October 14, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
Scotts helps growers identify
escaped GE creeping bentgrass
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Sam Sweeney, a farmer near Dayton, Ore., doesn’t oppose
solar technology but worries about losing prime farmland in Or-
egon’s Willamette Valley to solar projects. Others in the state’s
agricultural industry share his concerns.
Solar panels on high-value
farmland raise concerns
Oregon Board of Ag
calls for rule review
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Solar power technology
draws no objections from
farmer Sam Sweeney.
In fact, he’s got 600
square feet of solar panels
on his property near Dayton,
Ore.
“It’s time to explore other
options for energy,” Swee-
ney said.
However, the potential
for solar development on
prime farmland in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley does
make Sweeney anxious.
Three solar companies
have sent letters offering to
lease his property at rates
several times higher than
other growers would typi-
cally pay.
While Sweeney has ig-
nored the offers, he realizes
other growers will be tempt-
ed by such deals.
“When I saw that, I
thought, ‘Gosh, these are
probably going out all over
the valley,’” he said. “A lot
of people are going to think
this is really an opportunity.
Before we know it, we could
have a lot of these scattered
about on really high quality
soil.”
Those concerns are
shared by the Oregon Board
of Agriculture and the Ore-
gon Department of Agricul-
ture, which plan to formally
ask the state’s Land Con-
servation and Development
Commission to re-examine
regulations for solar devel-
opment on high-value farm-
land.
Currently, the rules allow
solar facilities to be con-
structed on up to 12 acres of
high-value farmland as long
as the local county govern-
ment issues a conditional use
permit.
Larger projects must un-
dergo an analysis of alterna-
tive sites, but there’s a con-
cern that developers might
circumvent that requirement
with several smaller proj-
ects.
“Cumulatively, they may
have the same impact as a
large one,” said Jim Johnson,
ODA’s land use specialist.
“They’re doing large-scale
operations by breaking them
up and having components.”
Originally, the 12-acre
threshold was established so
farmers could supplement
their income, but now that
solar companies are looking
to develop several proper-
ties, it’s time to re-evaluate
the rule, he said.
One possibility would be
to reduce the threshold to
5 acres, and subject larger
projects to an alternative site
analysis, Johnson said.
Solar development is
more intensive than simply
installing some panels —
developers generally move
soil, add gravel and build
fences, said Larry Ojua, ex-
ecutive director of the Yam-
hill Soil and Water Conser-
vation District, which has
raised concerns over two
recent solar projects in Yam-
hill County, southwest of
Portland.
Once a lease for a solar
project expires, the changes
raise doubts about returning
the farmland to its previous
condition, he said. “What
if the company goes out of
business?”
Unlike wind energy,
which is largely compatible
with agriculture, solar de-
velopment entails a greater
risk of permanent land con-
version, said Barbara Boyer,
chair of the Oregon Soil and
Water Conservation Com-
mission and vice chair of the
Oregon Board of Agricul-
ture.
“You can’t farm under-
neath them, like you can
with the wind turbines,” she
said.
Solar companies develop
projects in Western Oregon
even though the region’s
“solar resource” is about 30-
40 percent less than in Cen-
tral or Eastern Oregon, said
Rob Del Mar, policy analyst
for the Oregon Department
of Energy.
“The solar resource is not
stellar, not ideal, but it’s ade-
quate,” he said.
Nonetheless, building so-
lar facilities on the westside
is eficient because that’s
where most of the popula-
tion — and energy consump-
tion — are, Del Mar said.
Grass
Expertise.
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Bob Harriman, vice president of biotechnology for Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., holds a genetically
engineered creeping bentgrass plant Oct. 10 during an outreach meeting in Ontario, Ore. Harriman
showed farmers and others how to identify the plant.
managers in the area worry
that because the bentgrass is
resistant to glyphosate and
is hard to kill, it could clog
irrigation ditches and affect
shipments of crops to other
nations that don’t accept trac-
es of genetically modiied or-
ganisms.
They have also voiced
concerns that a recent 10-year
agreement Scotts reached
with USDA’s Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Ser-
vice will allow the company
in a few years to essentially
walk away from any responsi-
bility for controlling the plant.
Since the plant escaped
ield trials, Scotts has been
responsible for surveying for
it and eradicating it when pos-
sible.
Harriman said Scotts won’t
walk away from its commit-
ment to helping growers in
the area eradicate and control
the plant.
“We have a history of do-
ing the right thing and we are
going to continue to do the
right thing,” he told the Cap-
ital Press.
Bill Buhrig, an Oregon
State University Extension
cropping systems agent in
Malheur County, said some of
the criticism aimed at Scotts
over its response to the es-
caped grass could have been
prevented with better out-
reach and education efforts in
the past.
“Yesterday’s meeting was
a great start toward helping
concerned folks learn about
the plant and how to identify
it,” he said.
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
A genetically engineered creeping bentgrass plant grows in an
onion ield just south of Ontario, Ore., on June 14. The grass,
which was genetically modiied by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. to resist
the Roundup weed killer, escaped from ield trials in 2003 and has
taken root in Malheur and Jefferson counties in Oregon and part of
Canyon County in Idaho.
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ONTARIO, Ore. — Scotts
Miracle-Gro experts showed
farmers and others how to
identify a genetically engi-
neered creeping bentgrass
Oct. 10 during an outreach
meeting.
The bentgrass, which was
being developed by Scotts
and Monsanto Corp. for use
mainly on golf courses, es-
caped ield trials in 2003 and
has taken root in Malheur and
Jefferson counties in Oregon.
Some of the plants have
also been found in Canyon
County in Idaho.
Bob Harriman, vice pres-
ident of biotechnology for
Scotts, said the company has
a good idea where the plant is
in Malheur County.
However, he added, farm-
ers and others can be the com-
pany’s “extra eyes out there
so we know where it is and
we can hop on it” when it’s
found.
The grass has ine, shal-
low roots and will most likely
be found at the water’s edge,
especially around irrigation
ditches, he said.
“It’s so dry here that if it’s
not by a water source ... it’s
not going to grow,” he said.
The grass has short leaves
and can be identiied by its
long stolons, which grow or
creep horizontally along the
ground.
“Visually, the stolons are
your easiest identiier,” Harri-
man said.
The plant was genetically
engineered to resist applica-
tions of the glyphosate herbi-
cide.
There are conventional
creeping bentgrass varieties
in the area and if growers
want further conirmation that
the plant is genetically engi-
neered, they can spray it with
glyphosate.
Scotts can also send people
strip tests that will show con-
clusively whether the plant is
a genetically engineered vari-
ety.
To contact Scotts, call
(877) 375-5139 or send an
email to questions@scotts.
com. People can also visit the
company’s website at http://
scottsmiraclegro.com/gtcban-
swers/
“If you suspect a plant,
let us know and we’ll inves-
tigate,” Harriman said. “If we
ind it, we’ll ... take care of it.”
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