Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current, April 28, 2017, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2 CapitalPress.com April 28, 2017 People & Places Building a better canal system Heather Rice develops precise new model using LIDAR technology Western Innovator By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press ABERDEEN, Idaho — By the time Heather Rice com- pletes her master’s degree thesis, Aberdeen-Springfield Canal Co. will have a unique- ly precise and high-tech pre- dictive model of its entire sys- tem that will help managers cope with increasing grower demand for water. Rice, who joined the canal company’s staff as a hydrolo- gist in August 2015, will start collecting flow data to create the interactive model in late April. She’s pioneering the use of Light Detection and Ranging technology in canal manage- ment, which will also serve as her project toward a master’s degree in water resource man- agement at the University of Idaho. 3-D canal model LIDAR is used to create highly accurate 3-dimensional images of objects. It emits and tracks laser pulses that mea- sure the distance to objects. Rice’s work could have far-reaching benefits for ca- nal management in Eastern Idaho. Starting in a couple of years, Aberdeen-Springfield’s board of directors plans to contract with other canal companies to help them create their own predictive models, Heather Rice Age: 34 Hometown: Pingree, Idaho Job: Hydrologist with Aber- deen-Springfield Canal Co. Family: Husband, Sean Rice Education: A bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho in microbiology; cur- rently working on a master’s in water resources manage- ment at UI John O’Connell/Capital Press Heather Rice, a hydrologist for the Aberdeen-Springfield Canal Co., shows a small boat and sonar equipment she’ll use to document flows for mapping the company’s canal system. She plans to incor- porate the data into an predictive canal flow model. seeking to defray the compa- ny’s $120,000 investment in the LIDAR technology. “I would hope (the project) would encourage other canal companies that aren’t using science to manage their water to start doing so,” Rice said. “In the past, we’ve used sci- ence as the basis for a lot of our management decisions, and it seems to work out a lot better.” This summer, the compa- ny’s staff will use a tiny boat with a sonar device aboard to record square footage and wa- ter velocity to quantify flows and volume losses throughout the 176-mile canal system. A small probe with a pro- peller will be used in narrow lateral canals. LIDAR read- ings will be taken starting in October when the canal is empty, and will also record how changes in substrate affects water friction. Rice will adapt the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s specialized software to calculate how ma- nipulating variables, such as flows, impacts the system. Many growers throughout the system are switching to canal water to irrigate thou- sands of acres that for decades have been irrigated using wells. Under a recent water call settlement junior ground- water users must reduce their reliance on well water. Predictive model Rice explained that the model will help her predict how constrictions, sink holes and other obstacles might im- pede ramped-up deliveries, enabling managers to install liners, widen or deepen the canal or build up banks as needed. “We want a predictive model that allows us to ad- dress issues before we have to start delivering water,” said Aberdeen-Springfield general manager Steve Howser. “We have yet to find another canal company that’s doing some- thing like this.” Howser said the compa- ny has two other technicians working on modeling. Tan- ner Daley, who started last month, is assisting Rice, and Cephas Holder has been de- veloping a 3-D groundwater model specific to the canal Innovation: Developing an interactive model of the Aberdeen-Springfield canal system to predict how the system will respond to in- creased flows, as producers who have been irrigating with wells for several decades re- turn to the system to reduce their groundwater use. Marshfield News-Herald STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — If a repeat of the Great Potato Famine was to strike or climate change so altered the Earth that water became scarce, potato seeds from the U.S. Genebank on the out- skirts of Sturgeon Bay could provide the solution to a loom- ing food crisis. While that seems far- fetched, it’s not, USA Today Network-Wisconsin reported. A potato fungus about 15 years ago threatened crops around the nation. Potato seeds from Sturgeon Bay were among the tools used to avert a potato cri- sis. The fungus, called late blight, was a variation of the disease that caused the Great Potato Famine leading to failed crops and starvation in Ireland and parts of Europe from 1845 to 1852. It also caused mass migration to the United States. Geneplasm, or potato seeds, from the Sturgeon Bay facility were used to develop a potato immune to the new Calendar Sponsored by: To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www. capitalpress.com and click on “Sub- mit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or emailed to newsroom@ capitalpress.com. Through Sunday, April 30 Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, 