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CapitalPress.com
October 13, 2017
People & Places
Preserving the world’s small grains
Harold Bockelman
maintains unique
collection of 143,000
types of grain
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
Harold Bockelman
Education: Undergraduate
degree from Purdue Uni-
versity and a Ph.D. in plant
genetics from University of
California-Davis
Hometown: Aberdeen,
Idaho
Job: Supervisory agrono-
mist with USDA and curator
of its National Small Grains
Collection
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Harold Bockelman, curator of the National Small Grains Collection in Aberdeen, Idaho, with variety
plots from the collection.
elman and his staff mail more
than 50,000 envelopes, each
containing 5 grams of seed,
to roughly 800 domestic and
international crop researchers
and cereal breeders.
Breeders have found plen-
ty of hidden gems in the col-
lection, such as PI 178383, a
land-race wheat line originat-
ing in Eastern Turkey with re-
sistance to dwarf bunt, stripe
rust and other diseases. It was
used as a parent in many mod-
ern crosses.
Frank Curtis, chief op-
erating officer at Limagrain
Cereal Seeds of Fort Collins,
Colo., said the collection has
provided his company with
invaluable genetic materi-
al. Most recently, Curtis said
Limagrain propagated seed
from about 2,000 of the col-
lection’s barley lines, hoping
to cross them with European
varieties to develop early ma-
turing, drought-resistant malt
lines adapted for Northwest
conditions.
“It’s a wonderful initia-
tive,” Curtis said of the col-
lection. “Anything that has
been in the gene pool and has
potential use is preserved for
all time.”
For several years, variet-
ies from the collection have
also been sent to Kenya and
Ethiopia, where they’re being
evaluated for resistance to a
destructive stem rust found
there, based on the concerns
that it could spread.
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
Calendar
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Wes Crawford, the agricultural science teacher and FFA advisor at
Sutherlin High School in Sutherlin, Ore., goes over some parlia-
mentary procedure details with sisters Cassidy, left, and Regan
Leatherwood after a recent practice session.
tion. And the chairperson of
that beginning team is soph-
omore Regan Leatherwood,
Cassidy’s sister.
“For both these teams to
be from the same school, that
hasn’t happened in Oregon
in 10 years,” said Wes Craw-
ford, the agricultural science
teacher and FFA adviser at
Sutherlin High. “Then for the
chairperson of the teams to be
sisters, that’s probably never
happened.”
The Oregon state compe-
titions were won in March
when Sutherlin’s advanced
team consisted of juniors
and one senior and the be-
ginner team consisted of all
freshmen. The students com-
peting on the advanced team
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Saturday, Oct. 14
Northwest Farmers Union 2017
Convention 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Walla Walla
Community College, 500 Tausick Way,
Walla Walla, Wash. The Northwest
Farmers Union annual convention,
which hosts producers and supporters
of agriculture from around Washington,
Idaho and Oregon, is an event that has
a multitude of educational speakers,
farmer/rancher speakers/attendees,
honorary awards and general network-
ing and camaraderie. The event is our
gathering for our membership to come
together and enact our grassroots pol-
icy for the upcoming year as well as
help guide the many programs that we
work to implement for our membership.
Members can vote on changes to the
policy and structure of the organization
as well as take part in leadership oppor-
tunities and network with other leaders
from around the region. Cost: $50 Web-
site: www.nwfu.org
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Age: 68
The collection includes
about 50,000 wheat, 33,000
barley, 20,000 oat, 19,000
rice, 2,000 rye and 2,000 triti-
cale accessions, plus wild rel-
atives. Each spring and fall,
Bockelman and his staff plant
a few thousand of the collec-
tion’s accessions to replenish
seed and evaluate them in re-
search fields at Aberdeen. Ac-
cessions are planted in 10-foot
strips, separated by “guard
rows” of unrelated crops.
The staff uses a Japanese rice
binder to harvest them.
Seed at the facility is stored
at 42 degrees and 25 percent
humidity and remains viable
for up to 25 years. The collec-
tion is backed up by seed fro-
zen in liquid nitrogen in Fort
Innovation: Maintaining
USDA’s National Small
Grains Collection for more
than 30 years and helping to
make accessing its materials
more convenient
Collins, Colo., where it can
be stored for up to 100 years.
New accessions are added
periodically. Bockelman now
plans to add a wild barley
collection obtained through
an exchange by a Minnesota
scientist.
“We still look out for
possibilities to obtain other
collections from throughout
the world, but not so much
now because our collection is
fairly complete,” Bockelman
said.
Sisters take their FFA teams to nationals
SUTHERLIN, Ore. —
Cassidy Leatherwood is con-
sidering a career in interna-
tional agriculture.
