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July 1, 2016 CapitalPress.com Is pot Oregon’s top crop? Sales figures might prove if marijuana is most valuable commodity By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press E.J. Harris/EO Media Group Oregon is now one of just four states that has legalized marijuana for recreational use. It may also have become one of the state’s top cash crops. already legal. The state reve- nue department collects a 17 percent tax on recreational pot purchases, while the OLCC li- censes producers, processors, retailers, wholesalers and labs. The information, however, poses another head-scratcher. Most agricultural statistics published by the ag depart- ment come from the USDA’s National Agricultural Sta- tistics Service, or NASS. 2015 that Oregon’s marijuana crop had an annual value ap- proaching $1 billion. Meanwhile, the OLCC continues to process license applications as entrepreneurs seek opportunities in the rec- reational cannabis market. As of June 21, there were 723 applications to grow pot in Oregon. Of those, 122 were in Jackson County and 91 were in neighboring Josephine County. South- ern Oregon has long been the state’s cannabis produc- tion hotbed, legal or illegal. The Portland area, includ- ing Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties, accounted for 250 license applications. Of processing facilities, 25 of the 82 license applications were from Multnomah Coun- ty, as were 69 of 193 retail outlet applications. The state also received ap- plications from seven testing labs, 57 wholesalers and one research facility. Some licenses have been approved, many others are in draft form or are being re- viewed for land-use compli- ance by local governments. Oregon juniper loan program off to slow start By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press An Oregon loan program intended to jump start the Western juniper market has had only one applicant so far, and people in the industry say it remains stalled in a sit- uation where good intentions and strong demand for juni- per lumber aren’t matched by log supply and mill infra- structure. Business Oregon, the state agency in charge of an $800,000 juniper fund ap- proved by the 2015 state Leg- islature, recently tweaked the details of its loan program in an effort to provide better terms and spur more interest. Meanwhile, small rural ju- niper mills sputter along and hope for better times. “I feel like a zombie, caught between the living and the dead,” said Kendall Derby, owner and operator of In the Sticks sawmill in Fossil, Ore. Derby entered the spring with little supply — “Demand is through the roof and I’m out of logs,” he complained. At the end of June he received three truckloads of logs, only to have some of his equipment break down. The predicament is another in the series of starts and stops that has long marked the juni- per market. Western juniper is an intru- sive tree in much of Eastern Oregon and other dry parts of the West. It covers an estimat- ed 9 million acres in Oregon alone and is a prodigious water “thief,” as some landowners call it. Mature trees can use up to 30 gallons a day, and crowd out native sage and grasses. An Oregon State Univer- sity study showed that cutting juniper quickly restores wa- tersheds and improves stream- lows, which in turn improves grazing conditions for cattle and habitat for species such as Greater sage grouse. Pol- iticians, agency experts and environmentalists believe a vi- brant juniper logging and mill- ing industry could revitalize the economy in parts of rural UI enters agreement to manage 10,400-acre Rock Creek Ranch By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press HAILEY, Idaho — A three-way partnership be- tween University of Idaho, USDA and environmental groups will allow UI research- ers to perform extensive range and grazing-related research on the 10,400-acre Rock Creek Ranch in southcentral Idaho. The parties signed a mem- orandum of agreement June 28 that will allow UI to operate the working conservation ranch for ive years. The ranch is owned by The Nature Conservancy and the Wood River Land Trust. Their agreement with UI will allow the university to establish a rangeland research and educa- tional facility that encompasses ranching, conservation and rec- reation. UI has hired former Idaho Cattle Association Executive Vice President Wyatt Prescott to manage the 150-cow ranch- ing operation there. The research that will be conducted under the agreement and the fact that Prescott will manage the ranch came as wel- come news to the state’s cattle industry. “We’re really happy that Wyatt has been tasked to man- age that. It will be really well run,” said Britany Hurst, the ICA’s feedlot coordinator and communications director. “It’s hugely exciting for us.” UI researchers will use the ranch to study rangeland re- lated issues, as well as how responsible grazing and sound conservation practices can work together, according to a UI news release. “Leading research and out- reach in Idaho is the funda- mental land-grant mission of the University of Idaho,” UI President Chuck Staben said in a news release. “Together with The Nature Conservancy and the Wood River Land Trust, we will continue to do what UI has done for 125 years — pro- vide sound data from which our state’s industries can improve, expand and thrive.” The environmental groups purchased the land in 2014 for $2.2 million from the Harry Rinker family, which previ- ously obtained a $3.8 million Natural Resource Conserva- tion Service Grassland Re- serve Program easement on the property. In addition to protecting wildlife habitat and prevent- ing future development, the easement requires