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CapitalPress.com
April 8, 2016
ODA eyes adding ‘stop work’ to its authority
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Food
manufacturers and pesticide
applicators could be subject to
“stop work” orders under new
regulatory authority being con-
sidered by Oregon’s farm reg-
ulators.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture may seek new reg-
ulatory power to halt specific
unlawful actions that endanger
public safety.
Currently, the agency can
suspend or revoke the license
of a food establishment or pes-
ticide applicator that’s violating
the law, but such sanctions may
be overkill in some situations,
said Lauren Henderson, ODA’s
assistant director.
“We don’t have anything
that’s specific to an activity. It’s
all or nothing,” he said during
this week’s meeting of the Or-
egon Board of Agriculture in
Corvallis.
Revoking a license or ob-
taining a temporary restraining
order in court also involves
fairly high legal hurdles, Hen-
derson said.
Taking such drastic steps
would be overly burdensome
for the agency and the business
in the case of minor violations,
such as a faulty thermometer in
a refrigerated meat cooler, he
said.
Under the proposed “stop
work” authority, the ODA
could simply require a com-
pany to cease using that cooler
until it’s fixed, he said.
“We’re looking at some-
thing very narrow and probably
short-term,” Henderson said.
At this point, the proposal
is in a very early stage but the
agency is considering it as a
Ranchers pack Jordan Valley
gym to oppose monument plan
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
possible “legislative concept”
for the 2017 legislative session,
he said.
Henderson acknowledged
the “stop work” idea has met
with some trepidation among
regulated companies.
“The industry as a whole is
pretty nervous about us having
that authority,” he said.
Aside from possibly affect-
ing pesticide applications, the
proposal could impact on-farm
processing, such as dairymen
who make farmstead cheese.
Doug Krahmer, a blueberry
farmer and board member, said
companies should have a way to
challenge a “stop work” order.
“I would caution you to put
some sort of judicial mecha-
nism in there, so if a grower
or an owner takes issue with
a stop work order, there is a
quick way to get adjudication,”
he said.
SJ Valley to get
some CVP water
after March storms
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
JORDAN VALLEY, Ore.
— Ranchers and others who
would be in the middle of a
proposed 2.5 million-acre na-
tional monument strongly op-
posed the idea April 3 during
a town hall meeting.
People who oppose the
proposal should speak up and
make sure their voices are
heard, said Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Ore., who hosted the meet-
ing, which attracted about 300
people, most of them ranch-
ers.
When someone asked what
locals could do to make a dif-
ference, Walden said, “Edu-
cation, education, education.
Because people just don’t get
it and we’re outnumbered.
Your involvement matters and
it makes a difference.”
The Bend-based environ-
mental group Oregon Natural
Desert Association, backed by
the Keen Footwear company
of Portland, has proposed the
establishment of the Owyhee
Canyonlands national monu-
ment and wilderness area on
2.5 million acres of Bureau
of Land Management land in
Malheur County.
The Obama administra-
tion, which could establish the
canyonlands area by presiden-
tial proclamation, has given
no sign what it will do.
Though proponents say
traditional land uses would
be allowed under the propos-
al, opponents believe having
more than 40 percent of the
county’s land designated as
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A sign is posted April 3 in Jordan Valley showing opposition to a proposed 2.5 million-acre national
monument in Malheur County, Ore.
a national monument would
restrict grazing and access to
these lands and harm the local
economy.
When people who support
the proposal say the Owyhee
Canyonlands is one of the
most extraordinary places on
earth, “I say, it’s that way be-
cause of how it’s being man-
aged today,” Walden said.
“It’s that way because of the
way you’re taking care of it.”
He encouraged local resi-
dents to repeat that point.
“We need to show them
what good stewardship looks
like and move the public de-
bate because we have a good
story to tell,” he said. “It’s
critical to show them the good
work being done today on the
range.”
Jordan Valley is in the
middle of the proposed mon-
ument area.
