June 30, 2017
CapitalPress.com
9
Oregon
Chinese trade mission gets taste of Northwest
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
PORTLAND – Time will tell, but
Oregon and Washington producers of
specialty snacks and drinks hope they
made a tasteful impression on a vis-
iting trade mission team from China.
Makers of cider, wine, mead and
beer and vendors of various nut, seed
and fruit snacks set up display tables
two consecutive days at an event or-
ganized June 21-22 by the Oregon
Department of Agriculture.
The China trade group was on its
way back from a Fancy Food Show
in New York, and the Portland visit
was its only other stop.
Trade mission members sampled
products as they moved from table to
table.
“There’s been some interest,”
said Doug Furlong, who described
himself as the “boss nut” of Doug’s
Nuts, based in Eugene. He sells nut
mix snacks in a variety of flavors and
combinations.
He said Chinese buyers ap-
peared to be looking for upscale
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Paula Phillips, right, president of Portland-based Pure Steeps, extols the virtues
of the company’s Wonder Drink Kombucha, a fermented tea, to members of a
Chinese trade mission during a June 22 event in Portland. Phillips grew up in
Taiwan and speaks Chinese, an advantage in international trade.
products and “Everybody likes the
packaging.”
Paula Phillips, president of Pure
Steeps in Portland, offered visitors
tastes of the company’s Wonder
Drink Kombucha, a fermented tea.
One trade mission member took a sip
and said it reminded him fondly of
a drink served at home in his child-
hood.
Phillips and company marketing
representative Linda Shively said
Pure Steeps sells in Hong Kong, but
is not yet in mainland China. Their
kombucha is organic and shelf stable,
and appeals to the Chinese desire for
healthful beverages.
Phillips grew up in Taiwan and
conversed easily with trade mission
members.
“She can tell you about kombucha
in two languages,” Shively said.
Holly Witte, of A Blooming Hill
vineyard and winery in Cornelius,
west of Portland, offered samples
of her Pinot noir, Riesling and blush
wines.
Witte said she’d been researching
the Chinese market and “I knew they
would love our label.”
She said the company has export-
ed a bit to China in the past.
“What does it take? It takes ex-
posure – and a great product,” Witte
said.
Corrine Konell, of Sandy, Ore.,
displayed her protein bars made with
goats’ milk dairy products. Konell
said she is not quite ready to scale
up production enough to sell in Chi-
na, and most likely would look into
Canada and Europe first. But she was
interested in gauging reactions to her
chewy bars, and was gratified by the
buyers’ interest.
Adam Carlson, of Seattle Cider
Co., joked he was “crashing the par-
ty” of Oregon producers. The compa-
ny sells hard cider in Japan, Canada
and the United Kingdom, and he said
China is a promising future market.
“You look at how fast the Chinese
middle class is growing, and the rise
of discretionary income,” Carlson
said.
China is Oregon agriculture’s
fourth largest export market, behind
Japan, Canada and South Korea.
A minimum of $240 million worth
of Oregon ag products is shipped to
China annually.
The figure is incomplete because
some Oregon-grown or manufac-
tured goods are shipped from ports in
Washington or California, and aren’t
counted toward the total.
Field day offers tips for potato growers Oregon company sees
bright future in tall
wooden buildings
Potato research
discussed during
HAREC field day
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
HERMISTON, Ore. —
Potato lovers rejoice. Two
new spud varieties are com-
ing soon to the Pacific North-
west.
Echo Russet and Castle
Russet — developed by the
Tri-State Potato Breeding
Program that includes Ore-
gon, Washington and Idaho
— are about ready to be re-
leased commercially, accord-
ing to Sagar Sathuvalli with
Oregon State University.
Sathuvalli, a potato breed-
er at OSU’s Hermiston Ag-
ricultural Research and Ex-
periment Center, discussed
the traits of each variety with
local growers during the sta-
tion’s annual potato field day
June 21. Both varieties boast
high yields and good cooking
quality, and can be used ei-
ther for french fries or fresh
market.
Getting to this point is
no small feat, Sathuvalli
explained. From the time
breeding begins to when the
potatoes are approved for re-
lease, it usually takes 12-15
years of rigorous field trials.
Echo Russet — named for
the nearby town — and Cas-
tle Russet are about to cross
that finish line.
The Potato Variety Man-
agement Institute, which
handles licensing and roy-
alties for Tri-State varieties,
has decided to release the
latest creations in December.
“We should have approval
very soon,” Sathuvalli said.
Potato field day also fea-
tured updates on research
George Plaven/EO Media Group
Ryan Graebner, with Oregon State University, passes around potato samples affected by nema-
todes during field day at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
projects to help farmers
control pesky Lygus bugs,
manage various diseases and
thwart parasitic nematodes.
Sapinder Bali, who works
with Sathuvalli in the potato
breeding program, said they
are still working to pin down
the specific genes in potatoes
responsible for nematode re-
sistance.
