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August 12, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 County cancels meeting on bid to reclassify farmland By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Oregon’s Clackamas County canceled a meeting this week on its bid to redes- ignate farmland following critical remarks from com- munities, a conservation dis- trict and a key state land-use agency. That doesn’t mean the idea is dead, however. A majori- ty of county commissioners want to review the status of 1,625 acres now designated “rural reserves.” The land, three parcels south and south- east of Portland, was desig- nated to remain farmland for 50 years under a 2010 agree- ment signed by Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties and Metro, the Port- land area’s land-use planning agency. The Clackamas commis- sioners now want to review that decision. They believe their county needs more “em- ployment land” that can be developed for industrial or commercial use and jobs. This summer, they announced a plan to review the status of 800 acres south of Wilsonville, 400 acres adjacent to the urban growth boundary of the city of Canby; and 425 acres south of the Clackamas River along Springwater Road. County of- icials believe the land should revert to “undesignated” rather than rural reserves. The proposal caught the attention of groups such of Friends of French Prairie, which opposes development spilling over from the Portland area into the northern Willa- mette Valley. The Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, which usually steers clear of political arguments, took the unusual step of expressing its concern in a letter to the commissioners. The district’s board said the county’s plan “may not adequately con- sider the long-term value of high-value farmland,” which it called an “irreplaceable natu- ral resource.” Oficials in Wilsonville and Canby, which might have to provide services such as water, sewer and police and ire protection to new devel- opment, said their cities have already designated other areas for development, and don’t favor adding land that is out- side their city limits and urban growth boundaries. Meanwhile, the state De- partment of Land Conserva- tion and Development said the county’s intended review goes beyond the narrow issues detailed in a court-ordered re- mand of the rural reserves is- sue. In a letter to the county, re- gional representative Jennifer Donnelly said DLCD “encour- ages the county to maintain the rural designations of the three study areas and focus on com- pleting the reserves process.” Stinkbugs’ natural predator has arrived in the Paciic Northwest By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press John O’Connell/Capital Press Sugar beets grow in Blackfoot, Idaho. Growers are anticipating a record beet yield with the potential for high sugar content. Idaho growers expect record beet yield, high-quality spuds By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Idaho growers anticipate digging another record-yield- ing sugar beet crop and po- tatoes with excellent quality, thanks to ideal weather during the critical points of this growing season. Rupert grower Duane Grant, chairman of the board at Snake River Sugar Co., said a “phenomenal” beet crop has matured about 10 days ahead of normal, and the company expects a “third year in a row of steadily increasing, record yields.” Grant said beets have be- gun turning yellow, suggest- ing plants have exhausted nitrogen and are shifting from vegetative growth to sug- ar accumulation. Grant said early beet harvest will begin during the irst week of Sep- tember — earlier than many years — and new equipment at the Mini-Cassia processing plant will “help push the tons through more eficiently.” Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association Executive Direc- tor Mark Dufin said growers reported good emergence, strong stands, virtually no replants and plenty of heat throughout the growing re- gion — a formula for an ex- cellent crop. “I think the beet crop could be very, very good yield- wise,” said Hazelton grower Randy Grant, adding now through Oct. 1 is the critical period for sugar formation. Aberdeen grower Andy Povey has noticed beets have been using a lot of water, evi- dencing rapid growth. Having a thick stand also bodes well for sugar, he explained. Thick stands consume nitrogen quickly, triggering sugar ac- cumulation, and yield a large number of small beets, which tend to have a better sugar percentage. Recent cooler nights should also boost sugar formation, Povey said. Randy Grant, a Russet Burbank grower for the pro- cessed potato industry, said spuds beneited from plen- ty of warm weather without extreme temperature luctu- ations during key growth pe- riods. “The quality is there. We don’t see the rough potatoes, the growth cracks and that type of stuff,” he said. “It was ideal growing weather when they started making their shape.” Only recently has he no- ticed spud ields beginning to “show their age,” following a 10-day stretch of extreme high temperatures to end July and begin August. He said the recent heat stress shouldn’t affect quality, and bulking should resume when tempera- tures dip back to normal. Duane Grant has also no- ticed potato ields are now “looking older,” but he be- lieves the quality of the crop was protected when foliage grew to cover rows, providing shade, before the onset of hot- ter weather. Aberdeen grower Dirk Driscoll believes the recent hot spell could affect yields. “It may not size up as well because of the aging of the plants due to hotter weather, but for the most part, we have a good quality crop at this point,” Driscoll said. American Falls grower Jim Tiede said a lack of sum- mer showers has nulliied concerns about potential late blight pressure, thus far, and growers in his region haven’t been overwhelmed by large numbers of potato psyllids, which spread zebra chip dis- ease in spuds. In his test digs, Idaho Falls grower Derek Reed has seen “big spuds for this time of year.” “I’m expecting a little bit better (potato) yield than last year, but not a record yield by any means,” Reed said. NOW SCHEDULING FOR WATER WELL DRILLING & EXPLORATION Specializing in 10” diameter and above water wells. 