August 11, 2017
CapitalPress.com
3
Nurseries regain top spot on production list; hops skyrocket
By ALIYA HALL
Rank/item
Capital Press
1
Oregon’s nursery industry
has reclaimed the No. 1 spot
on the state Department of
Agriculture’s list of the Top
20 agricultural commodi-
ties for 2016, leap-frogging
the cattle industry, last year’s
leader in production value.
“(The nursery industry)
has always historically been
number one, and the message
is that it’s slowly continued
its growth,” Bruce Pokarney,
ODA director of communica-
tions, said.
A new leader at the top was
expected, as the cattle industry
“tends to be cyclical,” accord-
ing to the department. “The
strong prices enjoyed in 2014
Production
Nursery
701
2. Cattle/calves
3
Hay
4
Milk
661
469
436
5 Grass seed
6
Potatoes
187
7
Wheat
185
8
Pears
181
9. Wine grapes
10
ally a national leader of mi-
crobrews.”
Pokarney estimated 4
million more pounds of hops
were grown in 2016 than
2015, and while the number
of growers hasn’t increased
acreage was up by about
3,000 acres.
The hops market now
appears to be stabilizing,
and growers don’t expect it
to increase at the same rate
next year, Michelle Palacios
administrator of the Oregon
Hop Commission, said.
“I think that Oregon has
amazing, diverse specialty
crops,” Palacios said, “and
with being the second largest
hop grower in the U.S., it’s an
honor to be included (in the
top 20).”
$909 million
(Millions of dollars)
143
Onions
Top 10 Oregon ag
products, 2016
Source: Oregon Dept. of Agriculture
Capital Press graphic
125
and 2015 weakened last year.”
At the same time, the hops
industry saw an 89 percent
increase in production value
from 2015 to 2016, pushing it
into the top 20 and landing it at
No. 15 with $65 million.
“We had more planted, and
that is a function of demand,”
Pokarney said. “Oregon is re-
The top 10 commodities
are: greenhouse and nursery,
cattle and calves, hay, milk,
grass seed, potatoes, wheat,
pears, wine grapes and onions.
Rounding out the top 20
are: hazelnuts, blueberries,
Christmas trees, cherries,
hops, apples, dungeness crab,
eggs, mint for oil and corn for
grain.
“The top 10 list contains
the same names as last year
with a slightly altered order,”
ODA said. “The potato and
wheat industries exchanged
positions at number 6 and 7,
respectively.”
Oregon produces more
than 220 agricultural and fi sh-
ery commodities, of which 17
have a value of at least $50
million, according to ODA.
Greenhouse and nursery
products brought in $909 mil-
lion, an increase of about $15
million from 2015. The cattle
industry fell about $213 mil-
lion, or 23 percent, from the
previous year to $701 million,
according to the department.
Other industry increases
in production value last year
were pears at 19 percent,
grass seed at 14 percent, hay
at 9 percent and potatoes at
6 percent. After cattle, wheat
saw the biggest decrease in
production value at 15 per-
cent, according to ODA.
Oregon is the nation’s
leading producer of Christmas
trees, hazelnuts, grass seed,
blackberries, boysenberries,
rhubarb, sugar beet seed and
potted fl orist azaleas.
ODFW kills 2 wolves for
repeated attacks on cattle
Capital Press
Staff with Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife shot
and killed two adult wolves in
response to multiple attacks
on cattle grazing in Wallowa
County.
Department spokeswoman
Michelle Dennehey said one
uncollared wolf was killed
Sunday night and a second
was shot Tuesday morning.
One was shot from the ground
and one from the air, she said.
ODFW will monitor the
situation and could take ad-
ditional action if remaining
members of the Harl Butte
pack continue to attack live-
stock, she said.
Ranchers in the area have
complained about the pack for
some time and asked ODFW
to kill the entire pack, which
included 10 wolves at the end
of 2016 and at least seven this
past spring. They said the pack
operated in an area that put
them within striking range of
several herds grazing on pub-
lic or private land. The Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association said
the dry summer caused deer
and elk to retreat higher into
the mountains, making cattle
“easy targets” for wolves.
Todd Nash, an area rancher
and county commissioner who
is the OCA’s wolf committee
chairman, said he was disap-
pointed by ODFW’s decision
to kill only two wolves.
“We have seen this happen
Known Oregon wolf packs
Confirmed pack/individual range
NOTE: Polygons represent estimated
ranges for known wolf packs with
radio-collared animals.
