Capital press., July 06, 2018, Page 3, Image 3

July 6, 2018
Interim
director
named for
KBREC
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
A longtime station agron-
omist and potato researcher
is taking the reins at Oregon
State Univer-
sity’s Klamath
Basin
Re-
search and Ex-
tension Center
in
Klamath
Falls, Ore.
B r i a n
Charlton has
Brian
been named
Charlton
interim direc-
tor at KBREC,
effective July
1. He replaces
Willie Riggs,
who was ap-
pointed
re-
gional director
Willie
for OSU Ex-
Riggs
tension Ser-
vice’s newly configured south-
ern region.
The move comes as OSU
Extension tightens its belt from
10 regions across the state to
six. The redesigned south-
ern region includes Klamath,
Lake, Douglas, Jackson and
Josephine counties.
Riggs previously served
as the regional administrator
for Klamath, Lake and Har-
ney counties, in addition to his
role as KBREC director. With
the transition, Riggs steps out
of day-to-day management at
KBREC, though he said he
will continue to work closely
with Charlton.
“We’ll continue our strong
relationship there,” Riggs said.
Charlton has spent his en-
tire 24-year career at OSU. He
started as a student employee
at KBREC while earning his
bachelor’s degree in crop and
soil science, and has gone on
to hold a number of positions
at the station, including asso-
ciate professor, instructor and
senior faculty research assis-
tant.
Since 2014, Charlton has
served as the Klamath Ba-
sin Potato Faculty Scholar,
focused on developing new
potato varieties for Oregon,
Washington and Idaho.
Charlton said he is excited
to take on a new role while
maintaining his research pro-
gram.
“I’d assume there aren’t
too many Oregon agricultural
experiment station directors
who started at their respective
centers as a student employee,
returned as a research assistant
and were hired as project lead-
er, then appointed director,”
Charlton said. “I’ll be able to
bring a unique understanding
of branch station operation
from top to bottom.”
Riggs led KBREC for 11
years, starting in 2007. As re-
gional director for OSU Ex-
tension, he will continue to be
based in Klamath Falls while
providing leadership, admin-
istration and budget oversight
over five counties.
OSU Extension programs
include 4-H, SNAP-Ed and
farm and horticulture research.
Between research and exten-
sion, the station has 18 full-
time staff and faculty plus two
summer interns.
CapitalPress.com
3
Oregon OSHA adopts stricter
rules for pesticide drift protection
Workers will be
allowed to take
shelter in housing
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Oregon regulators will
allow farmworkers and their
families to take shelter in-
doors from drifting pesticides
under controversial rules ad-
opted Monday by the state
Occupational Health and
Safety Administration, or Or-
egon OSHA.
The new rules are part of an
effort to clarify “Application
Exclusion Zones” introduced
by the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency in its 2015 up-
date of the federal Agricultural
Worker Protection Standard.
The zones — or AEZs —
require farms and orchards to
evacuate workers within 100
feet of where rigs or planes are
spraying pesticides, returning
only after the equipment has
passed. Farmers, however,
quickly realized that the law
did not address farmworker
housing that may be within the
AEZ.
The issue is especially
problematic for fruit grow-
ers in the Columbia River
Gorge, who often spray their
orchards in the early morning
when there is no wind. They
argued the AEZ rules would
force them to rouse workers
from their sleep and remove
them from their homes when
it would be safer to let them
remain indoors.
Oregon OSHA ultimate-
ly agreed, and provided for a
shelter-in-place compliance
Associated Press File
Oregon has adopted new rules aimed at protecting farmworkers when pesticides are applied.
alternative so long as doors,
windows and air intakes are
closed during spraying and the
chemical does not require use
of a respirator on its label.
“If it’s a structure that can
be closed, and given that we’re
talking about off-target drift
that shouldn’t be occurring in
the first place, there is an add-
ed level of protection allowing
people to shelter in place,” said
Michael Wood, Oregon OSHA
administrator.
For chemicals that do re-
quire the use of a respirator,
the rules become much more
strict, with the AEZ expanding
to 150 feet and removing the
shelter-in-place option. That
exceeds the normal 100-foot
requirement under the EPA
guideline.
