March 31, 2017
CapitalPress.com
11
Oregon
Bill would remove Oregon egg-grading requirement
Direct-to-consumer
sales of ungraded
eggs already
common
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Eggs that ha-
ven’t been graded for size or
quality are commonly sold
directly to consumers in Or-
egon, but the custom doesn’t
strictly adhere to state law.
Though the Oregon De-
partment of Agriculture isn’t
likely to drop the regulatory
hammer on ungraded eggs,
proponents of farm-to-con-
Capital Press file photo
Under House Bill 3116, ungraded eggs could be sold at Oregon
roadside stands, farmers’ markets and other direct-marketing
venues as long as they’re labeled as such and are examined with a
candling light for inner defects.
sumer marketing nonetheless
want to reconcile the statute
with convention.
Under House Bill 3116,
ungraded eggs could be sold
at roadside stands, farmers’
markets and other direct-mar-
keting venues as long as
they’re labeled as such and
are examined with a candling
light for inner defects.
“This is closing the gap
between the intent of the law
with real world practice,” said
Lynne Miller, a small egg pro-
ducer from Benton County,
Ore., during a March 27 leg-
islative hearing.
Ungraded eggs haven’t
caused food safety problems
in Oregon and would still be
subject to temperature con-
trols and other regulations,
said Rebecca Landis, policy
adviser for the Oregon Farm-
ers’ Market Association.
Grading isn’t required by
federal law and grade stan-
dards developed for chicken
eggs aren’t applicable for
farmers who sell duck or tur-
key eggs, she said.
Unless they’re following
very exacting recipes, con-
sumers generally aren’t trou-
bled by the lack of uniformity
in cartons of ungraded eggs,
Landis said.
“The size differences are
not considered a minus,” she
said.
The bill is intended to pre-
vent a burden on small-scale
egg producers, in light of the
Oregon Department of Justice
advising ODA that ungraded
egg sales aren’t currently al-
lowed, said Rep. Pam Marsh,
D-Ashland, who sponsored
HB 3116.
“It adds unnecessary com-
plexity to the process,” she
said.
Enforcing the grading re-
quirements isn’t a priority for
ODA, but HB 3116 would
clarify state policy regard-
ing egg sales, said Stephanie
Page, the agency’s food safety
and animal health director.
Direct marketing is valu-
able for small and mid-sized
farms in Oregon, which is
among the top 10 states in
farm-to-consumer
sales,
which generate about $44
million annually, said Ivan
Maluski, policy director for
the Friends of Family Farmers
nonprofit, citing USDA data.
Idaho honey production increased in
2016, but neighboring states dropped a bit
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Capital Press
ach
• Te
Proposed notification re-
quirements for aerial pesti-
cide sprays in Oregon forests
are intended to enhance com-
munication with neighbors,
but opponents say they’re
unnecessarily onerous.
Timber companies would
have to notify the Oregon
Department of Forestry with-
in 15 days of an aerial appli-
cation under Senate Bill 892,
then perform the operation
within two days of the sched-
uled date.
Information about the
operation, including which
pesticides were applied and
under what conditions, would
also be submitted within five
days of its completion.
The Oregon Department
of Forestry would dissemi-
nate that information to inter-
ested neighbors through an
online tracking system that’s
already being built by the
agency.
Proponents argue the no-
tification system would help
neighbors anticipate pesti-
cide sprays and improve the
medical response if drifting
chemicals harm them.
“I would argue their con-
cern is real and legitimate,”
said Sen. Michael Dembrow,
D-Portland, sponsor of SB
892 and chairman of the Sen-
ate Environment and Natural
Resources Committee, where
the legislation is under re-
view.
Several representatives of
the timber industry testified
against the bill at a March
23 hearing, arguing that such
reporting would greatly com-
plicate on-the-ground opera-
tions.
The Seneca Jones Tim-
ber Co. voluntarily notifies
interested neighbors about
expected pesticide sprays,
but only about 12 percent of
them request the information,
said Ted Rice, a forester for
the company. The remaining
88 percent of landowners
are other timber companies
that don’t ask for the notifi-
cations.