Portland
395
Pendleton
197
Unnamed
Heppner
5
26
Minam
Meacham
97
101
Chesnimnus
Wenaha Shamrock
Snake
Walla Walla
River
N. Emily
82
84
Salem
(As of Dec. 31, 2016)
Estimated pack/individual range
OR30
Desolation
22
Mike Castle/U.S. Forest Service
Mt.
Emily
Catherine
26
84
Harl
Butte
OR29/36
OR37
20
26
126
Bend
Eugene
97
OREGON
20
58
Silver
Lake
OR25
5
101
Rogue
N
Keno (status unknown)
25 miles
199
Medford
5
*At least one breeding pair
395
Wolf pack population
Pack/area
Total
Wenaha*
Walla Walla*
Snake River*
Minam*
12
11
9
11
Mt. Emily
Meacham*
Rogue
8
7
6
Desolation
Shamrock
Catherine*
1
4
5
Source: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
before and we fully expect
more cattle to be killed. It’s
a very unfortunate way to do
business,” he said in a pre-
pared statement.
ODFW confi rmed the Harl
Butte pack attacked cattle
seven times since July 2016.
Ranchers or a hired range rider
interrupted attacks seven other
times by shooting at wolves,
charging them on horseback or
Ontario
(cont.)
Total
Keno
Heppner
Silver Lake
OR30 pair
Chesnimnus*
Harl Butte*
N. Emily
OR29/36
Lone/misc.
Minimum total
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
announcing its intention to
kill two adults. Dennehey, the
spokeswoman, said ODFW
hopes the remaining pack
members will change their
behavior. She said ODFW
will monitor the situation and
share information with pro-
ducers and the range rider.
At least one wolf in the pack,
OR-50, is fi tted with a track-
ing collar.
Oregon growers checking for heat damage to grapes, berries
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
White drupelets on a late season raspberry are an indication of sun damage. Extended periods of high
heat take a toll on wine grapes, blueberries and other crops.
“Vineyards without irriga-
tion might be able to handle
the heat due to available soil
moisture, but others will like-
ly see some heat stress, poten-
tial sunburn on the fruit, and
even leaf desiccation,” Jones
wrote on a Linfi eld blog.
“Also, one conundrum is that
even though it is hot and it
should facilitate ripening, it
might actually slow it down as
the vines often do not get fully
back to 100 percent function-
ing for some time after a heat
event like this.”
At King Estate Winery
and vineyard outside Eugene,
Communications
Director
Jenny Ulum recounted the
observations of Ray Nuclo,
the company’s viticulture and
winery operations director.
Ulum said Nuclo told her
grapes don’t accumulate sug-
ar during heat waves. “Over
time that would be cause
for concern, but grapes can
weather a few days with no
problem,” she said.
The degree of sun damage
to grapes may vary with the
type of trellis system used,
Ulum reported. In a “hang-
ing” trellis, fruit at the top of
the trellis is exposed to the
sun. Upright trellis systems
provide more protection, with
leaves trimmed on the east
side so grapes will be exposed
to morning sun, but left in
place to shield grapes from
the hotter midday and after-
noon sun.
Ulum said Nuclo told her
grapes that develop in sun-
light tend to be more resilient
to sun scald. Clusters that de-
velop in the canopy shade and
then are hit by strong sun tend
to be more easily damaged.
Sun damage is less of an
issue with Pinot gris grapes
than with Pinot noir, Ulum
said. Skins of the Pinot gris
grapes are pressed off during
the winemaking process, so
any sunburned skins aren’t in-
cluded in the wine.
Northwest fi re offi cials
said Tuesday that record-dry
conditions, continued heat
and incoming lightning storms
threaten to escalate a worsen-
ing fi re season.
Some 17 large fi res were
burning in Oregon and Wash-
ington, with more lightning
expected to strike the dried-out
region over the next several
days. Idaho offi cials reported a
dozen active fi res of more than
1,000 acres.
“We’re moving from a
moderate to a high level of
activity across the state,” said
Washington Department of
Natural Resources wildfi re
manager Bob Johnson, chair-
man of the Pacifi c Northwest
Wildfi re Coordinating Group.
“We’re in a position now
where our fuels and our weath-
er are working against us,” he
said.
Fire and health offi cials
briefed reporters in a confer-
ence call on the current status
of wildfi res and the outlook.
