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January 26, 2018 CapitalPress.com 7 Long crowned 2018 cherry king for work in NW industry By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Don Jenkins/Capital Press Cory Sharp, founder of HempLogic, checks his phone during the planting of hemp June 6 in Moses Lake, Wash. Sharp bought a license from the state Department of Agriculture to import hemp seeds, but can’t because the program has been shut down pending a decision by lawmakers on whether to fund it. Washington shuts down hemp seed supply Licenses current, but program halted By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — A Washing- ton businessman is pushing the state Department of Agri- culture to revive its dormant hemp program so he can get seeds for spring plantings. The department has de- clined to forward to the Drug Enforcement Administration an application from Cory Sharp, founder of Hemp- Logic, to import hemp seeds, a federally controlled sub- stance. The department says the program will be gone by spring anyway if lawmakers don’t fund it. Sharp, whose state license to distribute seeds is good un- til June 1, said he’s willing to bet lawmakers will save the program. He also said he’s confident he can line up 500 acres for hemp this year, if he has government support. Without it, he said he will resort to hauling seeds from Oregon, where the supply is less regulated, and plant 5 acres in protest. “I don’t want to be an activist. But, by gawd, I have too much time and money invested in this,” Sharp said. “I want my DEA permit.” Washington issued seven one-year hemp permits before shutting down the program last fall after five months. Li- cense holders paid thousands of dollars in fees. The cost of overseeing the cultivation of a regulated crop, however, is far more, according to the de- partment. The department said it needed $287,000 in the next spending plan to continue the program. Lawmakers proba- bly won’t pass a budget until at least mid-March. “Things are on hold un- til we see what happens,” WSDA spokesman Hector Castro said. “We simply have to work with the situation we have.” Two tribes and two Wash- ington State University re- searchers have licenses. Sharp is involved in two of the other three licenses. Regardless of what happens in Washington, Sharp said he plans to develop a national company. He announced Monday a partnership with a Colorado manufacturer, PowerZone Agriculture, to build a mobile decorticater to process hemp at farms throughout the U.S. “To put it lightly, we’re very excited, Sharp said. “No matter what Washington does, the future of HempLogic is pretty darn bright.” In Washington, viable hemp seeds are only legal if brought into the state with the permission of the DEA and first delivered to a WSDA locker in Spokane. Under federal law, growing hemp is only legal under the auspices of a state-run program. To attract farmers for a large-scale planting, Sharp said he needs the blessing of the state. “Let’s say they don’t give it. It puts me up against the state. Yet, they don’t have rules that say I can’t grow hemp, so they’re in a weird spot,” he said. “I’ll plant 5 acres just to prove a point.” WSDA maintains unli- censed hemp farming is il- legal. Yet state lawmakers, apparently confused about hemp’s federal status, re- moved hemp from the state’s controlled substance list. In the wake of that move, law- makers instructed WSDA to write a rule to make clear the state has the authority to pe- nalize unlicensed hemp farm- ing. Castro said the department plans to write the rule, no mat- ter what happens to the hemp program. YAKIMA, Wash. — Lynn Long, a retired Oregon State University Extension specialist instrumental in transforming Pacific North- west cherries 20 years ago, is the industry’s 74th cherry king. Chosen by past kings, Long was crowned at the annual Cherry Institute of Northwest Cherry Growers at the Yakima Convention Center on Jan. 12. Long was hired by OSU Extension as its Mid-Colum- bia stone fruit agent in The Dalles, Ore., in 1988 and in 1994 was sent to observe and study the cherry industries in Italy, France, Spain and Ger- many. “What he learned there was the beginning of the transformation of the Pacific Northwest cherry industry,” Bob Bailey, the 73rd cher- ry king, said in introducing Long. Bailey is co-owner of Orchard View Farms in The Dalles. It is the largest cherry operation in Oregon. “Although we had tested dwarfing cherry rootstocks in Oregon and Washington no one was talking about moving them into commer- cial production,” Bailey said. “We were an industry producing one variety, on Mazzard rootstock, grown to a tall, steep leader or open Courtesy of Northwest Cherry Growers Lynn Long, a retired Oregon State University Extension special- ist, wears a crown as the 2018 Cherry King and is congratulated by 2017 King Bob Bailey in Yakima, Wash., on Jan. 12. vase tree.” Europe was growing mul- tiple varieties in high-den- sity orchards on dwarfing Gisela 5 and 6 rootstocks. The Europeans were talking about scarcity and expense of agricultural labor and were developing pedestrian orchards, trees that could be picked from the ground. Long helped the Pacific Northwest industry move in that direction. Long also worked on cherry fruit fly, obliqueband- ed leafroller control, replant disease and compost and mulch options to improve orchard soils. He researched new varieties, rootstocks and training systems. “To date our king has evaluated nearly 100 variet- ies and selections for poten- tial adoption by the sweet cherry industry in the Pacific Northwest,” Bailey said. Long spoke about North- west cherries in 16 countries during his career. Long was born in Port- land, raised outside the city and spent his childhood in the Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge. He devel- oped an interest in agricul- ture picking strawberries and as a youngster and by visit- ing his grandfather’s farm in Alberta, Canada. He graduated from Cen- tennial High School in Gresham, Ore., in 1971 and from Lewis and Clark Col- lege, Portland, in 1975. He studied plant pathology at Washington State University. Verne Gingerich wins Nut Grower of the Year Gingerich credited with experience as farmer, processor By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Having worked as both a grower and processor, Verne Gingerich has a fully integrat- ed view of Northwest hazel- nut production. The industry’s relatively small size allows for effective communication, which has al- lowed it to thrive, Gingerich said upon accepting the 2017 Nut Grower of the Year award during the Nut Growers Soci- ety’s Jan. 18 annual meeting in Corvallis, Ore. “We’re in a good indus- try and I hope we keep it that way,” said Gingerich, who farms near Canby, Ore. Gingerich credited his fa- ther, Richard, with the fore- sight to begin Verne cultivating ha- Gingerich zelnuts, which have bestowed many bless- ings on the family. Aside from growing hazel- nuts, Gingerich also worked for the Northwest Hazelnut Co. and eventually became a partner in the processing com- pany in the 1990s. Though he’s since sold his interest to the George Pack- ing Co., Gingerich continues to run a receiving station for hazelnuts. While operating the pro- cessing company, Gingerich had a keen sense of where the markets were heading and how the industry should posi- tion itself, said Lisa Pascoe, office manager for Northwest Hazelnut Co., who presented him with the award. As a farmer, Gingerich is always eager to share his knowledge with others, Pas- coe said. “He is always a huge asset for those he helps.” In the past, Gingerich served five years on the Nut Growers Society’s board, in- cluding a stint as president in 1990, in addition to his involvement with the Or- egon Hazelnut Marketing Board. Gingerich also sits on a committee that advises the Oregon Department of Agri- culture about shipping point inspections and is involved with local firefighting agen- cies. WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! 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