33814 S. Meridian Road, Woodburn, Ore. Stroll through 40 acres of stunning beauty, expe- rience expansive views of vine- yards, distant mountains and a few mud puddles. Fresh flowers, food and fun. Cost: $5 per person or $20 per car. Website: www.wood- enshoe.com Friday, April 28 form of late blight, said John Bamberg, a plant geneticist with the USDA Agriculture Research Service and project leader of the U.S. Genebank. The genebank is at the Pen- insular Agricultural Research Station. “For years we knew that there was a Mexican species that was resistant to late blight, and researchers had been working on it using seeds from our genebank,” Bamberg said. When it was discovered that the new form of late blight was resistant to sprays used to control the fungus, researchers went into action to develop a potato variant based on the Mexican plant that was im- mune. “A lot of people don’t know about the important work be- ing done right here in Sturgeon Bay,” Bamberg said. Washington Ag Forestry Lead- ership Class Graduation. 5 p.m. Mi- rabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan Road, Spokane Valley, Wash. The Washington Agriculture and Forest- ry Education Foundation will grad- uate 24 individuals from its 38th Leadership Program class. These leaders have honed the skills need- ed to tackle the dynamic and ev- er-changing issues that face Wash- ington State’s natural resource industries. http://agforestry.org Saturday-Sunday April 29-30 Oregon Ag Fest. 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Oregon State Fairgrounds, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem, Ore. Ag Country activities, a petting zoo, pony rides, toy tractor races, a craft and garden show and family entertainment make for a fun and informative day. A ranch breakfast is served on Saturday from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Cost is $6. Sunday Ag Fest hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Ag Fest cost: Free for 12 and under. $9 for 13 and older. Free parking. http://oragfest.com/ Monday, May 1 Soil and Water Conservation Commission meeting. Noon-4:30 p.m., 304 SE Nye Ave., Pendleton, Ore. Website: www.oregon.gov/ ODA/programs/naturalresources/ Pages/meetings.aspx Tuesday, May 2 Fungicide presentation. 4-6 p.m. Bandon, Ore. Lindsay Well of Ocean Spray will speak. A field trip to a farm will be included. Cost: Free Thursday, May 4 Four-Part Farm/Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Canby High School, 721 SW Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. A free four- part workshop on succession plan- In the greenhouses at the U.S. Potato Genebank, lush green tendrils of potato plants reach toward the grow lights. The mature plants sprout pods the size of walnuts that yield valuable pin-head-size seeds. These seeds hold the clues for scientists seeking answers to a wide range of topics, including higher yield and drought- and pesticide-tolerant potatoes. The world’s largest collection of potato seeds and cultivars are housed at the U.S. Potato Genebank, representing more than 5,000 potato variet- ies and species. Potatoes can grow almost anywhere, need less water than most food sources and are packed with nutrients, antiox- idants and minerals, Bamberg said. Researchers around the world are working to develop new potato strains to feed bur- geoning populations in areas where the soil is poor and the climate is cold, hot or dry. “In a world where the cli- mate is changing, potatoes are an adaptable crop,” Bamberg said. Potatoes are a super-food, Bamberg said. There are not many food sources as easy to cultivate, with the same tasti- ness and provide similar nu- trient and mineral benefits as potatoes, he said. Recently scientists at a fa- cility in Peru that partners with the Sturgeon Bay site com- pleted experiments where they successfully grew potatoes in a climate similar to Mars. In the popular 2015 movie, “The Martian,” an astronaut strand- ed on Mars survives by grow- ing potatoes. Growing potatoes in an adverse climate like Mars demonstrates the potential for potato crops, Bamberg said. “It’s similar to climate change where what you used to grow, you can’t anymore, so maybe potatoes are the answer,” he said. “Potatoes are already an important food crop, and as the climate is changing, there’s a need to meet the new challenges in growing the crop.” They also are the most widely grown and consumed vegetable in the nation with a value of $4.3 billion and ex- system throughout the past five years. Howser said the ground- water model will be calibrat- ed by daily measurements from 27 wells along the canal. The model will help the com- pany determine where to dig wells to recover seepage lost from the system, and where to install liners to keep farm fields from becoming boggy in areas where the water table is too high. ports totaling more than $1 billion. In the world, potatoes rank behind wheat, rice and corn in consumption. China is quickly surpass- ing the United States in potato production and India is not far behind, Bamberg said. Vast varieties of potatoes, many developed with gene- plasm from Sturgeon Bay, are being cultivated across Asia, India and into Southeast Asia. “These countries have large populations, and they need to feed their people,” he said. The genebank’s goal