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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2018)
January 26, 2018 CapitalPress.com After 30 years, Expo director sets retirement By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press SPOKANE — Myrna O’Leary, the longtime director of the Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Fo- rum, will retire in March, ending a 30- year run. She reflected on her pending retire- ment on a recent morning, after send- ing out exhibitor manuals and judging Matthew Weaver/Capital Press the annual photo contest for the last Myrna O’Leary, longtime director of the time. “It’s that four-letter word, ‘last,’ Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum, plans to retire March 30. that’s kind of like a knife,” she said. O’Leary joined the Expo in August 1988 and plans to retire March 30. does that.” “It’s just time,” she said. She plans It takes work to keep the show run- to take some time off, perhaps to travel ning smoothly. or spend time in her yard, and spend “Being the oldest of nine kids, or- ganization comes to me kind of natu- more time with family. When she first joined the show, rally,” she said. “I just know that what someone told her he didn’t expect it to needs to be done, needs to be done. I’m last another five years. very detail-oriented, probably some- “Not on my watch,” O’Leary times to a fault.” thought. “I think the show is import- About 100 volunteers help with the ant to this region, because agricul- Expo, including members of Greater ture’s important to this region. ... I just Spokane Incorporated’s AgriBusiness thought it was important to keep that Council, GSI staff and Visit Spokane. in the limelight, and I think the show O’Leary has been known to “volun- teer” her family members as well, she said with a chuckle. The challenge each year is to bring something new to the show, she said. “We try every year to bring what’s cutting edge or what is the top focus for the farmers, to bring them more infor- mation,” she said. “Every year, there’s new, whiz-bang things.” Many of the new things introduced at the show, such as unmanned aerial vehicles or social media, go on to be- come part of everyday farm life. O’Leary said she depends on mem- bers of the Expo and Farm Forum board and committees, many of whom are active in agriculture, to determine what will draw a crowd. “It’s a team effort,” she said. “Myrna has a gift for working with both the volunteers and exhibitors to make them feel special,” said Diahne Gill, program manager for the Farm Forum, who has worked alongside O’Leary more than 20 years. “She goes far above and beyond to accommodate exhibitor needs.” Gill said O’Leary has meant a lot to all the people she’s worked with and will be missed. PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS for AGRICULTURAL SAFETY 3 Market expert looks at future of wheat prices By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Record world crop produc- tion in the last five years has masked the fact that demand is high as well, a market ana- lyst says. “I’m of the opinion we don’t need significant crop disasters to bring prices back to a better, higher level,” said Mike Krueger, founder of the marketing advisory firm the Money Farm in Fargo, N.D. “If we even took production, yields per acre worldwide back down to more nor- mal levels, I think we’d see markets get interesting very quickly. That just hasn’t hap- pened yet.” Krueger will speak Wednesday during the Spo- kane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum. Krueger expects total wheat acres in the U.S. and Canada to de- cline again in 2018. Crop issues arose in Ar- Mike gentina, Aus- Krueger tralia, the U.S. and Canada, but Russia produced another record crop, pressing wheat prices lower, Krueger said. Krueger believes export demand for U.S. wheat needs to pick up, reflecting smaller crops in competing countries. Soybean and corn planting in Brazil and Argentina could experience weather problems. If that happens during the win- ter, prices could increase for those crops, Krueger said. “Even though there’s a lot of wheat on earth, there’s not a lot of good-quality hard wheats,” he said. SPRAY SEASON PPE Personal Protective Equipment Comfort & Protection Chemical Protective Suit Safety First: Follow chemical manufacturer’s guidelines for decontaminating the spray suit. Do not use suit if there are cuts, holes, tears, missing snaps, or separated seams. ith Gloves w n o ti c te pro nts e m e ir u req www.oxarc.com Washington - Idaho - Oregon - Shop Online 1-800-765-9055 SPAE18-1\101