Pesticide drift is already il-
legal in Oregon, though it does
sometimes occur. The Oregon
Department of Agriculture in-
vestigated 172 complaints of
chemical drift resulting in 38
violations in 2016, and 82 cas-
es resulting in 10 violations in
2017.
Putting the new rules into
action means farmworkers and
their families will be better
protected in Oregon than they
are in the vast majority of the
country, Wood said. The rules
take effect Jan. 1, 2019.
The rules, however, were
sharply criticized by both
grower groups, who claim
the protections go too far,
and farmworker advocates,
who claim they do not go far
enough.
Mike Doke, executive di-
rector of the Columbia Gorge
Fruit Growers Association,
said members are pleased to
see a shelter-in-place option
for the 100-foot AEZ, but
added a 150-foot AEZ for
pesticides that require use of a
respirator is not backed by sci-
entific evidence.
“We just have to come in
and adhere to a whim because
somebody thought it was a
good idea,” Doke said.
Approximately two-thirds
of Oregon’s 314 registered
labor camps are in Wasco and
Hood River counties, home
to most of the state’s pear and
cherry orchards. Doke said
growers do not heavily use
chemicals that require a respi-
rator, but that could change as
the industry faces challenges
Ag groups cheer Senate passage of farm bill
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Groups representing U.S.
farmers are applauding the
Senate’s strong bipartisan
approval of its farm bill that
passed late last week in an 86-
11 vote.
In statements issued to the
press, many noted the Sen-
ate’s passage brings farmers
one step closer to much need-
ed certainty in a time of finan-
cial stress and an unknown ex-
port outlook. They also urged
Senate and House members to
quickly find common ground
to strengthen the farm safety
net.
“Chairman (Pat) Roberts
and ranking member (Deb-
bie) Stabenow worked with
other members of the Senate
Agriculture Committee to de-
liver a bill that will continue to
provide the risk management
tools that America’s farm-
ers need now more than ever
before,” Zippy Duvall, the
American Farm Bureau Fed-
eration president, said.
“Of course, no bill is ever
perfect, but this bipartisan
effort gives us a solid frame-
work for progress,” he said.
AFBF has concerns about
some of the provisions that
were added to the bill that
make it harder for farmers to
manage risk, but it is confident
those issues can be satisfacto-
rily addressed by the confer-
ence committee, he said.
The National Farmers
Union’s board of directors
unanimously supported the
Senate’s efforts when the bill
was first introduced and is
pleased with its passage.
The bill “includes en-
couraging provisions that
strengthen the farm safety net,
promote farm sustainability
and ensure access to fair and
diverse markets, all of which
would provide essential secu-
rity,” Rob Larew, NFU senior
president of public policy and
communications, said.
The National Association
of Wheat Growers is pleased
the bill reauthorizes conser-
vation and trade promotion
programs and appreciates the
Senate’s increased funding for
the Wheat and Barley Scab
Initiative.
But it will continue to ad-
vocate for increased funding
for trade promotion, a stron-
ger research title and crop in-
surance provisions.
“Crop insurance is a
unique
risk-management
tool available for farmers
and ranchers. NAWG con-
tinues to advocate for a
strong crop insurance pro-
gram and continued choice
between ARC (Agricultural
Risk Coverage) and PLC
(Price Loss Coverage) in the
final version,” Jim Musick,
NAWG president, said.
The National Corn Grow-
ers Association said senators
recognized the importance
and effectiveness of risk-man-
agement tools, including a
robust federal crop insurance
program.
“With the combined threat
of retaliatory tariffs and an
EPA seemingly intent on dis-
mantling the RFS (Renewable
Fuels Standard), farmers need
a strong farm bill now more
than ever,” Kevin Skunes, the
NCGA president, said.
National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association said more work
on the farm bill is needed to
address cattle producers’ pri-
orities.
“While the Senate version
includes permanent authori-
zation of the Foot and Mouth
Disease Vaccine Bank, zero
dollars are provided,” Kevin
Kester, NCBA president, said.
The bill also left out im-
portant changes to the conser-
vation title that were included
in the House version, he said.
The National Milk Pro-
ducers Federation said the bill
adds $100 million to the dairy
title baseline, enhances the
Margin Protection Program,
reauthorizes trade promotion
programs and includes provi-
sions to promote consumption
of fluid milk and foster inno-
vation and new opportunities
in the dairy industry.