is to help researchers and breed- ers innovate improvements in the potato crops, said Tina Wagner, a lab technician who maintains the facility’s collec- tion. Through genetics, the op- portunities to develop pota- to crops with certain traits is significant. The genebank specializes in providing to researchers the seeds or germ- plasm that have traits a scien- tist requires to develop certain characteristics in a potato, Wagner said. GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com 20 Northwest Locations ning with one-hour personal counsel- ing sessions for your family after each workshop. Light dinner 6 to 6:30, workshop 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Course 2 on May 4 is Goal Setting for You and Your Family, Course 3 on May 18 is Getting Organized, and Course 4 on June 1 is Passing on Management Roles. RSVP is required. Organized by Clackamas Small Business De- velopment Center and Rogue Farm Corps. Cost: Free. http://bit.ly/2op THqO based program with very efficient, low-maintenance cows. These are also the happiest producers I know of.” Provenza, professor emeritus at Utah State University, is part of the BEHAVE team. BEHAVE principles, based on 30 years of research: If we understand how animals learn, we can train the animals to fit the landscapes instead of changing the landscape to fit the animals. Cost: $227 by April 14, $267 after. Web- site: http://bit.ly/2kpT9yb Monday-Tuesday May 8-9 Wednesday-Friday May 10-12 Ag Innovation Showcase. Uni- versity of California-Davis Confer- ence Center, 550 Alumni Lane, Davis, Calif. Themes of the 2017 showcase include automation and robotics, food safety, boosting nutrition and sensory value and innovation in the livestock and dairy sectors. Website: www. foodaginnovation.com Wednesday-Thursday May 10-11 Managing for Resilience: North- west Grazing Conference 2017. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Pendleton Convention Center, 1601 Westgate, Pendle- ton, Ore. Featured speakers are Kit Pharo and Fred Provenza. Pharo, cattle breeder and owner of Pharo Cattle Co., says, “The most profitable cow-calf producers that I know of have a low-input, grass- Oregon Board of Agriculture meeting. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Location: To be determined. Salem, Ore. Web- site: www.oregon.gov/ODA/sbou- tus/pages/boardagriculture.aspx Thursday-Saturday May 11-13 87th Washington FFA State Con- vention. Washington State University, Pullman. www.washingtonffa.org/cal- endar/ Wednesday, May 17 Pesticide Analytical and Re- sponse Center (PARC) Board meeting. 9 a.m.-noon. Oregon De- partment of Agriculture, 635 Capitol St. NE, Basement Hearing Room, Salem, Ore. Website: www.oregon. gov/ODA/programs/pesticides/pag- es/PARC.aspx Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Capital Press Managers John Perry ..........Chief Operating Officer Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2017 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Circulation ......................... 800-882-6789 Email ........ Circulation@capitalpress.com Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff Potato ‘genebank’ holds crop’s future By LIZ WELTER Capital Press 1-800-765-9055 Thursday, May 18 FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food — One-Day Blended Course. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Idaho Wa- ter Center, 322 E. Front St. Boise, Idaho. The new Food Safety Mod- ernization Act (FSMA) regulation requires every processing facility to have a trained resource person or “Preventive Controls Qualified Individual“ who has completed a specialized training course (such as this one) that was developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) and is recognized by the FDA. This per- son will oversee the implementation of the facility’s food safety plan and other key tasks. Cost: $330. www. techhelp.org/events/342/fspcaboise- may2017/ Four-Part Farm/Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Canby High School, 721 SW Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. A free four-part workshop on succession planning with one-hour personal counseling sessions for your family after each workshop. Light dinner 6 to 6:30, workshop 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Course 3 on May 18 is Getting Organized, and Course 4 on June 1 is Pass- ing on Management Roles. RSVP required. Organized by Clackamas Small Business Development Cen- ter and Rogue Farm Corps. Cost: Free. http://bit.ly/2opTHqO N. California Tim Hearden .................... 530-605-3072 E Idaho John O’Connell ................. 208-421-4347 Idaho Carol Ryan Dumas .......... 208-860-3898 Boise Sean Ellis .......................... 208-914-8264 Central Washington Dan Wheat ........................ 509-699-9099 W. 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Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com marketplace.capitalpress.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo Index Dairy .................................... 16 Idaho ...................................... 9 Livestock ............................. 16 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Oregon .................................11 Washington ......................... 10 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.