Capital Press
The West’s
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 41
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Weekly
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Most agriculture groups favorable to TPP
Proponents believe pact will level playing fi eld for U.S. farmers
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Agriculture groups on Monday
welcomed the announcement of
a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade
agreement but said they were anx-
iously awaiting the details.
The agreement — known by its
initials TPP — is designed to im-
prove trade relations between the
12 participating countries, including
the United States, Japan, Canada,
Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, Chile,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Sin-
gapore and Brunei Darussalam.
Brett Blankenship, president of the
National Association of Wheat Grow-
ers, said he supports the pact but that
the organization’s analysts will need to
evaluate the fi nal text.
“We have always viewed the
Trans-Pacifi c Partnership as a great
opportunity for potential marketing
gains, as well as preventing future mar-
ket access losses,” Blankenship said.
“Without the multilateral approach of
a broad-based trade agreement, our
competitors have been working on
country-to-country bilateral agree-
ments, which would leave American
products outside of the trade zone.”
Mark Powers, executive vice pres-
ident of the Northwest Horticultural
Council in Yakima, Wash., said his or-
ganization hopes the TPP will remove
all tariffs on apples, pears and cherries.
The council belongs to several TPP
advisory committees.
Powers said he expects to be
pleased with the deal.
“There aren’t any tariffs on import-
ed apples, pears or cherries coming in
Turn to TPP, Page 12
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson File
Loaded container trucks line up at the Port of Seattle in this 2015 fi le
photo. The Trans-Pacifi c Partnership trade agreement announced Oct. 5 is
expected to ease trade between 12 Pacifi c Rim nations.
“The real subsidy is not in the Farm Bill, it’s that a soda machine (was) considered normal
in a high school. That’s the subsidy to corn.” — Narendra Varma, Our Ta4le Cooperative co-founder
All together now
On an Oregon farm, a collective vision creates a different model
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
S
HERWOOD, Ore. — Is this the chang-
ing face of Oregon agriculture?
Our Table Cooperative, a 58-acre
farm 20 miles southwest of Portland,
functions as a collective, with work-
ers, regional producers and consumers buying
memberships and sharing risks and rewards.
The farm grows blueberries, apples and an
ocean of greens, plus chickens
for eggs and meat. It has a small
grocery store where it sells its
own products and those of pro-
ducer members. Adjacent to the
store is a commercial kitchen,
used when hosting farm dinners
at $90 a pop. Solar panels pro-
vide most of the electricity need-
ed for irrigation and refrigera-
tion. The farm’s delivery vehicle
Our Ta4le Cooperative is a commercial-sized Mercedes
van.
co-founder Narendra
Its co-founder is Narendra
Varma says the owner-
ship model is intended Varma, 47, an Indian-born,
American-educated and citizen
to sustain the land in
“visionary,” as a friend calls
farming.
him, who left Microsoft in 1998
with what he describes as a “stock-option fu-
eled fi nancial windfall” and set out to do some
good with it.
Turn to FARM, Page 12
Photos 4y Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Our Ta4le, a 58-acre co-op farm near Sherwood, Ore., has a small store and a commercial kitchen, hosts dinners, sells to restaurants, farm-
ers’ markets and a CSA, uses solar energy to power its irrigation and refrigeration needs, and functions like a collective.
Ur4an agriculture instructor Chris Konieczka
4elieves small farms are changing agricul-
ture and can strengthen local economies.
Clackamas Community College, southeast
of Portland, is the fi rst in Oregon to offer
students a certifi cate in urban agriculture.
Clackamas Community College student Olivia Segura dumps rinsed spinach leaves into a packing 4ox.
The college’s ur4an agriculture program prepares students to operate or manage small farms, community
gardens or farmer’s markets. Segura hopes to open a healing center using plants she grows.
Josh Volk of Portland, Ore., has written a
4ook a4out small farms and consults on their
operations. He’s also a mechanical engineer
who designs and 4uilds handcarts and other
tools scaled for use on small farms.
Wolf-plagued rancher caught in the middle
Dave Dashiell uncertain
about fl ock’s future
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington’s most-scruti-
nized rancher, Dave Dashiell,
says he’s not
sure wheth- INSIDE
er he’ll stay Wolf panel
on the state’s discusses
wolf adviso- ‘wolf-friendly
ry group or beef’
if he’ll even
PAGE 5
remain in the
sheep business.
“I’ve been pushed and pulled
in every direction,” Dashiell said
Oct. 2. “If I’m not in a no-win
situation, it’s darn close to that.”
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Northeast Washington rancher Dave Dashiell talks as Wolf Haven
International Executive Director Diane Gallegos listens during a
meeting of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s wolf
advisory group Sept. 3 in Tumwater.
Dashiell has apparently
lost more livestock to wolves
than any rancher in the state.
Coincidentally, he has been
on the Washington Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife’s
Turn to WOLVES, Page 12
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