FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 47
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
A recipe
for giving
thanks
How farmers fared in producing
this year’s holiday feast
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
T
he National Turkey Fed-
eration — yes, there is
such a thing — did a
survey a couple years
ago and concluded 88 percent of
Americans eat turkey for Thanks-
giving. This year, the federation
predicted we would eat 45 mil-
lion turkeys on Thanksgiving
Day.
No wonder we feel stuffed,
which along with a post-meal nap
on the couch is one of Thanksgiv-
ing’s charming rituals.
Producers who grow the food
that makes up the Thanksgiving
feast acknowledge they have rea-
son to give thanks, but can’t help
but wish the market was a little
more giving.
$60
Classic Thanksgiving meal costs less in 2017
141 volunteer shoppers from 39 states participated in this year’s
50 American Farm Bureau Federation survey. The data is
40
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
Turkey time
Mark Anderson, who sells
pasture-raised poultry from his
Champoeg Farm in Oregon’s
northern Willamette Valley, said
he delivered 800 whole, processed
turkeys to New Seasons Market,
the Portland-area niche grocery
chain that specializes in products
that are local or meet other stan-
dards favored by foodies.
He also had 70 to 100 people
Mark Anderson sells pasture-raised
poultry from his Champoeg Farm
in Oregon’s northern Willamette
Valley.
visit his farm the weekend before
Thanksgiving to pick up pro-
cessed turkeys they previously
ordered. On-farm sales picked up
this year, he said.
“I don’t have any live ones
walking around, so that’s a good
unscientific and based on a typical classic Thanksgiving
meal for up to 10 people. AFBF’s survey menu has
remained unchanged since 1986.
$49.12:
Down 1.5%
from 2016
$28.74
30
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
20
1986
1990
2000
thing,” Anderson said, meaning
the turkeys.
But Anderson said it remains
difficult to compete on a price
basis with turkey processors who
2010
2017
raise large flocks indoors under
controlled conditions.
The 32nd annual American
Farm Bureau Federation price
survey estimated that a Thanks-
giving meal for 10 cost $49.12
this year, 75 cents cheaper than
2016.
Of that, the 16-pound turkey
was estimated at $22.38 or about
$1.40 a pound. That represents
an average retail markup of 13
percent for the turkey, according
to USDA.
Anderson said that’s the prob-
lem. His birds — pasture-raised
and farm-processed — cost $4
to $5 a pound. He says they taste
better, but he depends on his
niche, upscale market to move
them at that price.
“We’ve got the real deal here,
you’ve just got to pay more to get
it,” he said.
Turn to RECIPE, Page 11
OSP: Surge of wolf killings isn’t organized effort
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
It’s been a bloody year for
Oregon wolves, with at least
10 killed under circumstances
ranging from authorized “le-
thal control” due to livestock
attacks and a shooting ruled
self-defense, to an unintend-
ed poisoning and unsolved
poachings.
At this point, Oregon State
Police have no reason to think
there is a concerted action by
an individual or group to ille-
gally kill the state’s wolves.
However, the investigation
into the most recent killing, a
collared wolf designated OR-
23, is still active, OSP spokes-
man Sgt. Kaipo Raiser said.
Steve Pedery, conservation
director for the Portland-based
group Oregon Wild, warned
that a “shoot, shovel and shut
up” attitude toward wolves
has taken hold in rural Ore-
gon and become part of the
political fault line separating
factions of Americans.
In Wallowa County, he
said, it’s not unusual to see
“Smoke a pack a day” bumper
stickers.
Doug Cottam, ODFW’s
Wildlife Division adminis-
trator, said the department is
“upset and frustrated by the
unlawful wolf killings in Ore-
gon.” Rewards are offered for
information leading to arrests.
Courtesy of Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Despite a number of poachings and other suspicious death, Ore-
gon State Police say there’s no reason to believe that there’s an
organized campaign against grey wolves.
“Poaching of any wildlife
is wrong and harmful to their
conservation,” he said in a
prepared statement.
Police and ODFW believe
the latest wolf was shot Nov.
12 or 13. It was found Nov.
14 in the Chesnimnus hunting
area known as Cold Springs,
in northeast Oregon’s Wal-
lowa County. Tracking collars
on wolves are designed to
emit a mortality signal if the
animal does not move for a
certain period of time, ODFW
spokeswoman Michelle Den-
nehey said. She assumed
that’s what led to finding the
wolf’s carcass in this case.
State police found evi-
dence OR-23 was killed by a
gunshot, but released no other
information.
The wolf was part of the
Shamrock Pack. In February
2017, a male from the pack,
OR-48, died after it bit or
tugged on a M-44 trap set by
the USDA’s Wildlife Services
to kill coyotes.
In April 2017, the remains
of a male wolf designated
OR-33 were found about 20
miles northwest of Klamath
Falls in the Fremont-Winema
National Forest. A necropsy
showed it had been shot.
In late October, another
collared male, OR-25, was
found dead near Fort Klamath
in the Sun Pass State Forest.
The cause of death was not
disclosed.
On Oct. 27, in a case that
caused an uproar on social
media, an elk hunter told
Turn to WOLF, Page 11
Northwest winter forecast tilts toward wet, cold
La Nina influences
new outlook
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A new winter forecast,
heavily influenced by La Nina
conditions, rates the chances
of a cold and wet winter in
the Northwest higher than a
month ago.
Washington, in particular,
can expect below-average
temperatures and above-nor-
mal precipitation for Decem-
ber, January and February, the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration’s Cli-
mate Prediction Center said.
A month ago, the center rated
the state’s odds of a cold and
wet winter at 50-50.
Washington State Clima-
tologist Nick Bond said that
La Nina almost always leads
to a healthy amount of snow-
pack to supply water for sum-
mer irrigation.
“There’s always a chance
for a rude surprise, but right
now, in terms of water sup-
plies for next year, it looks
good,” Bond said.
The long-range forecast,
scheduled to be updated
Dec. 21, reinforced the role
La Nina, a lowering of Pa-
cific Ocean temperatures,
will have on the U.S. winter.
The new outlook generally
Turn to WINTER,
Page 11
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group File
Freezing fog and rain cover the foothills of the Blue Mountains in
Eastern Oregon. A strengthening La Nina is expected to bring a
colder and wetter winter to much of the Pacific Northwest.