Weekly fieldwork report
Ore.
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of June 24)
6.6
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
1%
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
67%
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
66%
• Precipitation probability
33-40% below
(6-10 day outlook as of July 1)
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.2
4%
19%
2%
16%
5.8
13%
32%
12%
31%
6.9
0
75%
0
75%
33-40% below
33-40% below
Normal/
33% above
from new emerging pests, such
as the brown marmorated stink
bug.
In the end, the AEZ rules
may force some growers to
remove housing or blocks of
trees, resulting in lost jobs and
production, Doke said. The
hardest hit may be small grow-
ers, who may be forced to sell
to larger companies, he added.
“It’s another cost they can’t
incur,” Doke said.
Adam McCarthy, co-owner
of Trout Creek Farm Manage-
ment in Parkdale, Ore., grows
pears, apples and cherries for
the fresh market on roughly
250 acres south of Hood River.
He said they spray pesticides
that require a respirator two or
three times a year, which will
now require him to evacuate
as many as 10 housing units
around the orchards.
“Now you’re going to have
this process where there’s
going to be a need for them
to leave their living quarters
and go somewhere where Or-
egon OSHA has not defined.
... I think that puts more risk
into the equation,” McCarthy
said.
Lisa Arkin, executive di-
rector of the group Beyond
Toxics based in Eugene, Ore.,
said her organization advo-
cated tougher pesticide rules,
including a no-spray buffer to
protect labor camps.
House Bill 3549, which
passed the Oregon Legisla-
ture in 2015, already requires
that forest managers conduct-
ing aerial sprays cannot come
within 60 feet of homes or
schools. Arkin said the same
standard should apply to agri-
culture when spraying around
farmworker housing.
“The fact that Oregon
OSHA has denied even this
very modest no-spray buf-
fer for farmworkers and their
homes appears to me to be
differential treatment for farm-
workers,” she said.
Ramon Ramirez, presi-
dent of Pineros y Campesinos
Unidos del Noroeste — the
largest Latino union in Oregon
— agreed the pesticide protec-
tions do not go far enough to
protect farmworkers.
“The fact of the matter is
that labor camps in the Willa-
mette Valley are in really bad
shape, and also in Jackson
County and in different plac-
es,” Ramirez said. “It is im-
portant that farmworkers be
protected.”
Ramirez said the union is
evaluating its next steps, and
may consider legal action. He
said the average life expectan-
cy of farmworkers is just 49,
compared to 78 for the rest of
the country, and workers are
also at higher risk for cancer
and miscarriages.
“We think farmworkers
are being short-changed on
their lives to put food on the
table,” Ramirez said.
Drought officially returns
to Western Washington
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Streams are dropping,
July could be a scorcher and
drought has officially re-
turned to Western Washing-
ton.
Looking at all that, the
state Department of Ecology
may issue for the first time
a drought advisory, an early
warning to be careful with
water.
Ecology drought coordi-
nator Jeff Marti said it’s too
much to expect summer rains
to reverse the trend toward
lower flows. “I think our hy-
drological fate has been set
for the summer,” he said.
Ecology hosted a con-
ference call Friday with re-
source agencies and water
managers from around the
state. The consensus was that
streams and rivers are largely
OK now, but generally will
be running far below normal
by the end of the summer.
The state’s summer wa-
ter supply appeared well
stocked in April. May, how-
ever, was the second warm-
est and 12th driest on record.
Streams that were swelled by
rain and melting snow in the
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Water irrigates a field in south-
west Washington on June 29.
The U.S. Drought Monitor
spring are falling.
Right now, Western
Washington is the dry side of
the state. The U.S. Drought
Monitor on Thursday catego-
rized 12 percent of the state
in a moderate drought, the
first time this year any part
of the state has been consid-
ered to be in a drought. The
drought covers all or parts of
11 westside counties south of
Seattle.
Most of Eastern Washing-
ton remains far from drought
conditions.
Washington State Clima-
tologist Nick Bond said Fri-
day he expects the rest of the
summer to be warmer than
usual, though not as hot as
2015, the last year Washing-
ton declared a drought emer-
gency.
SAGE Fact #147
Each day a cow eats 75-100 pounds of food and
drink 25-50 gallons of water. That is equivalent to
3 large bags of dog food and a bathtub of water.
27-2/101