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December 8, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Hermiston Farm Fair highlights
latest ag research and trends
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
HERMISTON, Ore. —
Heading into its second year
at the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center, the Herm-
iston Farm Fair continues to
add new lectures and semi-
nars highlighting previously
overlooked aspects of Colum-
bia Basin agriculture.
Historically speaking, the
Farm Fair has focused on the
latest developments in potato
production — the signature
crop supported by Oregon
State University’s Hermiston
Agricultural Research and
Extension Center.
The 44th annual event,
however, introduced several
new presentations Thursday
covering topics such as organ-
ic crops, precision irrigation
and pollinators.
Phil Hamm, station direc-
tor at HAREC, said he did not
know the exact attendance,
but estimated it was in the
hundreds.
“What we’re trying to do is
(reach) as many of our stake-
holders as possible in our re-
gion,” Hamm said.
Last year’s move to
EOTEC from the Hermiston
Conference Center has cer-
tainly helped, Hamm said,
providing a larger venue to
bring in more presenters and
hold more sessions. This
year’s trade show featured 48
different vendors, including
multiple farm suppliers, En-
ergy Trust of Oregon and the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture Farm Service Agency.
Attendees filled the room
for a morning seminar on pol-
linators, which discussed the
importance of bees and bee
habitat in agricultural sys-
tems. Andony Melathopoulos,
of OSU’s Pollinator Health
Extension Program, said Ore-
gon is home to more species
of bees than there are east of
the Mississippi River.
“It’s a hotbed of diversity,”
Melathopoulos said. “People
are just amazed by them.”
Melathopoulos went on
to explain how farmers can
treat their crops for weeds and
pests while taking care not
to harm pollinators. He ran
through a litany of available
products, demonstrating how
to properly read labels and de-
termine if and when a grower
should apply certain chemi-
cals in the field.
“Without a doubt, pollina-
tion is very important for the
production of many crops,”
Melathopoulos said. “I hope
people came out of this ses-
sion knowing pest control is
possible and compatible with
pollinators.”
For the first time, the
Hermiston Farm Fair also or-
ganized a seminar dedicated
specifically to growing organ-
ic crops. It takes three years
before a farm can be certified
organic, and growers must
adopt a strict set of approved
standards.
Local organic production
is on the rise, said Alexan-
dra Stone, a former organic
farmer and cropping system
specialist for OSU. In east-
ern Washington, Stone said
organic sales grew six-fold at
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Oregon wildlife officials say a wolf is likely responsible for the
death of a llama on private pasture in Union County.
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Ron Halbakken, factory sales manager for Legacy Steel Buildings, talks on his cell phone in front of
his booth at the Hermiston Farm Fair.
the farm gate between 2005
and 2015, from $100 million
to $600 million.
“There’s already a lot of
organic production out here,”
she said.
Yet demand for organics is
still outpacing production in
the U.S., with imports exceed-
ing exports by $1.1 billion,
Stone said. With that in mind,
she led a survey among 20
farmers in the room to deter-
mine what they want and need
from the university to tap into
the organic marketplace.
Of those polled, 79 per-
cent said they expect demand
for organics will continue to
increase, yet 40 percent said
they did not have the tools to
control pests and disease. The
vast majority of farmers said
they would benefit from some
kind of technical training
through OSU, with more than
half favoring a hybrid online
undergraduate and profes-
sional development certificate
program.
Later in the afternoon,
Clinton Shock of the OSU
Malheur Experiment Station
detailed how precision irriga-
tion can optimize yields and
save farmers money, all while
protecting the environment.
“We really want high and
stable production of horticul-
ture and crops,” Shock said.
“Precision irrigation is really
the key.”
Shock said researchers are
working to determine a set of
criteria known as the soil-wa-
ter tension for different crops,
which essentially describes
the amount of energy a plant
must expend to suck up water
in the ground. If the tension
is too high, a plant may shut
down. If the tension is too
low, water may leach away
nutrients, leading to waste.
But if a grower knows the
soil property, Shock said they
can find the sweet spot. That
means healthier crops for less
money.
Plus, as a side benefit, he
said the more efficiently nitro-
gen is used, the more it pro-
tects groundwater quality.
“A lot of the public thinks
growers are not innovative, or
stuck in the mud,” Shock said.
“That just isn’t so.”
The Hermiston Farm Fair
continued through noon Dec.
1 at EOTEC.
Dead llama ruled
‘probable’ wolf attack
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Guests mingle with vendors during the Hermiston Farm Fair on
Thursday at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center.
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Hank Stahl, of Stahl Farms, and Cyd Bothum, of Hermiston Foods,
shoot baskets at the Simplot booth at the Hermiston Farm Fair.
This was the 44th year for the annual event.
Wolves may very well
be responsible for killing a
250-pound adult llama on a
private forested pasture in
northeast Oregon, though
the state Department of Fish
and Wildlife stopped short of
confirming the incident as a
wolf attack.
Investigators instead ruled
it a “probable” wolf attack,
taking place just 10 miles
from where wolves with the
Meacham pack preyed on
cattle at Cunningham Sheep
Company this summer.
The landowner found the
dead llama Friday, Nov. 24,
about 200 yards from the res-
idence.
The carcass was most-
ly intact, except most of the
hide and muscle tissue along
the right rear leg above the
hock and around the anus had
been consumed.
ODFW arrived the next
day, and according to the
agency’s investigation report,
the llama likely died some-
time between late Wednes-
day, Nov. 22, and before dark
Thursday, Nov. 23. At least
two sets of wolf tracks were
seen in the mud about 20
yards away that were one to
two days old. Investigators
also documented trail camera
photos taken about 300 yards
from the carcass, showing a
wolf moving toward the area
on Nov. 23.
However, wounds to the
llama were not consistent
with extensive wolf-caused
injuries, the report stated.
Taking all evidence into
consideration, the agency
determined that “there was
sufficient evidence to con-
firm predation on the llama
by a large predator, but not
enough evidence to confirm
which predator.”
The same landowner also
reported another dead llama
earlier in the month, which
had been largely consumed
except for its neck, head and
left shoulder. ODFW inves-
tigated Nov. 14, and deter-
mined there was no evidence
of a predator attack at the
scene. The cause of death is
unknown.
SAGE Fact #147
The miles one ton of cargo can be
transported on one gallon of fuel:
Semi Truck: 59 miles
Train: 202 Miles
Barge: 514 miles
49-1/101
49-1/101