FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 29
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
BRIDGING
THE URBAN-RURAL GAP
Washington
livestock
compensation
system
‘broken’
The next Portland
mayor says he can
be an advocate for
Oregon agriculture
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Dear Mr. Mayor ...
Questions, observations and advice from rural Oregon
By ERIC MORTENSON
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Capital Press
P
ORTLAND — Love it or despise it, this
quirky city can make or break the fortunes
of Oregon’s farmers and ranchers.
With 610,000 people living within the
city limits, and 1.7 million in the three counties that
make up the greater metro area, Portland is the chief
consumer, shipper, mar-
keter and brander of the
state’s agricultural pro-
duction.
What happens here
ripples far beyond the
city, which makes Port-
land politics import-
ant from Pendleton to
Prineville and from Pow-
ell Butte to Paisley.
When current state
Treasurer Ted Wheeler
Edward “Ted” Wheeler
decided to run for Port-
• Age: 53
land mayor and won
enough votes in the May
• Political party: Democrat
primary to avoid a runoff
• Residence: Southwest
in November, rural pro-
Portland, Ore.
ducers took notice.
• Family: Wife, Katrina, and
He won’t take offi ce
daughter
until
January, but some
• Education: Bachelor’s in
in agriculture believe
economics, Stanford; MBA,
Wheeler’s ascendancy
Columbia University; MA in
public policy, Harvard University
could improve urban-ru-
ral relations.
• Professional career: Author;
Wheeler lives in Port-
employee, Bank of America and
Copper Mountain Trust; lecturer,
land, but he’s a sixth
Northeastern University; small
generation Oregonian
business owner
with rural roots. His
• Political career: Multnomah
family was in the tim-
County Commissioner, 2007-10;
ber business; the Tilla-
Treasurer, State of Oregon,
mook County town of
2010-present; Mayor-elect, City
Wheeler, on the Oregon
of Portland, 2016
Coast, was named after
• Volunteer work: Neighborhood
his
great-grandfather,
House, Oregon Sports Authority,
who
started
a mill there.
Portland Mountain Rescue, Boy
His
mother’s
side comes
Scouts of America
from the Fossil area, in
Sources: tedwheeler.com;
Eastern Oregon.
votesmart.org
Katy Coba, director
Capital Press graphic
of the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture, said Wheeler has a “very strong
affi nity” for Oregon ag because of his background.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Hunters, Wash., rancher Dave
Dashiell discusses his frustrations
with the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife’s compen-
sation process July 7 during the
wolf advisory group meeting in
Spokane Valley, Wash.
S
ome political observers regard
Portland Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler
as Oregon’s governor-in-waiting.
He was a Multnomah County com-
missioner before being appointed state
treasurer in 2010 upon the death of Ben
Westlund, then won election as treasur-
er in his own right in 2012.
He’s literally written a book on
good government. He holds an eco-
nomics degree from Stanford, an mas-
ter of business administration degree
from Columbia and a master’s degree
in public policy from Harvard. He has
experience in private business.
He turns 54 at the end of August, is
married and has a daughter, and comes
across as intelligent, affable and fit —
he climbed Mount Everest in 2002 and
once did a snowshoe trek to the North
Pole.
The Capital Press asked a sampling
of producers and others involved in ag-
riculture for their take on Wheeler:
“He likely knows as much about farming/
ranching as I know about running Portland. We
should respect each other’s knowledge.”
— Todd Nash, Wallowa County rancher, wolf issue chair for
the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association
“For fun, I’d ask him if he’s interested in touring
some farms. I’ve toured Portland, but I’d certainly not
give him advice on how to do his job. I just like to visit.”
— Molly Pearmine McCargar, Gervais vegetable farmer
“What can agriculture do to better connect with city
government and thought leaders who seem to have an
insularity and sometimes utopian vision of food pro-
duction that does not match the marketplace and the
demands of a growing world population?”
— Dave Dillon, Oregon Farm Bureau executive vice president
“The Willamette Valley is one of the most fertile and
best growing regions in the world. Maintaining green
space and supporting land use planning will be a critical
long-term part of our viability.”
— Jeff Fairchild, produce buyer for 18 New Seasons grocery
stores in the Portland area
Capital Press
SPOKANE
VALLEY,
Wash. — Washington ranch-
ers say the compensation
system for livestock killed by
wolves is a “farce,” telling the
state’s wolf advisory group
that payments are too low and
late.
Rancher Dave Dashiell,
who lost 300 sheep to wolves
two years ago, spoke to the
group July 7 during a meeting
in Spokane Valley. A former
member, Dashiell left the advi-
sory group in 2015.
Dashiell based his loss es-
timate on several counts, in-
cluding one during shearing.
He said the Washington De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife
offered him roughly $56,000 to
$58,000 in compensation. That
works out to $186 to $193 per
animal, or about $216 apiece
when considering the state
subtracted 50 head for “normal
losses.”
The prices he received at
market were $300 for yearling
ewes, $200 for ewe lambs,
$250 for ewes and $200 for fat
lambs.
“We’re at the point, ‘Should
we take the money and run?’ or
tell them to ‘Stick it, we don’t
care, we don’t want to deal with
you?’” Dashiell told the group.
Jack Field, executive vice
president of the Washington
Cattlemen’s Association and a
member of the advisory group,
also voiced his frustrations.
“It is not timely, it does not
work, it’s a farce,” he said of
the compensation system.
Ranchers don’t trust the de-
partment when WDFW offers
to help pay for livestock loss-
es, Field said. The department
added steps to the process and
uses outside appraisers who
don’t understand the industry,
he said.
Candace Bennett, wild-
life confl ict specialist for the
department in Spokane, told
the group the problem lies in
an “extremely cumbersome”
Turn to BROKEN, Page 12
Turn to MAYOR, Page 12
Farm machinery inventories grow as demand falls
Double-digit sales decline continues in 2016
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The continuing downturn in farm
machinery sales is leaving sellers with
surplus inventories and forcing some to
offer equipment at money-losing pric-
es, experts say.
As farmers have “pulled in their
horns” due to lower commodity prices,
new large tractors and combines are
moving off dealer lots at a slower pace,
said Charlie O’Brien, senior vice pres-
ident at the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers.
“They’re being very selective in what
they’re purchasing now,” O’Brien said.
Even when farmers want to buy new
machinery, dealers can encounter ob-
structions to the sales process, he said.
Grass seed is harvested
in an Oregon fi eld. The
Association of Equipment
Manufacturers reports
double-digit declines in
the sales of large tractors
and combines through
mid-2016, following
similar declines in 2014
and 2015.
Capital Press File
Turn to SALES, Page 12
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