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September 29, 2017 CapitalPress.com 7 Idaho’s 2017 wheat crop 9 percent smaller By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom expands By ALIYA HALL For the Capital Press HILLSBORO, Ore. — Money from a successful 2016 tax levy for the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District will allow Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom to expand in Washington County. “We are so pleased with this opportunity for agricul- tural education to reach some of the most urban schools in our state,” said Tammy Den- nee, president of the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, in a press release. With over 250 schools, Washington County is the second most populous county the state, behind Multnomah County. “We work to reach urban audiences who typically have the least interaction with ag- riculture,” Jessica Jansen, executive director of Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom, said. “This expansion is huge for the program and the urban area of our state. Washington County has agriculture indus- try in it already. It’s a unique urban and rural blend, and an easy position to bridge.” In November 2016, Wash- ington County voters ap- proved a tax levy to secure funding for an expansion of resources provided by the Tu- alatin Soil and Water Conser- vation District. Education was “a high pri- ority for development with funding from the tax base,” John McDonald, chairman of the district, said. “When we learned about Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom and the great work that they are already doing, we thought a full-time position and programming dedicated to Washington County would be a great way to leverage ex- isting resources and make an impact in our local schools,” McDonald said. Jansen said the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation is appreciative of the partnership with the dis- trict, as well as for putting its trust in the program. The district will sponsor a full-time position, as well as provide funding for a lending library available to Washing- ton County teachers. Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom is a statewide non- profit organization that pro- vides resources for educators to help bring agriculture, the environment and natural re- source topics into their class- rooms. The program has about 100 lesson plans on its website, and uses a hands-on approach to integrate agricultural topics into the existing curriculum. Dennee said that it’s im- portant to not add “one more thing” for the educators to teach, but rather provide the tools to make the topics more engaging and effective. “We use agriculture as a lens to teach science or math,” Jansen said. “Science is a natural fit for agricultural topics.” She used an example of talking to students about the changes in matter through making ice cream or butter. “We want to provide teachers with a resource to help them inspire students and make learning fun for stu- dents,” Jansen said. “That’s our ultimate goal: To help bring class to life in a fun and unique way and help students become familiar with agricul- ture. We find after familiariza- tion it becomes interesting and engaging, and lends itself well to starting conversations.” Sean Ellis/Capital Press A wheat field near Nampa, Idaho, is harvested Aug. 3. Idaho’s total wheat production in 2017 was 9 percent lower than in 2016 but quality was “superb,” growers and industry leaders told Capital Press. age yield — the 2017 number will be released Sept. 29 — will be down from last year, industry leaders and growers said. However, quality is excel- lent, they added. East Idaho farmer Jerry Brown said that from what he’s seen and heard from growers in his region and oth- er parts of the state, “This is one of the best quality years we’ve had in a long time.” According to the USDA National Agricultural Statis- tics Service, Idaho farmers produced an estimated 92 million bushels of winter and spring wheat combined in 2017. That’s down from 101 Pacific Northwest pear crop close to estimates California’s pears nearly all sold By DAN WHEAT Capital Press PORTLAND — The Pa- cific Northwest pear crop may pick out near the esti- mates for this year, says Kev- in Moffitt, president of The Pear Bureau Northwest in Portland. The crop appears to be slightly under the Aug. 22 estimate of 18.3 million, 44-pound boxes but still ahead of the June 1 estimate of 17.6 million boxes. Harvest began Aug. 2 in Medford, with Comice and Seckel, and is about 60 per- cent complete. It will end in late October with d’Anjou in the upper reaches of the Hood River and Wenatchee valleys. “I think Bartlett may come in a little shorter than estimated and winter pears (mainly d’Anjou) maybe slightly above estimate in Hood River and slightly be- low in Wenatchee. So we come out a little less overall,” Moffitt said. This year’s crop being more normal in development timing made it a more diffi- cult to get an accurate June forecast, he said. It was early the past two seasons. Early prices are strong, overall quality is good and la- bor is tight with some grow- ers needing more pickers. California wrapped up its harvest of slightly over 3 million, 36-pound boxes of pears, up 29 percent from last year due to better fruit set from better winter chill. Early fruit from the Sacra- mento Delta was