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March 17, 2017 CapitalPress.com 7 Fresh domestic spud sales make gains Endangered Klamath Basin suckers Lost River sucker By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Binomial name: Deltistes luxatus Appearance: Can reach one meter in length. Long snout with small hump on top. Dark on back and sides with whitish or yellowish underbelly. Lifespan: More than 40 years Preferred habitat: Deep lakes and pools and fast currents. Spawns in tributary streams and springs with gravelly bottoms. Shortnose sucker Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Oregon State University researcher Amanda Vance evaluated table grape varieties that small farmers might want to grow. Table grape options under study Binomial name: Chasmistes brevirostris Appearance: Up to half a meter in length. Large head and thin, fleshy lips. Lower lip is notched. Lifespan: More than 30 years Preferred habitat: Turbid, shallow lakes but spawns in tributary streams and springs. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Capital Press graphic Judge dismisses grazing lawsuit By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A federal judge has reject- ed environmentalist arguments that cattle grazing has un- lawfully harmed endangered sucker fi sh in Oregon’s Fre- mont-Winema National Forest. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke threw out a lawsuit by three environmental groups — Oregon Wild, Friends of Living Oregon Waters and the Western Watersheds Project — which claimed that grazing was un- lawfully authorized on eight allotments in the Lost River watershed. The plaintiffs accused the U.S. Forest Service of “ignor- ing widespread evidence of ri- parian problems” that adversely affected the Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker, which are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. However, the judge has ruled that plaintiffs failed to prove that grazing degraded streams in violation of the Na- tional Forest Management Act. Conditions have improved in many riparian areas despite continued grazing while recov- ery trends are “not signifi cantly different” among sites that are grazed and those that are not, Clarke said. “This would tend to indicate grazing is not the reason for any failure to attain (riparian man- agement objectives) in streams found on the challenged allot- ments,” he said. While the environmental groups have pointed to evi- dence of deterioration along portions of some creeks, they haven’t shown “watershed lev- el” and “landscape-scale” fail- ures to live up to fi sh-recovery objectives, Clarke said. The “creek-specifi c ob- servations” by environmental groups aren’t enough to “suc- cessfully rebut” the Forest Service’s interpretation of the data, he said. “Finally, many of the creek assessments plaintiffs point to as evidence of a failure to attain (riparian management objectives) actually show im- proving or stable trends,” the judge said. The Forest Service’s de- cision to authorize grazing on the eight allotments was based on “reasonably gath- ered and evaluated data” relat- ed to fi sh recovery strategies mandated under the National Forest Management Act, he said. The judge’s decision rein- forces the idea that the Forest Service must strive toward the goals set by the inland fi sh strategy for national forests, rather than meet those stan- dards instantaneously, said Scott Horngren, an attorney with the Western Resources Legal Center who represented ranchers who intervened in the case. OSU researcher weighs varieties that grow well in Willamette Valley By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press AURORA — Oregon knows wine grapes. The vine- yards growing Pinot noir and multiple other varieties have won justifi able acclaim, as the success of the state’s wine in- dustry attests. But work done at Oregon State University’s research station in Aurora may help open an opportunity for grow- ing table grapes, the sweet snackers that now come piling into grocery stores from Cali- fornia, Mexico and Chile. Amanda Vance, a facul- ty research assistant, spent three years evaluating culti- vars planted at OSU’s North Willamette Research and Ex- tension Center, or NWREC. Her work, which has been accepted for scholarly publi- cation, identifi ed several vari- eties that might be suitable for commercial growing in the Willamette Valley. Not that Oregon is sudden- ly going to be shipping truck- loads of Thompson Seedless out of state. Instead, Vance said table grapes might in- creasingly become part of what small producers take to farmers’ markets or sell at roadside stands. “I think there’s good po- tential for small, diverse farms to add them into the mix,” she said. “We’ll probably not grow them on a large scale.” Vance’s research came about partly by happenstance. University berry and fruit breeders sometimes informal- ly share their work with coun- terparts at other institutions, who grow them as a courtesy to see how they do in other re- gions, or with an eye to future research of