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CapitalPress.com
August 11, 2017
People & Places
Growing the sweet crop
Michael J. Locati
looks to solve
labor issues
with efficiency,
mechanization
Capital Press
Established 1928
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Corporate Officer
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Chief Operating Officer
Western
Innovator
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
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Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Michael J. Locati
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— Walla Walla sweet onion
harvesters begin their day at
2 a.m., wearing headlamps
and working in the cool of the
morning.
The early start is “just to
beat the heat — we’re getting
90-plus degree days, 100-de-
gree days, so we get the guys
in and get them out,” said Mi-
chael J. Locati, owner and op-
erator of Locati Farms.
It’s just one adjustment
growers of the popular niche
onion make to maximize their
production.
A fourth-generation farm-
er, Locati took over the oper-
ation from his uncle, Michael
F. Locati. He also replaced his
uncle as president of the Wal-
la Walla Sweet Onion Market-
ing Committee two years ago.
His primary goal as head
of the marketing committee
is to maintain the federal mar-
keting order that protects the
Walla Walla sweet onion and
keeps competitors outside the
area from selling their onions
as Walla Walla sweets.
Ten to 15 farmers raise
Walla Walla sweet onions on
500 total acres in the area.
The number of farmers and
packing sheds has declined,
Age: 27
Title: President, Walla Walla
Sweet Onion Marketing
Committee; president, Locati
Farms Inc.
Hometown: Walla Walla,
Wash.
Family: Single
Education: Bachelor’s de-
gree in science, Washington
State University
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Michael J. Locati, president of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, in a field during
harvest July 10.
Locati said, but he sees a “lot
of energy” in the younger
farmers who now raise Walla
Walla sweets. They’ll pursue
new marketing ideas for sell-
ing the niche onions, includ-
ing to food service outlets and
restaurants.
“It’s a group effort, for
sure, not just me,” he said,
adding with a grin, “I just lead
the meetings.”
Locati decided he’d follow
in his uncle’s footsteps while
taking a soil science class his
freshman year of college.
“I like the science behind
things — how the plant grew,
the interactions with the soil,”
he said.
Locati also raises wheat,
peas, corn, alfalfa, onion seed
and onion starts and plans to
raise spinach.
But the sweet onions are
his primary crop.
The farm is now a joint
venture with Pacific Agri
Farms, part of Locati’s bid
to increase efficiency. “Why
should I go hire 10 guys and
try to do harvest by myself
(instead of) just harvest with a
bigger group?” he asked.
Harvest began June 15 and
should continue until some-
time between Aug. 22 and
Aug. 25.
His labor costs are increas-
ing, so mechanization is the
biggest need, Locati said.
But that might be a tall or-
der: Walla Walla sweets bruise
easily and some become seed
bolters, reproducing early and
hollowing out the middle of
the plant.
A machine can’t easily
deal with those problems, Lo-
cati said.
Even if labor costs re-
mained the same, he said, the
increased efficiency of mech-
anization would help. “But
it’s a delicate onion — there’s
a reason it’s done this way,
and it’s been done this way for
so long,” he said.
Locati hopes mechaniza-
tion will be a realistic option
within 10 years.
“It’s just going to take
some capital and ingenuity,”
he said. “It’s on the top of our
goals. It’s number one.”
Locati has drawn the com-
pliments of others involved
with Walla Walla sweets.
“Mike has always been
kind of a leader when it comes
to forward thinking and pro-
motion of his product,” said
Website: https://www.locati-
farms.com/
https://www.sweetonions.
org/
For the Capital Press
SUTHERLIN, Ore. — Agriculture
and industrial arts teachers recently went
back to school to better prepare them-
selves to teach their incoming students.
Teachers from around Oregon and
a couple from Washington state partic-
ipated in a weeklong Shop Management
Seminar in early July at Sutherlin High
School. The purpose of the eight-hour-
per-day, five-day workshop was for new
or inexperienced teachers in metals or
woods to learn how to effectively use
new technology and how to teach career
and technical education classes back in
their school shops. A couple of graduate
students from Oregon State University
also attended and participated.
The workshop was organized
through Oregon State University and the
Oregon Ag Teachers Association, and
was facilitated by Sutherlin High teach-
ers Wes Crawford in the metals shop and
Josh Gary in the woods shop with help
from local industry representatives and
Umpqua Community College welding
instructors.
Sparks flew in the metals shop and
sawdust fell in the wood shop as the
participants got their own hands-on ex-
perience.
“This workshop is an opportunity to
prepare teachers to be better shop teach-
ers when they go back to their schools,”
Crawford said. “It’s a chance for teach-
Calendar
Shane Hagberg of We Repair Welders
of Douglas County, Ore., discusses
the details of welding with Oregon
State University graduate student Abby
Lohman. Hagberg helped instruct at a
weeklong workshop for ag and industrial
arts teachers at Sutherlin High School in
Sutherlin, Ore.
ers to learn skills they haven’t learned
before, and then learning how to teach
those skills to their kids.”