If it is that industry or some
other that the Sutherlin High
School senior eventually en-
ters, she’ll be more than ready
to advocate for it, thanks to the
experience she is getting now
as a student involved in par-
liamentary procedure through
the FFA program.
Parliamentary procedure
involves using Robert’s Rules
of Order to run a business
meeting.
Cassidy chairs her school’s
advanced parliamentary pro-
cedure team. The team won
its district, sectional and state
competitions, all earlier this
year, and is now preparing to
participate at the FFA Nation-
al Convention that is sched-
uled for Oct. 25-28 in Indi-
anapolis, Ind. An advanced
team from each of the 50
states is expected to compete
at nationals.
What is unique about this
year’s FFA competition for
Sutherlin High is that its be-
ginning parliamentary proce-
dure team also prevailed in its
earlier competitions to earn
a trip to the national conven-
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Mike Omeg
Corporate Officer
Heidi Wright
Chief Operating Officer
By JOHN O’CONNELL
ABERDEEN, Idaho —
USDA has made ordering
seed from its vast National
Small Grains Collection sim-
ilar to shopping for merchan-
dise online.
Since 1898, the facility has
preserved more than 143,000
types of wheat, barley, oats,
rice, rye, triticale and wild
relatives originating from
throughout the world, main-
taining a pool of genetics to
help scientists tackle some
of the great challenges facing
agriculture.
Harold Bockelman, the
collection’s curator of more
than 30 years, explained crop
researchers may search his
online database for specific
numbered lines, or by desired
traits. The grain types, called
accessions, are paired with
descriptions and photographs.
Map coordinates accompany
some of the land-race acces-
sions, which were cultivated
over thousands of years, to
show their place of origin.
Shoppers fill a virtual cart
upon making their selections,
though Bockelman’s service
is free of charge.
“It looks more like an
Amazon site than it used to,”
Bockelman said.
In an average year, Bock-
Capital Press
Sunday, Oct. 15
St. Boniface Annual Chicken Din-
ner. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sublimity School,
376 E. Main St., Sublimity, Ore. The
church’s annual chicken dinner fund-
raiser will include children’s games, a
country store, crafters and vendors
in the gym. The church archives and
museum will also be open. Cost:
Adults $14, children 6-12 $5
Monday, Oct. 16
Practical, Low-Cost Grazing Man-
agement. 5:30-8:30 p.m. OSU Exten-
sion Auditorium, SOREC-569 Hanley
Road, Central Point, Ore. Learn the
basics of managing your pastures
by controlling your livestock to maxi-
mize plant health and growth. There
are factors that determine paddock
size and fence location, temporary
water systems and more. When put
into use your management of grazing
will make a big difference in the con-
dition of your pasture without having
to invest a great deal in amendments.
Instructors: Gordon Jones, OSU
Extension General Agriculture and
Angie Boudro, Boudro Enterprises. If
possible, bring a large laminated map
of your property and dry-erase mark-
ers so you can begin planning your
fence locations. After completing this
class, you are encouraged to attend
with Cassidy at nationals will
be seniors Tristan Vincent,
Madelyn Higgins, Hailee
Holder and Taylor Moser and
Umpqua Community College
freshman Esten Harrington.
Joining Regan on the be-
ginning team are sophomores
Nolan Carson, Hailey Boehm,
Grace Matteo, Zach Lor, Syd-
nee Tilley and Hannah Jarman.
The students first learned
about parliamentary procedure
in their Introduction to Agri-
culture class at Sutherlin High.
“In agriculture, you need to
know how to debate and dis-
cuss issues that concern agri-
culture,” Cassidy said. “Learn-
ing parliamentary procedure
gives you a little bit more of a
competitive edge, it helps you
debate more efficiently.”
Crawford said it is im-
portant for future members
of such organizations as the
Farm Bureau, livestock asso-
ciations and Granges to know
how to conduct themselves in
business meetings and discus-
sions.
“If we want our students
to be able to engage others in
advocating for and defending
agricultural industries, the
ability to articulate a debate
and the knowledge to be able
to access how to get business
done is invaluable,” the teach-
er said. “In our events, the
topics students debate are of-
ten current events and issues
in agriculture.
“There is no one else teach-
ing students how to do this,”
he added. “Students who leave
high school knowing how to
run a meeting and speak well
doing it were probably en-
rolled in an agricultural sci-
ence class.”
Cassidy said that at nation-
als, teams will be judged on
how well they use Robert’s
Rules of Order during a meet-
ing. The advanced teams will
have to demonstrate 10 dif-
ferent parliamentary motions
and will have to debate at least
15 times during an 11-minute
meeting. The advanced stu-
dents will also be given a writ-
ten test on the rules.
The beginning teams will
have to demonstrate a few less
motions and their written test
won’t be as complex.
