April 14, 2017
CapitalPress.com
3
Dreary spring slows Oregon farmers, crops, insects
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Low temperatures have
slowed the growth of Oregon’s
crops this spring, at least com-
pared to recent years, while
high moisture levels have im-
peded the state’s farmers.
Crop development in the
Willamette Valley, for exam-
ple, is roughly a month behind
2016 and 2015, according to
“degree day” data compiled by
Oregon State University.
Degree days represent the
accumulated average daily
temperatures above a certain
threshold — 41 degrees Fahr-
enheit for many crops — nec-
essary for plant growth.
However, crop develop-
ment in 2017 is actually close
to the usual average. The pre-
vious two springs were simply
much warmer than typical, ac-
cording to OSU.
“Even though it’s been
quite cool compared to the
last couple years, we’re still
around the 30-year normal,”
said Len Coop, associate di-
rector of OSU’s Integrated
Plant Protection Center.
Meanwhile, precipitation
across Oregon has been 20
to 47 percent above average
during the current water year,
which began last autumn, ac-
cording to USDA’s Natural
Resources Conservation Ser-
vice.
Saturated soils have pre-
vented farmers from applying
fertilizers and pesticides or
planting vegetables and other
annual crops, experts say.
“You’ve got this compli-
cation of all the work backing
up,” said Tom Peerbolt, a ber-
ry crop consultant and found-
er of Peerbolt Crop Manage-
ment.
Soggy ground and strong
winds knocked over a large
oak tree at a ranch near Elkton,
Ore., killing two cows owned
by Ed Cooley.
Cooley said he realized
something had gone wrong
when his electric fence failed,
which led him to the fallen tree
and fi ve cows trapped beneath.
While two were crushed to
death, Cooley managed to res-
cue the other three by remov-
ing limbs with a chain saw.
“The cows were pretty
calm about it,” he said.
Plentiful rainfall tends to
Agritourism bill makes trip
through Washington Legislature
Measure to provide
defense against
lawsuits
still speculative at this point,
said Peerbolt.
Dampness is also condu-
cive to mummy berry, a fun-
gal disease, which is tough to
combat with fungicides when
windows of appropriate spray-
ing weather are scarce, he said.
“It increases the risks of
fungal disease pressure down
the road,” Peerbolt said.
The pace of fi eld work is
sluggish this spring for grow-
ers of sweet peas, which could
delay planting of other crops,
such as corn and green beans,
said Dan Fitzner, scheduling
manager for the NORPAC
food processing cooperative.
If NORPAC’s processing
volume is dominated by sweet
peas, that prevents the com-
pany from switching to those
other crops, he said. Effec-
tively, that means planting of
other crops must be delayed or
Capital Press
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Courtesy of Huffman Farms/Rachel Smith Photography
A child surveys the pumpkin patch at Huffman Farms in Ellensburg,
Wash. A bill to shield farmers and ranchers with agritourist attrac-
tions from liability lawsuits is moving through the state Legislature.
ROP-40-42-4/#17
ses Lake, who introduced bills
in their respective chambers.
The Washington State As-
sociation for Justice, a trade
group of plaintiff attorneys, ini-
tially opposed the measure. The
opposition softened, however.
The bill was amended to strip
farmers of protection if they
“knowingly” allow in someone
under the infl uence of alcohol
or drugs.
The Washington Farm Bu-
reau said that added a require-
ment not found in other states.
Huffman said she is con-
cerned about enforcing it. “My
top employees are my 12- and
14-year-old kids and my 68-
and 69-year-old parents,” she
said.
The lawyers’ lobbyist, Larry
Shannon, said agritourism op-
erators will have to watch for
visitors overtly intoxicated or
drugged, but they won’t have to
study up on detecting substance
abuse.
“We thought it was actually
a good, solid compromise,” he
said.
The Farm Bureau’s director
of government relations, Tom
Davis, said the bill still should
help agritourism, including
with buying liability insurance.
“The general consensus is the
bill still represents an improve-
ment over current law,” he said.
“I’ll take what I can get,”
Huffman said. “I feel like this is
the beginning of good momen-
tum for agritourism.”
Jewell, the county commis-
sioner, said agritourism can
help counties preserve open
spaces.
“Under the state’s Growth
Management Act requirements,
there are very limited opportu-
nities in many rural areas for
economic development and this
represents one that is becoming
more valuable,” he said.
Shannon said that he’s a city
resident who enjoys agritourist
outings with his family.
“I appreciate the spirit they
had coming forward with this
bill,” he said. “I think it will do
what they want it to do.”
The bill passed the House
96-0 on April 7 and the Senate
42-6 last month. Minor differ-
ences in the bill must be recon-
ciled before it’s delivered to the
governor.
acreage of sweet peas must be
decreased.
“It could be a problem if it
keeps up like this,” he said.
Some Oregon crops can
benefi t from the dreary spring.
Perennial ryegrass, a major
seed crop in the Willamette
Valley, generally performs bet-
ter in cooler, wetter weather,
said Tom Chastain, an OSU
seed crop physiology profes-
sor.
Rust disease tends to be
more problematic on perennial
ryegrass and tall fescue — an-
other common grass seed crop
— during warmer and drier
springs, since the reproductive
cycle of the fungus is acceler-
ated, Chastain said.
However, annual ryegrass,
which is generally planted in
poorly drained soils, won’t be
helped by the generous rain-
fall, he said.
Irrigators fi le lawsuit over
Klamath refuge restrictions
Complaint alleges
management
plans will take
land out of farming
By DON JENKINS
OLYMPIA — Farmers and
ranchers with agritourist at-
tractions will be shielded from
lawsuits by injured visitors un-
der legislation backed by the
Washington state Senate and
House and even accepted by
trial lawyers.