Five large fi res were burning
in Washington, while 12 were
burning in Oregon. Fires of
more than 100 acres in timber-
lands or more than 300 acres
in rangelands are categorized
as large.
Moisture levels in heavy
vegetation were at record lows
and fl ames can be expected to
spread rapidly at all elevations,
according to a report by the
Northwest Interagency Coor-
dination Center.
Forest Service spokeswom-
an Traci Weaver said Washing-
ton has had 699 wildfi res so far
this season and 89 percent of
them were caused by humans.
A more normal percentage is
50 to 60 percent, she said.
“We need people to be re-
ally, really careful out there,”
Weaver said. “Our fuels are
incredibly dry. We had a wet
winter and wet spring, but the
faucet is turned off.”
Health
offi cials
said
air-monitoring
stations
showed unhealthy levels of
smoke throughout Wash-
ington. Some of that smoke
drifted south from wildfi res in
British Columbia. Weaver and
Johnson said the B.C. smoke
actually kept down tempera-
tures and slowed the spread of
fi res in Washington.
Winds are expected to
ease hazy conditions, but the
weather may bring new prob-
lems. The National Weath-
er Service issued a warning
Tuesday that all of Eastern
Washington can expect tem-
peratures much above normal
Aug. 11-15. Thunderstorms
are expected to move across
the region for the rest of the
week, particularly through
Southern Oregon.
Also Tuesday, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration reported that July
was the fi fth-driest on record
for Washington. Records date
back to 1885.
The percentage of Wash-
ington that is “abnormally
dry” jumped to 48 percent
from 18 percent during the last
week of July, according to the
U.S. Drought Monitor.
Large fi res in Washington
include the 3,120-acre Noisy
Creek fi re in the Colville
National Forest in north-
east Washington. The fi re is
not threatening grazing al-
lotments, forest spokesman
Franklin Pemberton said. “It’s
goat-rock country, straight up
and down,” he said.
The 9,905-acre Diamond
Creek Fire 27 miles north-
west of Winthrop in Okano-
gan County is burning in thick
timberland in the Pasayten
Wilderness, according to fi re
offi cials. The human-caused
fi re has been burning since
July 23.
The 1,150-acre North
Fork Hughes fi re is burning
unchallenged in the Salmo
Priest Wilderness near the
Idaho border. Smoke jumpers
were dispatched to the fi re,
but conditions were too dan-
gerous and they have been
pulled out. Offi cials said they
are working on a plan to man-
age the fi re.
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Oregon berry and grape
growers are watching for
damage caused by unusually
hot weather that settled into
Western Oregon and the Port-
land area.
Excessive heat can blister
or sunburn wine grapes, which
are still developing and won’t
be harvested until September.
Late season raspberries may
develop white drupelets due
to sun scald.
Blueberry harvest of mid-
to late-season varieties is un-
derway, and crop consultant
Tom Peerbolt said mature ber-
ries may shrivel in the heat,
while green berries may not
reach full size.
“The plant can’t pump
enough water, so it shuts down
and interferes with sizing,” he
said. “Fortunately a lot of the
commercial folks have in-
stalled cooling systems, and
they pay for themselves in an
event like this.”
He said overhead mist-
ing systems cool plants in
the fi eld. With temperatures
topping 100 in Portland and
throughout Western Oregon
the fi rst three days of August,
some growers ran the misters
eight hours a day, Peerbolt
said. He said the systems are
a large infrastructure expense,
but are intended to handle sit-
uations of extreme heat.
Climatologist Greg Jones,
incoming director of Linfi eld
College’s wine education pro-
gram, said the current heat
wave is unusual for its mag-
nitude and length, and may
turn out to be Oregon’s most
extreme since 1981.
Northwest wildfi re
outlook turns for the worse
Large blazes rage,
more expected
1
3
1
2
9
10
3
2
7
112
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
otherwise chasing them away.
Conservation groups op-
posed ODFW using lethal con-
trol against the wolves.
The Harl Butte Pack is be-
lieved to be made up of rem-
nants from the Imnaha Pack.
ODFW killed four members of
that group in March 2016 after
multiple attacks.
The department issued a
lethal control order last week,
The Diamond Creek fi re burns July 23 in the Okanogan-
Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state. Northwest fi re
offi cials warned Aug. 8 that the wildfi re season can be expected to
worsen.
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