve got a diverse back- group’s policy director. ground in agriculture,” said Maluski said Threemile Myers, noting that he worked Canyon Farms isn’t represen- on farms through high school tative of sustainable farming and college. in Oregon because it’s a “me- Myers said Oregon Gov. ga-operator” that causes air Kate Brown asked him to join pollution and generates large Marty Myers’ appointment met with criticism from Friends of Family Farmers EO Media Group File Marty Myers, general manager of Threemile Canyon Farms, talks with employee Tom Chavez about WKHRSHUDWLRQRIWKHIDUP¶VQHZPHWKDQHGLJHVWHULQWKLV¿OHSKRWR amounts of manure. It’s also concerning that Myers will be able to guide ODA policies that affect his company, which could create DFRQÀLFWRILQWHUHVWVDLG0D- luski. “They don’t need special access.” Myers said it was offensive to label his operation as a “fac- tory farm,” as it’s run by two families. “It’s a group of families that have come together and we’re farming,” he said. The dairy has a digester that captures methane from manure and turns it into renewable en- ergy, Myers said. “When you look at air quality, we’re very proud of what we do.” The company employs 300 full-time employees and is regularly subject to customer audits to ensure animal wel- fare and other best practices, he said. “Large does not mean it’s bad. It gives the critical mass to do things the right way.” The controversy over My- ers’ appointment was brought XSGXULQJKLV¿UVWERDUGPHHW- ing in Boardman, which took place Sept. DD-D4 and included a tour of Threemile Canyon Farms. Craig Reeder, general man- ager of Hale Farms, said he was troubled by the personal attack on Myers, whom he emotional- ly described as a mentor in the agricultural industry. Oregon Department of Ag- riculture Director Katy Coba said she took the criticism of Myers’ appointment personally and objected to the implication that the agency only supports large agriculture. National FFA membership increases by 3 percent By MITCH LIES 40-1/#7 For the Capital Press The National FFA Founda- tion announced Sept. D8 that national FFA membership has reached record numbers and is up more than D0 percent from D009-10. The foundation announced membership in the national FFA organization now stands at 6D9,367, a 3 percent in- crease from last year. The number of chapters also increased, from 7,665 in D014 to 7,757 in D015, accord- ing to the announcement. “FFA, through agricultur- al education, is preparing our youth to ensure the security of RXU FRXQWU\¶V IRRG ¿EHU DQG natural resources for years to come,” said National FFA Or- ganization CEO Dwight Arm- strong in a prepared statement. “Through real-world experi- ences, the nation’s agricultural educators are helping students Courtesy of Meridian, Idaho, FFA Yearbook Staff Reserve Grand Champion FFA Swine Showman Ashlee Bowen of the Meridian, Idaho, FFA chapter poses with the Western Idaho Fair’s swine judge. Ashlee’s breeding gilt won Reserve Grand Champion at the same fair. National FFA membership is up 3 percent this year. develop the technical knowl- edge, skills and problem-solv- ing capabilities to be the indus- try’s leaders of tomorrow. “FFA continues to grow leaders, build communities and strengthen agriculture,” he said. 7KHWRS¿YHVWDWHVE\PHP- bership are Texas, California, Georgia, Oklahoma and Mis- souri, according to the an- nouncement. Oregon membership num- bers also are up, said Kevin White, executive director of the Oregon FFA Foundation, increasing from 5,3D3 in D013- 14 to 5,588 in D014-15. Going EDFN¿YH\HDUVWKHVWDWHPHP- bership has increased more than 17 percent, White said. Asked why he believed membership has grown in recent years, White echoed much of what Armstrong said. SAGE Fact #118 Dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers create large reservoirs that allow barges to navigate more than 465 miles from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho. Visit the SAGE Center: Sunday - Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday & Saturday 10am - 6pm 40-1/#4N 40-4/#6