Both chambers have passed
similar versions of Senate Bill
5808, which is patterned after
laws in many other states. The
measure would allow farm-
ers to guard against lawsuits
by posting a carefully scripted
sign warning visitors that they
are assuming the risk of being
around farm equipment and an-
imals.
“I’m very excited. I’m go-
ing to sleep better at night.”
Ellensburg pumpkin farmer
and agritourist operator Hilary
Huffman said Tuesday. “Fortu-
nately, I haven’t been sued. But
my attorney says it’s a matter of
when, not if.”
The bill will apply to farm-
ers and ranchers who host
events and have activities such
as hay rides, corn mazes and
petting zoos. Agritourist oper-
ators say they caution visitors
to be careful, but not everyone
heeds the warning.
“What we can’t do is always
cause an adult to act like one,”
said Snohomish producer Keith
Stocker, whose family farm has
changed over the past century
from dairy to truck farm to ag-
ritourism.
“We host tens of thousands
on our farm every year, and it
exposes us to a variety of inter-
esting characters,” he said.
Lawsuits have apparently
not been a widespread problem
for agritourist operators around
the country, though an Olympia
farmer said he was sued and
settled with a man who slipped
in the mud and was severely
injured.
Huffman said she learned
about laws in other states at an
agritourism conference, where
lawsuits were the number one
concern.
She brought the idea to Kitti-
tas County Commissioner Paul
Jewell, who relayed it to Rep.
Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg,
and Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Mo-
encourage fungal diseases like
scab in apples, but low tem-
peratures suppress the emer-
gence of pests, such as the
spotted wing drosophila and
brown marmorated stink bug,
said Coop.
The spotted wing drosoph-
ila needs a higher tempera-
ture threshold — 50 degrees
Fahrenheit — to develop than
many crops, so right now, the
insect’s populations are lag-
ging plant growth, he said.
The pest would still be at
a disadvantage if the weath-
er quickly shifts to being hot
and dry, but mild temperatures
would allow it to thrive, Coop
said.
“They could catch up later
on,” he said.
Rainy weather during blue-
berry bloom reduces bee ac-
tivity, which could hurt polli-
nation, though the problem is
Multiple irrigators claim
the federal government’s plans
for two Klamath-area national
wildlife refuges unlawfully re-
strict farmed acres and agricul-
tural practices.
In the fi nal days of the
Obama administration, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is-
sued plans for managing sever-
al refuges in the Klamath basin
over the next 15 years.
The Tulelake Irrigation
District, Klamath Water Users
Association, Tulelake Growers
Association and three private
farms have now fi led a com-
plaint against the agency, argu-
ing that plans for the Tule Lake
and Lower Klamath refuges
violate federal laws.
The plaintiffs have asked a
federal judge to overturn the
management plans and impose
an injunction against the farm-
ing restrictions.
“The likely effects of this
shift in management will be
noxious weed growth on fal-
lowed or non-irrigated lands,
wind erosion of dry topsoils, as
well as detrimental social, and
economic effects, all without
any benefi t to migrating water-
fowl,” the complaint said. “Fur-
ther, it would be false to assume
that less agriculture will result
Area in
detail
62
97
Upper
Klamath
Lake
140
Klamath
Falls
h R
Kla
ma
t
Some crops, such as
perennial ryegrass,
benefi t from cool,
wet weather
66
Lower
Klamath
140
National
Wildlife
Reserve
Ore.
Ore.
Calif.
Tulelake
97
Tule Lake
National
Wildlife
Reserve
KLAMATH
NATIONAL
FOREST
139
LAVA BEDS
NAT’L MON.
N
10 miles
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
in more water for waterfowl
or wetland habitat. Indeed, the
approximate is true: less agri-
culture will result in less wa-
ter, more noxious weeds, less
wetland habitat, and less food
resources for waterfowl.”
Capital Press was unable
to reach a representative of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
as of press time.
National wildlife refuges
in the region have long been
leased for agricultural produc-
tion, allowing farmers without
land of their own to plant crops
and expand their businesses,
according to plaintiffs.
Farmers leave a portion of
grain crops for waterfowl to eat
and cooperate with scientists
to develop innovative “wild-
life-friendly farming practices”
on the leased refuge acres, the
complaint said.
Under the management
plans issued in January, grow-
ers leasing land in the Tule
Lake and Lower Klamath ref-
uges would be subject to nu-
merous stipulations, such as
prohibitions on post-harvest
fi eld work and genetically en-
gineered crops, the complaint
said.
The government plans also
to restrict alfalfa harvests, re-
quire farmland to be fl ooded
over winter and disallow haz-
ing of waterfowl during tilling
and planting in late winter and
early spring, the plaintiffs al-
lege.
“These stipulations would
or may reduce agricultural acre-
age and increase the number of
unharvested acres of land that
remain in agriculture, as well as
impair the ability to productive-
ly farm on the lease lands,” the
complaint said.
According to the plaintiffs,
these plans violate legislation
passed by Congress in 1964,
known as the Kuchel Act,
which requires the Fish and
Wildlife Service to “continue
the present pattern of leasing”
of property within the refuges.
The lawsuit also claims the
government insuffi ciently stud-
ied the “direct and indirect ad-
verse environmental effects” of
the restrictions, while failing to
show they actually helped wa-
terfowl.
Aside from the irrigators’
complaint, the U.S. Fish and
Wildife Service is also contend-
ing with a lawsuit fi led by en-
vironmentalists who claim the
agency unlawfully lets farmers
use pesticides on leased refuge
acres.