their own. OSU’s North Willamette center has 41 cultivars on a one-third-acre demonstration plot, including several selec- tions from Cornell Universi- ty. In 2006, NWREC accept- ed new table grape cultivars from John R. Clark, a noted University of Arkansas plant breeder and horticulture pro- fessor. Clark wanted to test his new selections in the Willa- mette Valley, and afterward came to visit and taste the grapes, but they hadn’t been evaluated until Vance began work on them in 2014. Vance has worked four years at NWREC, where she manages research fi elds and does day-to-day data collec- tion and analysis. She has a background in viticulture, however, and the grapes in- trigued her. She selected 13 cultivars to study, eventually eliminating three of them be- cause they weren’t working out. Vance said the most prom- ising of the cultivars are Nep- tune, a green grape from Ar- kansas with high yields year after year; Canadice, a small- er red grape from Cornell with good fl avor and uniform clusters. The best of the newer varieties from Clark is called A2932. It’s a green grape with nice sized fruit, Vance said, and it will be named and prop- agated over the next year or so. Vance is doing a mini-trial this year with A2932, compar- ing cane pruning to spur prun- ing methods. Two other promising Ar- kansas cultivars, Joy and Faith, are purple grapes with variable size in clusters, but good yields. Vance said the research does not include an economic analysis, but people thinking about growing table grapes will fi nd information such as yield and cluster weight when the study is published. OSU Extension provides gener- al information on growing grapes, and the study results will be noted in OSU’s small farm newsletter, Vance said. She said table grapes do well in colder climates than the Willamette Valley, includ- ing New York and Michigan, and valley farmers may fi nd a spot for them. “People are always look- ing to the mix of what they can do,” she said. DENVER — New con- sumer data suggest the U.S. potato industry may finally be making progress in its effort to reverse a longterm trend of gradually declining domestic fresh potato sales. Domestic retail spend- ing on fresh potatoes post- ed monthly gains from the prior year throughout the six-month period ending in December, which is the most recent month with complete data available through the Nielsen Perishables Group. Ross Johnson, retail glob- al marketing manager for Potatoes USA, said Decem- ber was also the first month in which he’s witnessed po- tato sales by volume increase from the previous year. According to the Nielsen data, retailers sold more than 278 million pounds of fresh potatoes during December 2016, up 1.7 percent from De- cember 2015. Retail prices, at 63 cents per pound, were a penny higher. The value of fresh sales, at about $176.6 million, was up 3.6 percent. “It’s exciting to fi nally see the report where we can deliv- er some positive news to the industry,” Johnson said. Johnson said increasing sales of bags weighing more than 10 pounds and strong value-added product sales have driven increases in the fresh category. More than 12.5 million pounds of spuds were sold during the month in greater than 10-pound bags, up 6.4 percent. Johnson attri- butes the gains to strong sales in warehouse stores that spe- cialize in large volume. “What I’m hearing throughout the industry is that Costco and Sam’s Club are not only increasing their member base, but they’re also doing extremely well in larger package sizes,” Johnson said. In the value-added fresh category, December sales of petite potatoes, at near- John O’Connell/Capital Press Potatoes are loaded after being harvested in Eastern Idaho in August of 2016. Potatoes USA offi cials are hopeful that recent Neilsen Perishables Group data will be the start of a trend of improved fresh domestic potato sales. ly 800,000 pounds, were up more than 53 percent. Seth Pemsler, vice presi- dent of retail and international programs with Idaho Potato Commission, said the report- ed gains are consistent with records of strong fresh potato shipments that have been well ahead of the prior year in his state. Potatoes USA Chief Mar- keting Offi cer John Toaspern acknowledged a single month of data doesn’t constitute a trend, but he believes consum- er perceptions about spuds are improving, and people are trying new, creative ways to prepare them. “I think we’ve seen a bit of a turn in the tide in terms of perceptions (about potatoes) in the nutrition community,” Toaspern said. Despite a strong dollar, Toaspern anticipates fresh and frozen potato exports will both be up when the marketing year ends on June 30. Nonetheless, potato growers haven’t noticed improvements in their returns. Jeff Harper, a Mountain Home, Idaho, grow- er, said he’ll feed fresh spuds produced above his processing contract to cattle. American Falls grow- er Jim Tiede believes the high-quality 2016 potato crop has increased the per- centage of fresh spuds that can be packaged for sale to consumers, thereby driving down prices. 11-1/#4N