Nematodes are micro-
scopic parasites that infect
potato roots and suck out
the plant’s nutrients, causing
both internal and external
defects that can make the
crop unmarketable. Once the
genes are identified, breeders
like Sathuvalli can use them
to boost the resistance of new
varieties in the next decade.
“Probably next year, I will
have some exciting findings
to share with you all,” Bali
said.
Josephine
Antwi,
a
postdoctoral researcher at
HAREC, later transitioned
into talking about Lygus bugs
and how the insects may af-
fect potato yields.
There are two species of
Lygus bugs in the area that
are widely distributed and
should not be confused with
aphids, Antwi said. What
Antwi is still trying to fig-
ure out is whether the bugs
are capable of transmitting
harmful purple top virus, and
how many insects are too
many for potatoes to handle.
“We are trying to relate
the presence of Lygus bugs
to yield,” Antwi said.
The event marked the first
potato field day for Ruijun
Qin, the station agronomist
who was hired last year to
replace Don Horneck. Qin
recently started field trials
with Sathuvalli looking into
the best nutrient management
practices for Echo Russet
and Castle Russet potatoes,
so farmers will know what to
do and what to expect if they
decide to plant the new vari-
eties in their fields.
Ken Frost, plant pathol-
ogist at HAREC, wrapped
things up by delving into
disease concerns this year.
Late blight has an especially
high probability of turning
up around Hermiston given
the region’s cool, wet spring.
“We’re going to see it
sometime this year,” Frost
said. “The problem is we
don’t know when or where.”
HAREC station manager
Phil Hamm said field day is
an opportunity for growers
to see (and touch) for them-
selves how the facility’s
research can help them im-
prove their success.
“This station is about
you,” Hamm told them.
Freres Lumber Co. of
Lyons, Ore., has received a
$250,000 U.S. Forest Service
grant that will help it gear up
for what the company sees as
an emerging market: Using
wood products in tall building
construction.
The company will apply
the money to buying and in-
stalling a computer numeric
code — CNC — milling ma-
chine for its $23 million Mass
Plywood Panel plant that is
under construction in Linn
County.
Mass plywood panels,
like cross-laminated timbers,
show strong potential for use
in tall wooden buildings. En-
gineered timber panels can
be used for walls and floors,
beams and more, and are
touted as a carbon-neutral
replacement for concrete and
steel. Tall wooden buildings
are under construction in
Portland, and Oregon State
University’s forestry and en-
gineering programs recently
teamed with the University
of Oregon’s architecture pro-
gram to form the TallWood
Design Institute at the OSU
campus. It’s the nation’s first
research partnership to focus
on the advance of structural
wood products.
The Freres company’s
Mass Plywood Plant, set to
open in January, will be capa-
ble of producing panels that
are up to 24 inches thick, 12
feet wide and 48 feet long.
The CNC machine uses com-
puter-aided design and ma-
chining technology to saw
door and window spaces in
the panels, which are made
from layers of veneer.
Rob Freres, executive vice
president, believes his compa-
ny’s product is a better option
than Cross Laminated Tim-
bers, which are made from
joined pieces of lumber.
Mass plywood panels re-
quire less wood fiber, weigh
less and are more versatile, he
said.
“It does have great prom-
ise,” Freres said.
He said veneer for the
panels can be produced from
small trees, the “suppressed
understory” that can be har-
vested from public forests
without the controversy that
accompanies old-growth log-
ging.
The panel plant, under
construction halfway between
Lyons and Mill City, also
provides a way to revitalize
rural Oregon, Freres said. It
will use “cranes and robots”
to move the large panels, but
will employ 20 people per
shift, he said.
“It is exciting,” he said.
“We’re part of a cyclical busi-
ness, and as such we’ve been
very conservative financial-
ly. We’ve internally financed
this so we don’t have bankers
keeping us awake at night.”
While confident about the
company’s move, Freres said
the timber industry as a whole
won’t recover until changes
are made in the management
of Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management timber.
The process needs to make
use of what’s available and to
stay competitive, he said.
“All of this takes forest
management and the harvest
of trees,” Freres said.
In brief
Mills chosen for
leadership program
EO Media Group
HERMISTON, Ore. —
Mackenzie Mills, who works
in sales and account manage-
ment for River Point Farms,
has been accepted in the 2017-
18 United Fresh Produce In-
dustry Leadership Program.
Mills was one of 15 can-
didates from across the coun-
try selected for the program,
sponsored by a grant from Du-
Pont Crop Protection. During
the year-long fellowship, par-
ticipants will meet and train
with top industry experts.
“River Point Farms is very
excited for Mackenzie,” said
Bob Hale, company president
and CEO. “From the many
applicants, the 15 people ac-
cepted into the program rep-
resent the top talent from the
top companies in the produce
industry. This is a huge honor
for her, and an indication of
her high talent level.”
The United Fresh Produce
Industry Leadership Program
has graduated more than 200
people since it launched in
1995. For more information,
visit www.unitedfresh.org.
WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS!
BAGS:
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WAREHOUSE
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LOCATIONS:
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Ellensburg, Washington
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phone: 855-928-3856
Fax: 541-497-6262
info@westernpackaging.com
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