Capital Press The West’s  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015 VOLUME 88, NUMBER 41 A g Weekly WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 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 41-7/#5