pretty small, Dan Wheat/Capital Press David Flores picks d’Anjou pears near Dryden in Washington’s Wenatchee Valley on Sept. 11. The Pacific Northwest crop is about 60 percent harvested. more had to sell fresh because of fewer canneries and prices were low, said Kyle Persky, sales manager at Rivermaid Trading Co. in Lodi, Califor- nia’s largest pear grower and packer. It handles more than half the fresh-pack volume. But later fruit from the Mendocino District was larg- er and good quality bringing good prices, he said. “Washington didn’t have as much large fruit, which gave us a window,” Persky said. “We lose more custom- ers to the Northwest every year.” The California crop is close to 80 percent shipped with several weeks of ship- ping over 200,000 boxes per week, “which is good for us,” Persky said. “Overall, it’s a fairly de- cent season given expected supply and where we’re at now. We’re pretty happy. Movement was good and we have limited time to sell,” he said. California is too warm to grow d’Anjou and doesn’t store fruit for winter sales. In 2016, the value of uti- lized pear production was $233 million in Washington, $148 million in Oregon and $93 million in California. At 18.3 million, this fall’s PNW crop is 2 percent above last year’s and 7 percent be- low the five-year average. It’s the fourth year in a row the crop has been lighter than average. Hot summers are suspected of causing greater spring fruit drop, resulting in smaller crops. The Bosc crop is estimat- ed at 2.5 million boxes, down 19 percent from last year and down 16 percent from the five-year average, Moffitt said. He blamed it on being a bit more cyclical in bearing, heat stress and the overall lighter crop. Overall fruit size may be slightly smaller, peaking at size 90 (90 pears per box) in- stead of 80, he said. There is probably a little more fancy grade versus U.S. No. 1, he said. Export markets prefer fancy and smaller fruit, he said. Domestically, smaller fruit has been selling well in pouch bags, which is a bright spot, he said. Cork — decay-causing dimples under the skin — is an issue in Wenatchee and Hood River, Moffitt said. Randy Arnold, a Wenatchee Valley grower, said he prob- ably has a 2 to 3 percent cork loss and some growers have up to 6 percent. It’s caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil and fruit, he said. It’s more difficult to con- trol pear psylla and mites without certain pesticides used in the past, Arnold said. That results in more un- healthy trees, which increas- es susceptibility to cork, he said. Six of his annual 24 do- mestic pickers didn’t come this year because they knew his crop was down, he said. He’s OK on labor but his neighbor needs 14 more pick- ers than he has, and others are operating with less-than-full crews, he said. Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom FALL HARVEST DINNER & AUCTION October 21st 5:00 PM 5:00- Appetizers & Silent Auction 6:30- Dinner 7:45- Oral Auction CH2M Hill Alumni Center Corvallis, Oregon Don’t miss this evening featuring Oregon-grown fare, a wide variety of silent and oral auction items and great company. Leave knowing you helped Oregon students learn how food, forests and fiber are produced. Tickets: $50 each $400 for Sponsored Table (8 seats per table) Send payment to: Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom 200 Strand Ag Hall Corvallis, OR 97330 Order tickets online: oregonaitc.org/fall-harvest Registration deadline October 6! Event Sponsors: • AgriCare • Capital Press • Deerhaven Farms • JTI Supply • Kirk & Sons Hazelnuts • Lochmead Farms • Northwest Farm Credit Services • Northwest Hazelnut/ George Packing Company Oregon • Wheat Growers League 39-2/102 39-4/HOU Jessica Jansen BOISE — Idaho wheat production in 2017 is 9 mil- lion bushels lower than in 2016 and the second lowest level since 2009. But the overall quality of this year’s wheat crop may be the best ever, according to industry leaders. “Last year we had re- cord yields but quality was (down). This year, the size of the crop is down but quality is just superb,” said Idaho Wheat Commission Execu- tive Director Blaine Jacob- son. “It’s one of our best crops ever.” “The quality of my wheat was good and my yields were good,” said East Idaho grow- er Gordon Gallup. “Falling numbers, test weights, pro- tein. They were all good, right where they need to be.” Idaho’s average wheat yield set a record of 91.3 bushels per acre in 2016, far exceeding the previous re- cord of 85.5 bushels per acre set in 2004. This year’s aver- million bushels in 2016 and below the state’s five-year average of 97 million bush- els. Jacobson said protein lev- els in this year’s wheat crop were good and falling num- bers and test weights were up. “Our customers should have no trouble finding the specifications they want,” said “Genesee” Joe Ander- son, a North Idaho grower. Tough weather conditions combined to significantly reduce wheat production in some parts of North Idaho, said “Potlatch” Joe Ander- son, a North Idaho farmer. He said his farm’s “total wheat production was about half of what it was last year. I’m hearing that from others as well.” An extremely wet spring significantly reduced the number of spring wheat acres planted in the region and then an 81-day stretch with no rainfall and unusually high temperatures was tough on the winter wheat crop, “Pot- latch” Joe Anderson said.
