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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2016)
February 12, 2016 By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Sean Ellis/Capital Press Reid Saito, second from left, and Ron Mio, second from right, are inducted into the Idaho-Eastern Ore- gon Onion Hall of Fame Feb. 2, and receive plaques from Malheur County Onion Growers Association President Paul Skeen, left, and Idaho Onion Growers Association President Clinton Wissel. Mio stopped growing on- ions in 2013 because pres- sure from the iris yellow spot virus, an onion disease, has greatly reduced onion acreage in that area, but he still grows mint, seed beans and wheat. Saito said the two worked closely on several issues crit- ical to the industry, including a successful effort to bridge the once wide communication gap between onion growers and shippers. That paid off in a major way nine years ago, he said, after several growers in the area were investigated and ined for using carbofuran, a pesticide that controlled onion thrips but wasn’t approved for onion use. “Growers worked with shippers, the state and EPA and got that worked out,” Saito said. “The way we worked that out, it was the best outcome for consumers, for growers and for shippers.” More recently, onion growers and shippers worked together to provide input to the Food and Drug Adminis- tration on the agency’s pro- posed produce safety rule. Onion industry leaders said the rule’s strict agricultural water standards would put many onion farmers in the re- gion out of business. But the FDA altered those rules after hearing the outcry from onion farmers and ship- pers in the region and visiting the area in 2013 and the rules are now something the indus- try says it can live with. Paul Skeen, current pres- ident of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association, said Saito’s and Mio’s prac- tical and forthright leader- ship skills were most evident during the carbofuran crisis. “They are real leaders who stood up and called a spade a spade and did what we had to do,” Skeen said. “On top of that, they are both really good farmers.” Pyle takes job at Portland lobbying irm By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Retirement didn’t last long for Paulette Pyle. The longtime legislative advocate and grass-roots or- ganizer for Oregonians for Food and Shelter has been hired by Gallatin Public Af- fairs, a Portland-based lob- bying group. The company announced 13 Oregon Oregon, Idaho onion farmers inducted into hall of fame ONTARIO, Ore. — Two long-time leaders of the Ida- ho and Oregon onion indus- tries who worked side by side on many issues important to onion growers in both states have been inducted into the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Hall of Fame together. Reid Saito, past president of the Malheur County On- ion Growers Association, and Ron Mio, past president of the Idaho Onion Growers Associ- ation, were inducted into the group’s joint hall of fame on Feb. 2. Both farmers said it was appropriate they entered the hall together since they worked together on issues im- portant to the onion industry for almost 14 years while they served as presidents of the states’ respective onion grow- er associations. “It was an honor to go into the hall of fame with Reid,” said Mio, who farms in the Fruitland, Idaho, area. “We worked side by side for so many years and I really appre- ciated going into the hall of fame with him.” “I was really honored to be considered for the hall and go- ing in with Ron made it even more special,” said Saito, who farms in Nyssa, Ore. Saito, who grew up on his family’s farm, plans to retire from farming this year. CapitalPress.com Pyle’s hiring Feb. 1. Pyle spent 35 years with OFS before an- nouncing her retirement in Paulette 2015. In No- Pyle vember, she was named the Oregon Aglink 2015 Ag Connection of the Year Award and was feted at the group’s annual Denim & Di- amonds awards dinner and auction. In announcing Pyle’s hiring, Gallatin President Dan Lavey said her passion for the people and places of the rural Northwest is un- matched. “She is a relentless ad- vocate for America’s natu- ral resource communities. Everyone wants Paulette on their side,” Lavey said in a prepared statement. Pyle will divide her time between Gallatin’s Oregon and Idaho offices, the com- pany said in a news release. “My heart and love is with farmers, ranchers, log- gers, foresters, fishermen and anyone who makes a liv- ing from the land in the Pa- cific Northwest,” Pyle said in a prepared statement. Affordable housing bills encounter objections By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — With advocates for the poor lamenting Ore- gon’s “affordable housing cri- sis,” lawmakers are considering altering land use laws to allow more home-building. The proposals have encoun- tered resistance from agricul- ture and conservation groups, which claim cities should focus on building within existing “ur- ban growth boundaries” rather than expanding onto farmland. Young and beginning farm- ers face a problem similar to that of urban residents who can’t ind affordable housing, as farmland ownership is often inancially out of reach, said Peter Kenagy, a farmer from Benton County. “We also have an affordable farmland issue,” Kenagy said during a Feb. 8 hearing on Sen- ate Bill 1575. Bill would expedite UGB expansions Among other provisions, SB 1575 would “expedite” the process of expanding ur- ban growth boundaries to cre- ate more affordable housing, which critics say would create communities without readily accessible services and trans- portation. Meanwhile, people who live in areas surrounded by farmland are bothered by common farm- ing practices, said Mary Anne