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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2017)
March 17 10, 20 SEED & ROW CROPS SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE D S EE OW & R PS CRO ID E IN S ive s dr help gram ct sales Page 5 ta s • In ’s dire m r fa in ru n toes pota ily e 10 e et Pa g • Sw er’s fam g row es r fac rme s e d fa n g ra i nial tside n e r s Pe r s w e t i o n s o f f e e r s o p Page 3 farm FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017 VOLUME 90, NUMBER 10 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 THE COMEBACK BEGINS Oregon, Idaho onion industry rebuilds following winter damage; 1 billion-pound-plus harvest looms Turn to ONIONS, Page 12 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Ore . ho 95 Weiser Payette MALHEUR 52 Vale 201 Ri Ma l h e Nyssa, Ore. 20 26 R. Owyhee Idaho Ore. The industry must rebuild in time for this fall’s 1 bil- lion-pound-plus harvest. Most of the Spanish big bulb onions grown along the border between southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon are stored to be market- ed later in the year. About 60 onion storage sheds and packing facilities Ore. e Clock is ticking 26 Nyssa, Ore., in the heart of the nation’s largest onion growing region, is recovering from winter storms that dumped unprecedented snowfall in the area. Dozens of onion storage sheds and packing facilities 20 collapsed under the weight of the snow and ice, causing an estimated $50 million to N $100 million in damage. Area in detail Ida N YSSA, Ore. — The snow is gone, but much of the devastation remains. Many members of the region’s vibrant onion industry are rushing to rebuild their storage and packing facilities after four feet of snow and ice crushed the buildings and destroyed the onions and equipment inside. The damage is extensive — most estimates place the total at $50 million to $100 million. That includes about 100 million pounds of onions — about 7 percent of the year’s crop — that were lost. Onion country rebuilding v er Capital Press ur By SEAN ELLIS An excavator clears debris from an onion shed in Nyssa, Ore., that collapsed this winter under the weight of snow and ice. 10 miles 95 “It’s forced us to make some changes that, frankly, otherwise we would have taken longer to do.” — Shay Myers, general manager Owyhee Produce Photos by Sean Ellis/Capital Press The Idaho and Oregon governors, along with members of their staff and onion industry leaders, exit a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter Feb. 10 after touring the region and seeing the dozens of onion storage sheds and packing facilities that collapsed. Oregon wolf management plan moves into new phase By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Snake River pack captured by a remote camera photo taken Feb. 1 in Hells Canyon National Recre- ation Area. Courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife SALEM — The latest count of Oregon wolves shows there are eight breeding pairs in Eastern Oregon, meaning state wildlife offi cials move into a management plan phase that potentially could ease restrictions on killing them if they decimate deer and elk herds or chronically attack livestock. Under Oregon’s wolf plan, three consec- utive years of at least seven breeding pairs advances the state into what’s known as Phase III management. The ODFW Com- mission is scheduled to receive the annual wolf report at its April 21 meeting in Klam- ath Falls. Oregon Wild, the Portland-based conser- vation group that has been heavily involved in development of the state’s wolf plan, called the count of breeding pairs “hearten- ing” but warned it could lead to wolves be- ing killed by “trophy hunting” or under the plan’s “controlled take” provision. “Controlled take” means wolves can be killed if they are causing declines in elk and deer populations or are involved in chronic livestock attacks. Arran Robertson, Oregon Turn to WOLVES, Page 12 Portland’s container port ‘saga’ still has uncertain ending By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — The Port of Portland has offi cially regained control of its container termi- nal, but agricultural exporters can’t expect shipping from the facility to resume quickly. The port’s commission vot- ed unanimously March 8 to sever ties with ICTSI Oregon, a terminal operator involved in a long-running labor dispute that brought container shipping at Terminal 6 to a halt. “This gives us the oppor- tunity to press reset,” Keith Leavitt, Port of Portland’s chief commercial offi cer, told the commission. With ICTSI out of the pic- ture, the port will now seek to repair relations with the Inter- national Longshore Workers Union, said Leavitt. While that partnership is key to resuming service at Ter- minal 6, fi nding a new compa- ny to run the facility is more complicated, he said. “How do you proposition when you have no cargo and no volume?” Leavitt said. “The value proposition to an opera- tor is a complex equation.” The port will need to identify its market strengths and develop a business plan for reactivating the container terminal, he said. Turn to PORT, Page 12 Keith Leavitt 10-2/#14 When, and whether, service will return remains up in air
