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10 CapitalPress.com October 9, 2015 Oregon Producer: Two more sheep killed Incident in area of Mount Emily pack By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A sheep producer said two more sheep were found dead in the area where Oregon wildlife officials confirmed five attacks by the Mount Emily wolf pack in Northeast Oregon. Jeremy Bingham of Utopia Land & Livestock sent photos to the Capital Press of sheep he said were found dead Sept. 30, five days after Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife turned down his request for le- thal control against the Mount Emily pack. The department confirmed five attacks on Bingham’s sheep and guard dogs, one in June and four in August, but said Sept. 25 it wouldn’t au- thorize killing wolves because nearly a month had passed since the last attack, the pack had moved to another part of its known range and non-lethal measures appeared to be work- ing. ODFW reports confirm wolves killed at least seven sheep and a guard dog in at- tacks investigated June 22, Aug. 4, Aug. 15, Aug. 24 and Aug. 27. Under Phase 2 of Or- egon’s wolf recovery plan, le- thal control can be authorized after two confirmed “depreda- tions,” or one confirmed attack and three attempts. It’s unclear whether the lat- est report of dead sheep will factor into ODFW’s actions. An ODFW spokeswoman said Bingham did not request an investigation and officials have not seen the carcasses. The department will investi- gate if Bingham requests it, the carcasses are located and the initial evidence indicates wolves may have been respon- sible, spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said in an email. “Any decision regarding lethal control of wolves will be made based on the circum- stances of each situation and within the guidelines of the current rules and plan. There- fore, we could not speculate at this time what ‘would’ happen if more depredation occurs — it is solely dependent on the actual circumstances of the sit- uation,” Dennehy said. Bingham said reporting it wouldn’t make a difference. “What you have to under- stand (is) they are not going to take lethal action no matter what this year,” he said in a text. Airspace change threatens to disrupt Christmas tree harvest By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Christmas tree farmers in the vicinity of Salem, Ore., hope a change in federal air- space designation won’t com- plicate upcoming helicopter harvests of their crop. Over the summer, the Fed- eral Aviation Administration increased the radius of “Class D” airspace around the Salem Municipal Airport from about four miles up to eight miles in some areas. This expansion would impede harvests of Christ- mas trees in the area because helicopters would come un- der stringent restrictions that would effectively prevent most flights when visibility is low — a common occurrence during the cloudy autumn months. “We realized it would shut the growers down,” said Ter- ry Harchenko, president of Industrial Aviation Services, a Salem aviation firm that serves farmers. Roughly 2,600 acres of Christmas trees on multiple farms are included in the larger “Class D” airspace, said Ben Stone, whose family operates BTN of Oregon, a farm near Salem. “That’s a big area,” Stone said. Growers have a narrow window of five to six weeks to harvest trees, so compa- nies such as BTN of Oregon wouldn’t have time to switch Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press A helicopter unloads a bundle of Christmas trees into a truck in this Capital Press file photo. A change in federal airspace designations threatens to disrupt such helicopter harvests around Salem, Ore., unless revisions are approved by regulators. their harvest plans this year, he said. The farm doesn’t have suf- ficient tractors, roads or work- ers to cut and haul the trees by ground, nor could such opera- tions be accomplished quickly enough to meet holiday de- mand, Stone said. “We’ve farmed with heli- copters for 30-plus years,” he said. Due to protests from pilots and others affected by the air- space change, the FAA agreed to scale back the expansion — under a new proposal, the radius of “Class D” airspace around the Salem airport will increase by up to one mile. However, due to the public notice and comment process, growers fear the revision will not be finalized in time for this year’s harvest. “Helicopter harvest is very critical to what we do,” said Bryan Ostlund, executive di- rector of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association. “I refer to the Christmas tree har- vest as controlled chaos and this is going to make it even worse.” There is a possibility that harvest disruptions can still be avoided. Agricultural aviators may be able to operate under a “letter of agreement” that al- lows them to fly in the “Class D” airspace during periods of cloudiness and reduced visi- bility, as long as they follow certain conditions. Rob Broyhill, air traffic manager at the Salem airport’s control tower, said he’s draft- ing a “letter of agreement” that he expects to have done by Oct. 15. The proposal must still be