There were 20 participants in the
metals workshop and 15 in the woods
shop. The workshop gave them the
chance to network and share ideas and
projects, but also to make items such
as brackets and shelves, picture frames,
jewelry boxes and birdhouses that they
can later use as examples when their
students are working on similar projects.
Sponsored by:
To submit an event go to the
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home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Submit
an Event.” Calendar items can also be
mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broad-
way St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or
emailed to newsroom@capitalpress.
com.
Through Saturday, Aug. 12
Skagit County Fair. 10 a.m.-10
p.m. Skagit County Fairgrounds, 479
W. Taylor St., Mount Vernon, Wash.
Website: https://www.skagitcounty.
net/Departments/Fair/main.htm
Saturday, Aug 12
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Organic Valley McMinnville
Creamery Grand Opening. 9 a.m.-3
p.m. McMinnville Creamery, 2142 NE
McDonald Lane, McMinnville, Ore.
Join us for a community celebration of
the grand opening of Organic Valley’s
McMinnville Creamery. Explore how
organic butter is made, and make your
own. Learn about the Organic Valley
brand, how the new plant works, and
enjoy a free organic picnic lunch. At
1:30 p.m., we’ll have a brief program
including comments from our compa-
ny’s leadership and local leaders. You
can even take home a free pound of
butter, while it lasts. Website: http://bit.
ly/2uVZeM4
Tuesday-Thursday
Aug. 15-17
Future Farm Expo. Pendleton
Convention Center, 1601 Westgate,
Pendleton, Ore. The Expo has a new
name and a program more ambitious
than ever. The Future Farm Expo 2017
will now span three full days and feature
outside technology demos in addition
to its tradition of world-class presenters
and exhibitors. Growers, processors,
crop consultants, service providers, and
technologists are all invited to connect
and share knowledge. The 2017 Expo
will cover topics such as ground sensors,
crop imagery, data use, precision irriga-
tion, robotics, automation, soil science
and more. Website: http://www.futurefar-
mexpo.tech/
Friday, Aug. 18-
Sunday, Aug. 27
Western Idaho Fair, noon-11 p.m.
Western Idaho Fairgrounds, 5610
Glenwood St., Garden City, Idaho.
Website: http://www.idahofair.com/
Thursday, Aug. 17
Stream Restoration Workshop. 8
a.m.-4:30 p.m. Federal Building Meet-
ing Room, corner of Seventh Street
and College Avenue, St. Maries, Ida-
ho. Those wishing to participate should
“It’s a changing world out there,”
said Ben Kercher, the ag sciences and
technology teacher at the Glide, Ore.,
High School. “Many businesses are us-
ing computer cutting. When new tech-
nology is purchased such as computer
cutting devices, we need to learn how to
use them and how to safely teach kids
how to use them.”
Oregon State had the capabilities
of teaching technological classes on its
Corvallis campus until a few years ago
when its antiquated building was torn
down. A new, modern facility is not
ready yet, so for the second year Craw-
ford and Gary have been the hosts of a
workshop at Sutherlin High.
Ian Fisher and Duane Thompson, the
welding instructors at UCC, Shane Hag-
berg of We Repair Welders, a Douglas
County, Ore., business, Cameron Burks
of Airgas in Roseburg, Ore., and a hand-
ful of Sutherlin High students who are
advanced in metals and woods helped
out at various times at the workshop.
Josh Stewart, the director of teacher
education in agriculture at Oregon State,
said he was impressed with what he saw
and experienced at the workshop.
“The value of the professional devel-
opment these teachers are getting here
is probably unmatched,” Stewart said.
“In a short amount of time, they get to
put their hands on equipment, use it and
learn how to teach about it to their stu-
dents. By doing it themselves, they’ll
better understand any problems students
Dan Borer, general manager
of Keystone Fruit Marketing
Northwest, a sales agent for
Walla Walla River Packing
and Storage, which works
with the sweet onion farmers.
“He’s very approachable and
vocal about the industry.”
Locati is passionate, articu-
late and thoughtful, Borer said.
“I think he’s got a lot of
good ideas,” Borer said. “Of
course, implementation of
those ideas is always the criti-
cal part. Getting people to be-
lieve in them and see the same
vision — I think he has the
skills to do that.”
might have later.
“Wes and Josh may not consider
themselves teacher educators, but that
is what they are doing here,” he added.
“They’re good at teaching these teachers
how to teach in these classes.”
Gary said that with the recent pas-
sage of Measure 98 there will be more
funding for career technical education,
resulting in more shop classes being
offered at Oregon high schools. He said
teachers need to be better prepared for
those classes.
Brian Agee, the shop teacher at the
Yoncalla, Ore., High School, said he is
drawing on the expertise of the instruc-
tors in the workshop. He explained Yon-
calla had had no career and technical
education classes for several years until
reinstating them during the last school
year. Agee said about 95 of Yoncalla’s
135 students in seventh through 12th
grades participated in at least one of
those classes.