33-1/#14 • Deepening • Reaming • Commercial • Irrigation www.rjdrillcompany.com 509-981-6675 • ryan@rjdrillcompany.com Licensed • Insured • Bonded • Odessa, WA Discovering the Port- land presence of a wasp that kills the eggs of the dreaded brown marmorated stinkbug might be cause for more head scratching than ist bumps, but researchers will take good breaks where they ind them. The Oregon Department of Agriculture announced that one of its entomologists dis- covered a cluster of stinkbug eggs in Portland that had been obliterated by a tiny, parasitic wasp called Trissolcus japoni- cus. The inding may speed up control of brown marmorated stinkbug. Like the stinkbug, referred to as BMSB, the wasp isn’t native to Oregon. The female wasp lays its eggs inside the eggs of stinkbugs. The devel- oping wasp larvae essentially eat their way out as they grow, destroying the host. That trait caught the eye of researchers at ODA, Oregon State University and elsewhere, because BMSB will eat nearly anything and are considered a major threat to fruit, berry, vegetable and nut crops. Its dis- covery in southeast Portland’s venerable Ladd’s Addition neighborhood in 2004 touched off a program, funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, to ind a method of biocontrol, as bug-on-bug pre- dation is called. The state ag department leases space at OSU, which cooperates in the research, to raise the wasps in quarantine and sic them on BMSB in the laboratory. One of the key questions is whether the wasps might harm beneicial native bugs as well. Entomologists have been work- ing on it since 2011; the idea is to gather enough data to peti- tion USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for permission to release the pred- Courtesy of Oregon Department of Ag A tiny parasitic wasp of the type recently discovered in Portland emerges from the egg of a brown marmorated stinkbug, which can cause heavy crop damage. Brown marmorated stink bug Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org Binomial name: Halyomorpha halys Appearance: Shield shaped and dark, mottled brown Diet: Primarily tree fruits Life cycle: One or two generations in cooler climates; up to five in warmer ones Origin: Asia First observed in U.S.: 14-17 mm (Actual size) Mid-1990s Sources: Penn State Extension; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Capital Press graphic ator wasps. Researchers in New York, Delaware, Florida, Michigan and California are doing simi- lar work. In 2014, things began to go sideways. The wasp was found in a mid-Atlantic state, and researchers immediately sus- pected wasps had escaped from quarantine. But DNA analysis showed it wasn’t from any of the colonies that researchers around the country keep in quarantine. Last summer, the same thing happened in Vancouver, Wash. A wasp was recovered by Washington State Universi- ty, but it also wasn’t from any of the quarantined populations. What’s more, it wasn’t from the same group as the wasp caught in the mid-Atlantic state. This summer, entomolo- gist Chris Hedstrom of ODA was checking a private prop- erty site near Oregon Health & Science University in Portland when he came across a cluster of BMSB eggs by accident. The eggs had been wiped out, and it was clear wasp larvae were to blame. Wasps rough- ly chew their way out, while stinkbugs emerge through a neat hole, Hedstrom said. “Oh, we have something here,” Hedstrom described his reaction. Recognizing the potential importance of the ind, Hed- strom returned within 15 hours and set what are called “senti- nel” traps baited with BMSB eggs collected in ODA’s labo- ratory in Salem. Two days later, he found wasps had struck again. He collected the eggs and adult “guardian” wasps that protect the cluster from other parasit- oids after they’ve deposited their young into the BMSB eggs. A single female can par- asitize an entire egg cluster, Hedstrom said. In July, the wasp larvae emerged in captivity and have since been identiied. Additional study by the Smithsonian’s Systematic En- tomology Lab will determine the lineage of the Portland wasps. Hedstrom believes they are part of the Vancou- ver group, given the relative proximity. He said the wasps probably arrived in the Paciic North- west the same way BMSB did — by hitching a ride into the Port of Portland or Port of Vancouver. Hedstrom said the indings may speed up the process of gaining APHIS approval to release wasps as a biocontrol agent. Hedstroms said the devel- opment is encouraging after years of telling growers it will take more time before biocon- trols gain approval. “We still have to error on the side of caution,” he said.