“It would have a huge
impact on this area,” local
rancher Bob Skinner, former
president of the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association, told
Capital Press. “These people
are really scared.”
The April 3 meeting is
among several town hall
meetings being held to help
inform people of the proposal
and allow them to weigh in,
Skinner said.
“We’re trying to make
a statement every time we
meet,” he said. “We think it’s
going to have an impact ...
because politicians listen to
numbers.”
Walden said a national
monument designation could
have a huge negative effect on
ranching.
“Their plan is to get cattle
off the range. Let’s just say
it,” he said.
The proposal would en-
compass about 33 percent of
the county’s total grazing land
and local ranchers are con-
cerned about access, not only
for grazing but to fight fires,
manage noxious weeds and
maintain water resources, said
rancher Elias Eiguren.
He said locals, in conjunc-
tion with federal and state
land managers, are doing a
good job now managing the
area.
Stripe rust confirmed in southeast Idaho
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho —
Stripe rust has been confirmed
in southeast Idaho and Mag-
ic Valley commercial wheat
fields, according to a Univer-
sity of Idaho emailed disease
alert.
The southeast Idaho cases
were confirmed on April 4 by
UI Extension cereals patholo-
gist Juliet Marshall.
One southeast Idaho field
south of Aberdeen was planted
to Brundage, which is a highly
susceptible variety.
Marshall said she also con-
firmed stripe rust in volunteer
Brundage in another field be-
tween American Falls and Po-
catello.
Marshall said she’s also
received a report from a repu-
table source of stripe rust in a
field of Brundage planted east
of Wendell.
The fungal disease spreads
by yellow-orange spores,
weakening plants and shriv-
eling grains, and likes high
humidity and early season
temperatures. It can cause sig-
nificant yield losses.
Marshall advises growers
to spray fungicides at herbicide
timing on susceptible varieties,
select resistant spring varieties
for planting, consider two or
more applications of fungicide
throughout the growing season
on susceptible varieties and
to scout all varieties, noting
“there are sometimes changes
in the fungal strains, and those
varieties that are currently re-
sistant may become suscepti-
ble.”
She said susceptible variet-
ies should be scouted weekly
throughout the season.
Based on the symptoms,
Marshall suspects the stripe
rust overwintered, and she
emphasized snow cover this
winter likely insulated some
spores from low temperatures.
Marshall said strobilurin
fungicides are well-suited
for preventive applications,
and triazoles or triazole and
strobilurin mixtures are ideal
for treating established infec-
tions.
SHASTA LAKE, Calif. —
Last winter’s big storms mean
farms in Northern California
will receive their full federal
water allocations, while San
Joaquin Valley farms without
senior water rights will get at
least some water for the first
time in three years.
The U.S. Bureau of Recla-
mation’s initial allocations on
April 1 gave farms and cities
north of the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta 100 per-
cent of requests, while some
Friant Division customers
south of the Delta will get 30
percent and other ag contrac-
tors in the San Joaquin Valley
will get 5 percent of normal
supplies.
Urban contractors south of
the Delta will get 55 percent
of their historic use, while
wildlife refuges and San Joa-
quin River exchange and set-
tlement contractors will see
100 percent of their normal
supplies, according to the bu-
reau.
The only zero allocation
this year was for customers of
the Central San Joaquin Wa-
ter Conservation District and
Stockton East Water District
because of a lack of available
CVP water in New Melones
Reservoir. It was at only 26
percent of its capacity and 41
percent of its historical aver-
age as of March 31.
“The allocation is based
on a cautious estimate of the
amount of water that will be
available for deliveries to
CVP water users,” bureau re-
gional deputy manager Pablo
Arroyave told reporters in a
conference call, noting that
allocations were based on
such factors as snowpack,
reservoir levels, water quality
needs, water rights priorities
and endangered species pro-
tections.
“While conditions have
greatly improved … the
drought proclamation enact-
ed by (Gov. Jerry Brown) in
2014 still remains in effect,”
he said. “2016 has already
been a challenging year and
we certainly foresee some
challenges throughout the re-
mainder of the water year. …
We are, in our view, still in the
middle of a drought.”