“This type of workshop is invaluable
in growing the program at Yoncalla,”
Agee said of the opportunity to learn as a
teacher. “This is where tomorrow’s tech-
nicians will come from so as teachers
there is no substitute for getting in and
putting your hands on stuff to become
better teachers. To watch students blos-
som and grow in these areas, to me that
is exciting.”
In this workshop, it was the teachers
who were given the opportunity to learn
in the shop classrooms.
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
pre-register at the University of Idaho
Extension office in Benewah County
by Aug. 11. Registration is limited. A
$20 registration fee covers resource
materials and refreshments. For regis-
tration questions, contact the UI Exten-
sion office at (208) 245-2422. Website:
www.uidaho.edu/extension/forestry
Saturday, Aug. 19
Total Solar Eclipse Weekend.
Noon-4 p.m. Left Coast Estate, 4225
N. Pacific Highway W, Rickreall, Ore.
Vineyard tours, food and Left Coast
Estate Wines. Vineyard truck tours will
be rolling all day long. Learn about our
viticulture practices, our sustainabil-
ity efforts, where your favorite wine
comes from and more. Our Tasting
Room and Cafe will be your complete
sense of eclipse serenity with peaceful
views of the vineyards. Nearby, our
Treehouse Pavilion will feature live
music. Cost: $30 Website: http://left-
coastcellars.com/
Sat.-Sunday, Aug. 19-20
11th Annual Harvest Fest. 10 a.m.-
4 p.m. Yamhill Valley Heritage Center,
11275 SW Durham Lane, McMinnville,
Ore. The event will feature threshing,
baling and binding oats using vintage
equipment, pioneer kids activities, pet-
ting animals, pedal tractors, tractor pa-
20 Northwest Locations
rade, working sawmill and blacksmith
shops, stagecoach rides, museum
tours, old timey music and food. Cost:
$8 admission; historical society mem-
bers and youths under 12 free. Web-
site: www.yamhillcountyhistory.org
Saturday, Aug. 26
Oregon Aglink Barn Dance. 6-10
p.m. Victor Point Farms, 13166 Riches
Road SE, Silverton, Ore. Ben Rue will
be the featured performer. Over 21,
please. Tickets are $75 and available
online only. Website: www.Aglink.org
Sat.-Sunday, Aug. 26-27
Importer Safety Training. 8 a.m.-5
p.m. Monarch Hotel, 12566 SW 93rd
St., Clackamas, Ore. Food Safety
Modernization Act training for the
safe importation of human or animal
food. Two-day course with Food and
Drug Administration standardized
curriculum. Certificates awarded
upon completion. Cost: $850. Web-
site: http://www.feedpctraining.com/
fsvp.html
Friday, Aug. 25-
Monday, Sept. 4
Oregon State Fair. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center,
2330 17th St. NE, Salem, Ore. Web-
site: https://oregonstatefair.org/
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To Reach Us
Ag teachers learn about new technology in shop seminar
By CRAIG REED
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EO Media Group
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Wednesday, Aug. 30
Grazing Lease Workshop. 9:30
a.m.-noon. Stanislaus County Farm
Bureau, 1201 L St., Modesto, Calif.
Speakers will include certified range-
land managers Tim and Clayton
Koopmann, who will discuss identi-
fying land and preparing lease pro-
posals. The California Cattlemen’s
Association is the sponsor. Cost:
Free. Website: calcattlemen.org
Rice Experiment Station Field Day.
8 a.m.-4 p.m. Rice Experiment Station,
955 Butte City Highway, Biggs, Calif.
Website: http://cesutter.ucanr.edu/
Friday, Sept. 1-
Saturday, Sept. 9
Eastern Idaho State Fair. 8 a.m.-10
p.m. Eastern Idaho State Fairgrounds,
97 Park St., Blackfoot, Idaho. Website:
https://funatthefair.com/
Friday, Sept. 1-
Sunday, Sept. 24
Washington State Fair. 10 a.m.-10
p.m. Fairground in Puyallup, 110 9th
Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. The Wash-
ington State Fair, commonly referred to
as the Puyallup Fair, is the largest sin-
gle attraction held annually in the state
of Washington. Closed Tuesdays and
Sept. 6. Website: www.thefair.com/
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Index
Markets ................................11
Opinion .................................. 6
Correction
An article in the Aug. 4 edition
of Capital Press should have
attributed to Jerome County,
Idaho, Commissioner Charlie
Howell comments that dairymen
are concerned that more pres-
ence of Immigration Customs
Enforcement in the community is
going to intimidate their workers
who think “ICE will be looking for
them, raids in the cornfield.” Bob
Naerebout, executive director of
Idaho Dairymen’s Association,
did not make those comments.
Capital Press regrets the error.