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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2018)
February 2, 2018 CapitalPress.com 3 Irrigating cranberries by phone By GAIL OBERST For the Capital Press PORT ORFORD, Ore. — Nick Puhl, 29, hadn’t intend- ed to be a cranberry grower. After training in computer nu- merically controlled machin- ing — known as CNC — he went to work building helicop- ter, jet and car parts. But in 2009, when his fa- ther, Ron, lost a series of farm managers, he moved back home to Port Orford to help Gail Oberst/For the Capital Press manage Cape Blanco Cran- berries. Part of the farmland Nick Puhl, 29, brought his technical know-how to his family’s Port has been in his family’s hands Orford, Ore., cranberry farm, helping save money, water and time since the early 1900s. His fa- by controlling irrigation using his smart phone. ther put in cranberries in 1992. “They needed me, so I and pumps. He can then decide ries during harvest. Even wet came back,” Nick shrugged. which beds need water — each Cape Blanco, with an average He brought with him skills pump controls about 5 acres of annual rainfall of about 76 he picked up from the CNC irrigation. From anywhere in inches, saw a water shortage, world. Today, those modern cell range, with a swipe and a Nick said. Water conservation, as well innovations save time for tap on his smart phone, he can workers at Cape Blanco Cran- turn on the appropriate pump as his father’s foresight to berries, his family’s compa- — and viola! Water saved, build larger storage ponds, got ny, but they also improve the cranberries happy. them through the summer. crop’s quality, reduce water So happy were his eight va- This was especially handy use and save time. during the 2017 growing sea- rieties of cranberries in 2017 Among those innovations son, a dry and hot one during that harvest lasted into Decem- ber, the peak of the cranber- are gadgets that allow Nick to which water became scarce. Cranberry growers typical- ry-eating season. Nick took a control his pumps from his cell phone. Nick can check water, ly capture rainwater through- moment to be proud: “Nobody soil and weather conditions out the year in ponds that else delivers fresh-picked, during the growing season at a are used for irrigation during fresh-packed cranberries this website that gathers and stores spring and summer, and for time of year.” Specific watering practices, the data relayed from the beds flooding and floating the ber- among other innovative tech- niques, allow the cranberries to remain on the vine longer, developing a deep red color, higher sugars and lower acids. The south coast’s mild cli- mate provides a longer grow- ing season and promotes the berry’s color and flavor. On Dec. 19, when Nick harvest- ed his last beds, the tempera- ture had been in the high 40s and 50s all week. Wisconsin, which grows more than 60 percent of the nation’s cran- berries, typically ends har- vests in mid-October and was already below freezing on Dec. 19. With financial and techni- cal help from the Natural Re- sources Conservation Service and its Environmental Quality Incentives Program — known as EQIP — Cape Blanco Cranberries has installed up- grades on nine pumps for 45 of his 80 acres split between Bandon and Port Orford. An automated system, which can cycle water on and off as needed based on temperature readings, can reduce water and energy use by up to 50 percent, according to Eric Moeggenberg, the district conservationist for the Coos and Curry county NRCS of- fice. The pumps also moni- tor their own efficiency — checking the pressure and flow, then report it back to a data-collection and irrigation control website. When he sees a pump problem, Nick can fix it immediately. Before, prob- lems might have gone unno- ticed, wasting water. “We’re pretty fortunate that I know how to do that sort of thing,” Nick said. He’s not stingy with his skills. The extra time allows him to do extra work for other farmers and machinists on comput- er-controlled machinery for their beds and machinery. The radio or comput- er-controlled pumps and irri- gation are not the farm’s only innovations. The Puhls are also replacing old vines — the perennials can last up to a century — with new vines that are DNA-certified, add- ing more value to their fruit, and better production. For more information about the data-collection website and software, Mea- sureTek, visit www.Mea- sureTek.com. For informa- tion about EQIP, visit www. nrcs.usda.gov, or your local Soil and Water Conservation District office. 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