“ODF would be tracking a
whole lot of applications that,
quite frankly, we’re the only
• Guide • H
olve
elp
Inv
Courtesy of ODFW
Wildlife managers say wolves attacked chickens and geese near Flora, Ore.
FIGHT
Wolves attack chickens, geese
at rural NE Oregon residence
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Wolves killed at least eight
chickens and a goose March
23 in a pack attack that left
feathers, chicken parts and
“hundreds” of wolf tracks
around the site, according to
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
The flock owners told
ODFW they heard wolf howls
about 4 a.m. and later found
piles of feathers and fresh
internal bird parts near their
chicken hutch. According to
ODFW, the owners report-
ed they had 16 chickens and
eight geese the evening of
March 22 and were “missing
16 chickens and seven geese
the next morning.”
An ODFW investigator
found hundreds of wolf tracks
around the open chicken
hutch entrance and at “feed-
ing sites” that were marked by
piles of feathers. ODFW iden-
tified parts from at least eight
of the chickens and one of the
geese.
Data from a GPS tracking
collar worn by OR-41, a wolf
from the Shamrock Pack,
showed it was about 300
yards from the attack site at 6
a.m. on March 23.
The attack happened in
the Flora area, at the northern
edge of Wallowa County. The
Shamrock Pack previously
injured a calf about 24 miles
to the southeast in November
2016.
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By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
ones who care about them,”
Rice said.
Because the right weather
conditions for aerial spray-
ing are often fleeting, timber
companies would be forced
to change the anticipated op-
eration dates again and again,
he said.
“That would cause more
confusion and anxious neigh-
bors than we really want,”
Rice said.
Barry Bushue, president
of the Oregon Farm Bureau,
noted that lawmakers had
already created a “pesticide
use reporting system” in the
1990s but then defunded the
program in 2007.
Stakeholders involved in
creating that original system
agreed not to substantively
alter it until the law sunsets
in 2019, he said. “I’m con-
cerned about re-inventing a
well-thought-out and already
workable wheel.”
Proponents of SB 892
claim that off-site pesticide
drift has exposed people in
forested areas to hazardous
chemicals and caused illness-
es, which justifies better noti-
fication.
“Voluntary notification is
not dependable and rural resi-
dents should not be left guess-
ing whether a timber compa-
ny will contact them,” said
Laurie Bernstein, who lives in
Tiller, Ore.
13-1/#6
Opponents argue
requirements are
overly burdensome,
unnecessary
2015.
The number of hives in all
three states increased in 2016
over the previous year, but the
yield — pounds of honey per
•
Notification proposed for
Oregon aerial pesticide
spraying in forests
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
A honeybee works apricot blos-
soms in an East Wenatchee,
Wash., orchard.
one in it,” Porter said.
Here’s the statistical break-
down from NASS:
• Idaho: 97,000 colonies
producing an average of 34
pounds of honey per colony,
selling at $1.72 per pound. To-
tal value $5.7 million.
• Washington: 84,000 col-
onies yielding 35 pounds per
colony, selling at $1.88 per
pound. Total value was $5.5
million.
• Oregon: 74,000 colonies
yielding 35 pounds per colony,
selling at $2.06 per pound. To-
tal value was $5.3 million.
Foc
us
Associated Press File
A helicopter prepares to apply pesticides. A bill in the Oregon Leg-
islature would require 15 days advance notice if a timber company
wants to apply pesticides to forestland.
Life was sweeter in Idaho
in 2016 but took a dip in Ore-
gon and Washington, according
to honey production figures
released by USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service.
NASS said Idaho’s 2016
honey production was 3.3 mil-
lion pounds, about 16 percent
more than 2015. Washington
produced 2.9 million pounds,
about 8 percent less than the
previous year, and Oregon
produced almost 2.6 million
pounds, down 4 percent from
colony — decreased in Oregon
and Washington.
Generally, beekeepers this
year report continued problems
with colony collapse disorder
and illnesses caused by mites
and parasites. Freezing weath-
er over the winter didn’t help
matters.
Beekeeper Kathy Porter of
Salem said colony collapse is
particularly vexing. Research
is continuing on the phenome-
non, in which adult worker bees
simply disappear from the hive.
“You can have a perfectly
healthy hive, and go back two
weeks later and there’s not bee