Nash, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau. “We see a continued con- lict between urban and rural issues,” said Nash. Mary Kyle McCurdy, poli- cy director of the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conservation group, said directing affordable hous- ing development to grow onto farmland “does not work for either side of the UGB.” The costs of bringing water, roads and other infrastructure onto such rural properties costs about $100,000 per housing unit, so housing development makes more sense on unde- veloped land within cities, she said. “We’re picking on agri- cultural land because there are fewer people there and it’s cheaper compared to urban land,” McCurdy said. Proponents of easing the UGB expansion process argue that restrictive land use rules have contributed to the lack of affordable housing around Or- egon and must be part of the solution. Oregon’s land use statutes have improved livability and preserved agriculture but “they have not come without costs,” said Jon Chandler, CEO of the Oregon Home Builders Associ- ation. The impact of SB 1575 would be complicated for home builders. While the bill would speed up the process of expand- ing UGBs, it would also allow cities to adopt a form of “inclu- sionary zoning,” under which a portion of housing units must be priced to it the median in- come of local families. Home builders have tradi- tionally opposed such zoning as posing a threat to real estate markets, and the practice is cur- rently prohibited in Oregon. Chandler said he’s willing to have a “thoughtful conversa- tion” about inclusionary zoning in SB 1575. If the legislature sets the right parameters for such zoning, his group may not object to the proposal and even support it, he said. Housing shortage seen in Oregon In testimony supporting another proposal, House Bill 4079, Chandler said that Or- egon should be generating about 25,000 housing units a year to keep up with population growth. In 2015, though, only about 15,000 units were built, and the state has developed a backlog of about 100,000 units in recent years, he said. Under HB 4079, the legis- lature would allow two 50-acre pilot projects in which the UGB expansion process would be expedited to accommodate af- fordable housing — one locat- ed in a community with fewer than 30,000 residents, and the other with more. Oregon stops sales of Guardian Mite Spray after lab inds contamination By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press The Oregon Department of Agriculture stopped sales of a pesticide statewide Feb. 5, a follow-up from the mid-Janu- ary report that a private labo- ratory testing cannabis found an active ingredient that wasn’t listed on the pesticide label. The lab, Oregon Growers Analytical of Eugene, found a commonly used insecticide, abamectin, in Guardian Mite Spray. Its label says its ac- tive ingredients are cinnamon oil and citric acid, and that it is 100 percent natural, accord- ing to the ag department. The insecticide was found on cannabis intended for eventual use by medical mari- juana patients. In January, the ag depart- ment took Guardian off the list of products approved for use on marijuana while it in- vestigated. Washington and Colorado, which like Oregon have legalized marijuana, fol- lowed suit. Oregon’s stop-sale order, issued last week, is the regulatory hammer. The order means people can’t sell, buy, use or distrib- ute the Guardian pesticide until the ag department and fellow regulatory agencies such as the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Oregon Health Authority take a closer look. In Oregon, it’s Online http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/ proiles/extoxnet/24d-captan/ abamectin-ext.html against the law to adulterate a pesticide product, misbrand it and make false or misleading claims about it, according to the ag department. Vindication for lab The stop-sales order is vin- dication for Rodger Voelker, Oregon Growers Analytical’s lab director and a former ODA chemist. Sensing an economic op- portunity as Oregon and other states moved to legalize pot for medical and recreational use, Voelker and others joined Executive Director Bethany Sherman in founding the test- ing lab in Eugene about 2 1/2 years ago. Voelker said he began inding abamectin in cannabis samples in October 2015, and again in November and De- cember. Some growers went ballistic when he told them, and insisted the lab made a mistake or introduced the contamination itself. “I was pulling my hair out,” Voelker said. “Could we be doing something wrong in the lab?” But the growers with prob- lems had been using Guard- ian. When he tested the prod- uct directly, Voelker found abamectin as an active ingre- dient. “Sure enough,” he said. Voelker said Eugene-ar- ea pot growers have a strong organic ethic, and want to use natural products such as Guardian claimed to be. It seemed to work “amazingly well,” he said. Findings conirmed He reported his indings to the Department of Agricul- ture, which seemed skeptical at irst, but removed Guard- ian from the list of approved pesticides as it began its in- vestigation. Two-and-a-half weeks later, the department conirmed Voelker’s indings and issued the stop-sale order. “They did a great job of moving on it,” Voelker said. “That is the government working at record speed.” Voelker said pesticide test- ing is complicated, and state employees understand the potential liability involved. “You’ve really got to get this thing right.” Guardian Mite Spray is made by All In Enterprises, Inc. of Machesney Park, Ill. The company could not be reached for comment, but a man who identiied himself as the owner spoke to The Oregonian/Oregonlive.com in mid-January. The news outlet reported the man said he wasn’t aware he had to list all active ingredients on the label. 7-4/#5