that graz- ing continue on the property, along with other uses, includ- ing conservation efforts and recreational opportunities, said John Foltz, special assistant to the UI president for agricultural initiatives. The ranch includes core sage grouse habitat, including 50 leks, and provides critical water and habitat for other wildlife, including pygmy rab- bits, beavers and elk. According to the UI news release, “Grazing and the is- sues around it are key com- ponents of the future of the property, as the UI Rangeland Center strives to provide sci- ence-based answers to Idaho’s large ranching industry.” According to a UI fact sheet on the ranch, “Active and relevant data on best management practices ob- tained through research on this property can be directly applied across the state and the region.” The ranch is adjacent to 11,000 acres of federal and state land that is primarily used for livestock grazing and outdoor recreation. The private and public land combined include almost the entire area’s watershed, which will allow researchers to con- trol most of the uses that will impact research results, ac- cording to the fact sheet. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Kendall Derby of Fossil, Ore., takes a break beside a load of juniper posts destined for shipment to Portland in this photo from November 2014. Demand for juniper wood is strong, but the logging and milling infrastructure is hobbling. Oregon, as well. For that purpose, the state Legislature approved the $800,000 Western Juniper In- dustry Fund in 2015. Of that, $500,000 was intended as loans to increase harvesting and manufacturing; $200,000 was for technical assistance; and $100,000 was for work- force training. But six months into 2016, only one loan application has been completed and the other two parts of the program hav- en’t started. Business Oregon spokesman Nathan Buehler said the department revised the loan program details. Now, producers can get loans for up to 90 percent of the project cost, instead of 75 percent. Also, companies the handle other types of wood are now eligible to apply. Mill owner Derby said part of the supply problem is because loggers pursued pine and ir logs available through wildire salvage sales. Pine and ir are easier to get to, cut and haul, Derby said. “They don’t want to mess with juniper,” he said. Derby and other mill opera- tors sell their wood to Sustain- able Northwest Wood in Port- land, a for-proit offshoot of Sustainable Northwest. Ryan Temple, president of Sustain- able Northwest Wood, agreed with Derby’s assessment that loggers turned their attention to salvage logs rather than ju- niper. He said loggers and mill op- erators need to communicate better with ranchers whose rangeland is covered with juni- per trees. He said some ranch- ers simply cut it and shove it into a jumbled pile. “If ranchers de-limb it and put it into something that looks like a log deck, somebody will buy it,” Temple said. He said demand for juniper products is strong and varied. Oregon vineyards moving to organic production want juni- per trellis posts because they are naturally rot-resistant and don’t have to be chemically treated, while a new brew pub adjacent to Oregon Health & Science University opted for a bar top made from a long, polished juniper slab. 31st Annual Capital Press Ag Weekly Publishes Friday, August 19 th , 2016 Don’t Miss The Chance to Reach 1000’s of Customers! Take advantage of our guide to the Pacific Northwest and California nursery industry. Our special edition will reach our print and online readers one week before the Farwest Nursery Show which runs Aug. 25th - 27th in Portland, OR. If you are an exhibitor at the show or a provider of equipment or services for the nursery industry, let us deliver your advertising message to the perfect audience. Ad space reservation is Friday, July 22 nd . PO Box 2048 • Salem, OR 97308 (503) 364-4798 (800) 882-6789 Fax: (503) 364-2692 or (503) 370-4383 www.capitalpress.com rop-26-4-1/#13 ROP-27-5-2/#24 SIXTEENTH ANNUAL NOVEMBER 15, 16 and 17, 2016 20,000 Sq. Ft. 27-4/#7 27-4/#5 Sales and tax igures col- lected by state agencies may inally solve one of Oregon’s long-running farm crop ques- tions: whether marijuana is indeed the state’s most valuable crop, as cannabis advocates have always main- tained. Tight controls and report- ing requirements by the Ore- gon Department of Revenue and Oregon Liquor Control Commission should result in accurate information about pot, said Bruce Pokarney, spokesman for the state De- partment of Agriculture. The department compiles an annu- al list of the state’s most valu- able crops. Recreational use of mar- ijuana became legal in Ore- gon last October, in addition to medical use, which was Although it’s now legal in several states, the feds still classify marijuana as an ille- gal drug. Dave Losh, Oregon state statistician for NASS, said the agency won’t in- clude marijuana in its annual crop statistics due to federal policy. For the same reason, peo- ple can’t use water from fed- eral projects to irrigate mari- juana, he said, and such things as Natural Resources Conser- vation Service programs can’t be applied to pot crops. Pokarney, of ODA, joked the department might have to put an asterisk beside the pot crop value in its annual report. “We will have sales numbers, but I don’t know how we would report it,” he said. Oregon crop statistics from 2014 list cattle and calves as the state’s top agri- cultural product, at $922 mil- lion value. Greenhouse and nursery plants was second at $829 million, and hay was third, at $703 million. Seth Crawford, an Ore- gon State University sociol- ogy professor who teaches a pot policy class, estimated in 5