Cassidy was on the school’s
beginning parliamentary team
as a freshman and has been the
chair of the school’s last two
advanced teams.
“Winning state was three
years in the making,” she said.
“We put a lot of work into that
state competition. I was happy
with how we did, regardless of
whether we had won or not. I
did not expect us to win so when
we did, it was very surprising.
“At nationals, I just want
us to do the best we can,” she
added.
Regan described the begin-
ning team as “pretty dedicat-
ed.”
“We have a lot of skills,”
she said. “I don’t know if we’ll
win, but we have the potential
to do well.”
In addition to the two par-
liamentary procedure teams,
Sutherlin will have students
competing at nationals in
three other categories: Lee
Wesenberg in prepared public
speaking; Mackenzie Price in
extemporaneous public speak-
ing; and Taryn Whelchel, Ka-
lana Granger, Raichel Wolfe
and Destiny Pedersen in veter-
inary science.
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
the Temporary Electric Fence-build-
ing Workshop on Oct. 21. Cost: $20
for one/$30 for two from the same
farm. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonS-
mallFarms or http://extension.oregon-
state.edu/sorec/SF-classes
Tuesday, Oct. 17
Advanced Poultry Feeding for
Small-Scale Commercial Flocks.
5:30-8:30 p.m. OSU Extension, Au-
ditorium, SOREC-569 Hanley Road.,
Central Point, Ore. We will be for-
mulating rations for pasture-based
poultry flocks, alternative feedstuffs
such as mealworms, discussing ways
to reduce feeding costs and more. If
you have specific questions, email
them to angelaboudro@gmail.com
in advance of the class. Dr. Hermes
will address your questions during the
class. Cost: $25 one/$40 two from
the same farm. Website: http://bit.ly/
JacksonSmallFarms
Wednesday, Oct. 18
Sustainable Community Stew-
ards Volunteer Training. 6-9:15 p.m.
McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE,
Everett, Wash. Cost: $30 Website:
http://bit.ly/2hjyXC4
Thursday, Oct. 19
Living Peacefully with Beavers.
20 Northwest Locations
6-8 p.m. Monroe Library, 1070 Vil-
lage Way, Monroe, Wash. Beavers,
and how to live with them, will be
the topic of three seminars in Oc-
tober sponsored by Snohomish
Conservation District and Beavers
Northwest. While beavers can cause
headaches for landowners, they can
also be invaluable for protecting and
preserving water resources and wild-
life habitat. If beavers are causing
issues on your property, there may
be solutions available to help you to
live peacefully alongside them. The
October seminars are taught by local
beaver experts Alex Pittman and Ben
Dittbrenner and will cover the benefits
that resident beavers provide, cost-ef-
fective devices that can help you
manage the impact of beaver flooding
on your property, and technical and
financial assistance available from
Snohomish Conservation District and
Beavers Northwest. Cost: Free. Web-
site: http://scdbeavers.eventbrite.com
Saturday-Sunday
Oct. 21-22
Home Orchard Society’s All
About Fruit Show. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Clackamas County Fairplex, 694 NE
Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. Taste hun-
dreds of varieties of apples, pears,
kiwi and grapes. If you find a variety
1-800-765-9055
of fruit that you’d like to grow, you can
place an order for a custom-grafted
fruit tree. Bring your unknown apples
for sleuthing by the Apple ID team.
Local experts will present on a variety
of fruit-growing topics both days of the
event. Admission is $7 per person or
$12 per family (members pay $5 each
or $10 for families). Website: http://
www.homeorchardsociety.org/events/
Wednesday, Oct. 25
Sustainable Community Stew-
ards Volunteer Training. 6-9:15
p.m. McCollum Park, 600 128th
St. SE, Everett, Wash. Cost: $30
Website: http://extension.wsu.edu/
snohomish/wp-content/uploads/
sites/7/2012/11/2017-SCS-Applica-
tion-form.doc
Wednesday-Saturday
Oct. 25-28
90th National FFA Convention
and Expo. Bankers Life Fieldhouse,
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
Website: https://www.ffa.org/
Thursday, Oct. 26
UI Cover Crop Field Day. 1:30-5
p.m. USDA-NRCS Gooding office,
820 Main St., Gooding, Idaho. Incor-
porating cover crops into cropping
systems. Cost: Free
Entire contents copyright © 2017
EO Media Group
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Index
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Correction
On Page 1 of the Oct. 6 edition
of Capital Press, an article
titled, “Upcoming canola study
frames talks on crop’s future”
incorrectly stated that the
Willamette Valley Specialty
Seed Association filed a lawsuit
against the Oregon Department
of Agriculture’s canola regu-
lations in 2013. In fact, some
members of the WVSSA, joined
by two nonprofit organizations,
filed the lawsuit.
Capital Press regrets the error.