approved by FAA offi- cials, he said. Harchenko of Industrial Aviation Services said the out- cry from pilots and growers, as well as intervention from Oregon’s congressional del- egation, will hopefully allow the problem to be resolved in a timely manner. “It could have been a real disaster if everybody wouldn’t have gotten with it,” he said. Growers should also sub- mit comments on the scaled- back “Class D” airspace pro- posal, which was published in the Federal Register on Sept. 21 and can be found online, Harchenko said. The original expansion occurred after an FAA review determined the change was needed to improve the safety for pilots operating on instru- ments around the airport, ac- cording to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Capital Press File Wheat industry and Oregon State University officials say after several retirements at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center it will take time to forge new relationships between re- searchers and growers. Wheat growers called to engage with new CBARC Three scientists have retired in last two years By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group The Columbia Basin Agri- cultural Research Center has seen plenty of turnover in just over two years. Three longtime scientists are now gone from the Pendleton station, including former di- rector Steve Petrie, who left in 2013 for a job in the private sec- tor. Agronomist Dan Ball and plant pathologist Richard Smi- ley also retired, taking decades of knowledge and experience with them. Local wheat farmers depend on CBARC — run by the Ore- gon State University College of Agricultural Sciences — for the latest information on new crop varieties and growing tech- niques that can help them save money and increase production. After losing so many fa- miliar faces, university and in- dustry leaders say it will take time to forge new relationships, but they remain committed to working together. Blake Rowe, CEO of the Or- egon Wheat Growers League, wrote a column for the October edition of Oregon Wheat Mag- azine reminding growers they too have a role in outreach. “There’s new people, new personalities. It’s just a lot of ad- justment to a lot of new stuff,” Rowe said in an interview with the EO Media Group. “You have to expect these growing pains.” Some of the new research- ers at CBARC are not only from out of town, but out of the country: Valtcho Jeliazkov, who replaced Petrie as director, grew up in Bulgaria, while Judit Barroso, who filled Ball’s posi- tion, earned her doctorate at the Institute of Agrarian Science in Madrid, Spain. Darren Padget, a Sherman County wheat farmer and chair- man of the Oregon Wheat Com- mission, said it’s crucial for CBARC staff to continue meet- ing with growers in the field to better understand the region’s unique climate and cropping systems. “That’s probably the biggest concern I have,” Padget said. “There’s a lot to learn, and they really have to lean on the grow- ers to understand it.” About half of Oregon’s wheat assessment — every grower is assessed a nickel per bushel — goes toward research with OSU labs and extension. The assessment was just a little more than $2 million in 2014, though drought and lower yields are anticipated for 2015. As money gets tight, Padget said every dollar becomes closely scrutinized. And like anything else, change can lend itself to uncertainty. “We just want to make sure those dollars are targeted where you get the greatest rate of re- turn,” Padget said. “We’re con- stantly providing input on what we want.” In addition to Pendleton, CBARC operates a field station in Moro not far from Padget’s farm. Erling Jacobsen, the Moro farm manager, also recently re- tired. Padget is part of the com- mittee charged with finding his replacement. Farmers to be contacted for CEAP survey rop-41-2-7/#4 Federal designation around Oregon airport may restrict helicopters PENDLETON — Eastern Oregon farmers can expect a call from the National Agri- cultural Statistics Service be- tween October and February 2016 as part of a national sur- vey on management and con- servation practices. The Conservation Effects Assessment Project, or CEAP, gathers information from growers in order to determine the effectiveness of existing conservation practices, and improve programs that can help farmers protect their land, water and soil. NASS representatives will visit eligible farms to learn about things like production practices, fertilizer and manure applications and pest manage- ment. As with all NASS sur- veys, the information collected is kept private by law. Andrea Mann, district con- servationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Ser- vice in Pendleton, said several local farmers were contacted at the end of September and believed the call to be a scam. She wants producers to be as- sured the survey is legitimate. The CEAP survey will be conducted over two years, with a second survey period to be conducted from September 2016 through February 2017. The information will ultimate- ly serve as a tool not only for farmers, but for legislators and the public in crafting sound conservation policies.