August 25, 2017
CapitalPress.com
9
Oregon
Diverse farm keeps grower busy OSU cereals
“There’s a rural versus
city divide. There’s a
lot of things people
don’t understand
about agriculture, and
we want to get people
to understand why we
do what we do.”
By ALIYA HALL
Capital Press
SILVERTON, Ore. — Karl
Dettwyler puts his farm first.
The manager of Blue Line
Farms, member of the Ore-
gon Blueberry Commission
and father of two daughters,
Dettwyler admits that he
doesn’t know how he’s been
able to balance his responsi-
bilities.
“I think you have to have
(attention deficit disorder)
in order to handle it. It’s like
putting fires out, you leave
one smoldering until you have
time to put it out,” he said.
Dettwyler has been on the
blueberry commission for
2 1/2 years, and finds the orga-
nization valuable.
“On the farm anymore, if
you want to be relevant, you
need to be involved. My Un-
cle Bob taught me that it’s
important to be involved in
the industry,” he said. “You
can’t complain if you’re not
involved, and I see a lot of
growers grumble about this or
that but never take the step to
be involved.”
The commission was es-
tablished in 1986 and consists
of nine members. The terms
are three years with a limit of
two consecutive terms. There
are 353 growers, and this year
the commission is estimating a
harvest of 118 million pounds
of blueberries.
Blue Line Farms hand-
picks around 6,000 pounds of
blueberries a year.
The farm employs five
people full-time, including
himself, his brother and his
cousin. His uncle and father
also work part-time.
Dettwyler enjoys getting
to know people through the
commission and helping ad-
dress problems that other
growers are having.
“All of a sudden you hear
a commissioner talk about
the problems and challenges
Photos by Aliya Hall/Capital Press
Karl Dettwyler said that being able to eat the fruit his farm has
grown is rewarding.
Blue Line Farms grows four varieties of blueberries. Manager Karl
Dettwyler said that everyone has a different preference for how
they like their blueberries and he tries to account for that.
he’s having, and even though
we’re both blueberry farmers,
because of soil tops and their
access to labor versus my ac-
cess to labor, we’re always
learning,” he said. “I’m learn-
ing from him, and he’s learn-
ing from me, too, hopefully,
and together we can help the
whole industry.”
Beyond blueberries, Blue
Line Farms also grows turf
type grasses such as perenni-
al rye grass and tall fescue,
green beans and hazelnuts.
However, 7.5 percent of
the farm is blueberries. The
varieties he grows include El-
liot, Liberty, Legacy and Au-
rora. Legacy is his favorite.
Dettwyler said the most re-
ward part of farming is “see-
Karl Dettwyler
Manager, Blue Line Farms
in Silverton, Ore.
ing a crop come to fruition.”
“There’s challenges, but
seeing the different challeng-
es and rewards, and being
able to eat the fruit when
it’s blue. There’s one variety
out there that’s so sweet and
I love it,” he said about the
Legacy variety.
Although the blueberry
industry has been booming in
recent years because of recent
health studies revealing the
benefits of eating blueberries,
Dettwyler has noticed the
market leveling off.
“There are ways of mit-
igating risk, but it depends
on how innovative you are,”
he said. “If you sit back and
say ‘that’s the market’ and
don’t do anything innovative,
you’re going to have to ride
out the highs and the lows, if
you can.”
His innovative examples
included a roadside blueberry
stand or talking to a different
packer or to the commission
about new ways to promote
blueberries.
Dettwyler
encourages
farmers to get involved and
share their story.
“There’s a rural versus city
divide,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things
people don’t understand about
agriculture, and we want to
get people to understand why
we do what we do.”
Regulators seek to offer water loans
About $20 million
may be available
for water projects
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Oregon’s water regulators
are proposing to devote more
of the money in the state’s $20
million water supply develop-
ment fund to loans. During the
first round of funding last year,
nearly $9 million was dis-
bursed from the fund entirely
in the form of grants.
After those disbursements,
there was $5 million remain-
ing in the fund, to which Or-
egon lawmakers appropriated
$15 million this year.
The Oregon Water Re-
sources Department, which
administers the fund, plans to
spend that $20 million over the
next three years.
Of the 32 applications
for funds in 2017, only three
sought money in the form of
loans — and those were to
provide “matching funds” for
their grant proposals, said Kim
Ogren, the agency’s senior wa-
ter resources development ad-
visor.
To “incentivize” more loan
applications, OWRD is con-
templating setting aside rough-
ly half the funds available for
the 2018 and 2019 funding for
loans, Ogren said.