The Friant Division’s 30
percent allocation is dedicat-
LEGAL
NOTICE OF
CLOVER COMMISSION
PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING
TO: ALL OREGON CLOVER
SEED GROWERS
15-2/#4N
Notice is hereby given that a
public hearing will be held
pursuant to ORS 576.416 (5), on
Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at
7:00 a.m., at West Salem Roth’s
IGA, Founder’s Room “0”, 1130
Wallace Road, Salem, Oregon,
upon a proposed budget for
operation of the Clover
Commission during the fiscal
year July 1, 2016 through June
30, 2017. At this hearing any
producer of Oregon Grown
Clover seed has a right to be
heard with respect to the
proposed budget, a copy of
which is available for public
inspection, under rea-sonable
circumstances, in the office of
each County Exten-sion Agent
in
Oregon.
For
further
information, contact the Clover
Commission busi-ness office,
P.O. Box 3366, Salem, Oregon
97302, tele-phone (503) 364-
2944. The meeting location is
accessible to persons with
disabilities. Please make any
requests for an interpreter for
the hearing impaired or for
other ac-commodation for
persons with disabilities at least
48 hours before the meeting by
con-tacting the Commission
office at 503-364-2944. 15-4/#4
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Shasta Lake, the centerpiece
of the federal Central Valley
Project, was 88 percent full
and at 109 percent of its
normal supply as of March 31.
The high lake level enabled
the CVP to give farms north of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta their full alloca-
tions of water.
ed to Class 1 customers, or the
most senior landowners, and
will apply to a majority of the
prime citrus-growing region
in Fresno, Kings and Tulare
counties, said Joel Nelsen,
president of California Citrus
Mutual. In addition, sched-
uled releases of 185,000 acre-
feet will be made in blocks in
May for flood management,
according to the bureau.
“We expect more, but it’s
a heck of a lot better than the
last two years,” when no sur-
face water was available to
the region, Nelsen said. “By
the first of June, we expect
another announcement that
they’ll increase that some-
what, but at least it’s a good
start.”
The 5 percent south-of-
Delta allocation will largely
affect growers on the west
side of the valley, where hun-
dreds of thousands of acres
have already been fallowed
because of a lack of water.
Farm groups criticized the
allocation, arguing that too
much water from the winter’s
abundant rainfall was allowed
to wash through the Delta and
out to the Pacific Ocean. In
a statement, Fresno County
Farm Bureau chief executive
officer Ryan Jacobsen called
the allocations “despicable.”
“Reservoirs throughout
the state have been filling,”
Jacobsen said. “However,
the government’s restrictive
interpretation has resulted in
the permanent loss of 789,000
acre-feet of water.”
LEGAL
NOTICE OF OREGON
HOP COMMISSION
PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING
The Oregon Hop Commission
will hold a public hearing,
pursuant to ORS 576.416(5),
for the purpose of receiving
comments
on
the
Commission’s proposed 2016-
2017 budget on Thursday,
April 21, 2016, 12:00 noon, at
Gustav’s Bargarten, 6045
Keizer Station Blvd, Keizer, OR
97303. At this hearing any
producer of Oregon grown
Hops has the right to be
heard with respect to the
proposed budget. Any person
wishing to comment on the
budget is welcome to do so
either orally or in writing. A
copy of the proposed budget
is
available
for
public
inspection during normal
business
hours,
under
reasonable circumstances, at
the Oregon Hop Commission
office located at 3037 G Street
- Hubbard, Oregon.
For
further
information,
contact the Oregon Hop
Commission office at (503)
982-7600 or
nancy@oregonhops.org.
The meeting location is
accessible to persons with
disabilities. A request for an
interpreter for the hearing
impaired or for other ac-
commodations for persons
with disabilities should be
made at least 48 hours in
advance.
15-4/#4