About $6 million of the
fund is expected to be spent
during 2017, leaving $14 mil-
lion for the remaining two
years unless more money is
appropriated by lawmakers.
In 2015, the Oregon Legisla-
ture authorized $30 million to
SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL
a separate water development
loan fund, but nobody applied
for the money.
It’s possible the lack of in-
terest was due to a requirement
that borrowers compensate
OWRD for the cost of adminis-
tering the loan program, which
would result in a higher interest
rate, said Racquel Rancier, the
agency’s senior policy coordi-
nator.
That requirement doesn’t
exist for the $20 million wa-
ter supply development fund,
which could make such loans
more attractive, she said. Mem-
bers of the Oregon Water Re-
sources Commission, which
oversees the agency, appeared
to have a lukewarm reaction to
the proposal during an Aug. 17
meeting.
Commissioners questioned
whether OWRD wanted to
take on the added responsibility
involved in issuing loans and
overseeing their repayment.
“We’re going to be very risk
averse as we practice these loan
reviews,” said Tom Byler, the
agency’s director.
The agency would be bet-
ter off not assigning a specific
proportion of the fund to loans,
said April Snell, executive di-
rector of the Oregon Water Re-
sources Congress, which rep-
resents irrigation districts.
The commission should
“flesh out” the idea of dedicat-
ing a specific amount to loans,
considering the amount of
funding is already limited and
there hasn’t been much enthu-
siasm for loans, she said.
Commissioners concluded
the conversation without mak-
ing a decision on the matter.
“It will be an ongoing dis-
cussion,” said Rancier.
By MITCH LIES
For the Capital Press
Oregon State University
Extension Cereals Special-
ist and Assistant Profes-
sor Mike Flowers has an-
nounced that he is leaving
the university to take a po-
sition with Limagrain Cereal
Seeds.
Flowers announced his
departure on Aug. 8, after
signing an offer letter to be-
come new products supply
manager for Limagrain Ce-
real Seeds. He will depart in
mid-September and be based
in Fort Collins, Colo.
“It is a good opportunity
for me,” Flowers said. “I am
going to get to do something
a little bit different, but I
still get to be involved with
the industry. I’ll be a little
bit more ‘behind the doors,’
but I’ll be working with all
of their varieties and breed-
ers, and bringing new prod-
ucts to market, so that is re-
ally exciting.
“It is just a good opportu-
nity to do a lot of the things
that I like and also learn a
few new skills,” he added.
Flowers
described
Limagrain as “an exciting
group to go work for.”
“One of the attractive
things about them is that
they are interested in work-
ing with the land grant in-
stitutions across the nation,”
Flowers said.
“They do breeding ex-
changes with them, and as
they bring new traits to mar-
ket, they show the ability to
work with the land grants to
get those traits put into in-
stitutional grant and private
breeding programs.”
Flowers leaves behind an
acclaimed cereals program
at Oregon State University
that includes wheat breeder
Bob Zemetra, plant patholo-
gist Chris Mundt, field staff
and extension personnel,
who work closely with uni-
versity-based researchers on
field trials.
Mundt received the Or-
egon Wheat Commission’s
2017 Distinguished Service
Award. Flowers received the
same award in 2015.
Flowers said he plans to
complete his 2017 trial work
by the time he departs and
hopes the university will
continue to conduct variety
trials that he ran point on for
several years.
Mitch Lies/For the Capital Press
Mike Flowers speaks to
participants in a 2014 Oregon
State University Extension seed
and cereal crop production
meeting. He is leaving OSU
after a dozen years as the
College of Agricultural Sciences
Extension cereals specialist.
Flowers is taking a position with
Limagrain.
“I am working with the
university and the Oregon
Wheat Commission to fig-
ure out who is going to take
over those variety trials, so
they can continue,” he said.
“My technical staff is
still in place and the funding
is there to continue with the
work, so I am hoping that
the university will continue
on those trials for the short
term, and, for the long term,
replace my position so the
industry has that voice there
for them.”
Flowers said he will miss
working with growers.
“Working with the grow-
ers, and working on practi-
cal problems was the most
fun part of my job,” he said.
“I will definitely miss that.”
Flowers holds a Ph.D.
in crop science from North
Carolina State University, a
master’s degree in soil sci-
ence from Ohio State Uni-
versity and a bachelor of
agricultural science from
the University of Tennes-
see.
Before joining OSU in
2005, Flowers worked for
the USDA Agricultural Re-
search Service’s Plant Sci-
ences Research Unit in Ra-
leigh, N.C.
Limagrain is an inter-
national agricultural co-
operative based in France
specializing in field seeds,
vegetable seeds and cereal
products.
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