August 17, 2018
CapitalPress.com
3
OSU names new dean for College of Ag
Alan Sams
previously led
programs at Texas
A&M, Clemson
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
The Wilco-Hazelnut Growers of Oregon cooperative has finished
its new processing facility in Donald, Ore., in time for this year’s
hazelnut harvest.
Hazelnut facility ready
for upcoming harvest
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A new processing facility
built by the Hazelnut Grow-
ers of Oregon cooperative is
ready for the next crop of ha-
zelnuts when harvest begins
next month.
Work on the new plant in
Donald, Ore., broke ground
in 2016, shortly after HGO
merged with the Wilco farm
supply cooperative, which
will also operate out of the
new location.
A grand opening and rib-
bon cutting ceremony at the
facility were scheduled for
Aug. 15.
While the building and
property are leased from a de-
veloper, the cooperative has
invested about $20 million
in equipment and other up-
grades.
The new facility has more
than twice the capacity to pro-
cess and store hazelnuts than
the company’s old headquar-
ters in Cornelius, Ore., and
was designed with an eye for
growth in the hazelnut indus-
try.
Initially, the plant will op-
erate at about 30-40 percent
capacity but will likely reach
full capacity in three to four
years as more newly planted
orchards mature, said Tim
Ramsey, who was hired as
Wilco-HGO’s new CEO last
year.
About 70,000 acres of ha-
zelnuts are grown by rough-
ly 800 Oregon farmers, with
their crop’s value averaging
about $100 million in recent
years.
“How do we provide
the best economic value to
hazelnut growers and ex-
pand beyond commodity
marketing?” he said.
To that end, the cooper-
ative plans to begin rolling
out four product categories
made from hazelnuts under
the “Oregon Orchards” brand
in 2019.
Ramsey said it’s too ear-
ly to disclose specifics about
the product lines, other than
they’re intended to fill “op-
portunity gaps” in the food
retail sector uncovered during
market research.
“The grocery industry is
always looking for innovative
products,” he said.
The products will be sold
in Wilco’s consumer-oriented
farm stores as well as other
outlets, “from Whole Foods
to Winco,” Ramsey said.
Though the focus of the
new facility is on producing
value-added hazelnut prod-
ucts, the cooperative will still
process in-shell nuts and isn’t
“picky” as to the varieties de-
livered by farmers, he said.
Hazelnuts will be sorted
according to size and other
qualities, which will deter-
mine their ultimate purpose.
In-shell varieties will con-
tinue to find a home at the co-
operative but the growth will
come from kernel varieties
used in value-added goods,
Ramsey said.
The cooperative is less de-
pendent than its competitors
on exports to China, which
are currently facing a head-
wind due to trade tensions, he
said.
While the company ex-
ports half as many hazelnuts
as some other processors, it’s
not impervious to the trade
dispute since tariffs can affect
the entire market for Oregon’s
crop, Ramsey said. “It will
impact everyone.”
A new dean is coming to
the Oregon State University
College of Agricultural Sci-
ences.
The university on Tues-
day named Alan Sams to
lead the college, succeeding
Dan Arp, who will retire at
the end of August.
Sams has spent the last
nine years as executive as-
sociate dean of the College
of Agriculture and Life Sci-
ences at Texas A&M Uni-
versity, managing academic
programs, personnel and
budgeting for one of the larg-
est agricultural colleges in
the country, with 350 faculty,
7,800 students and a budget
of more than $69 million.
At Oregon State, Sams
will oversee 250 faculty,
2,600 students and a $90
million research budget. The
OSU College of Agricultur-
al Sciences offers 13 under-
graduate and graduate degree
programs, and works closely
with state and federal part-
ners including the USDA,
Environmental Protection
Agency, U.S. Forest Service
and National Institutes of
Health.
In a statement released
Tuesday by the university,
OSU
Alan Sams has been named dean of the College of Agricultural
Sciences at Oregon State University.
Sams said he is excited to
join OSU, crediting a “stu-
dent-centered environment
combined with an excellent
faculty at the forefront of
their fields.”
“The breadth and eco-
nomic importance of agri-
culture in Oregon, and the
interest in environmental
sustainability are factors
which drew me to Oregon
State University,” Sams said.
“There is a tremendous inno-
vative spirit here, whether it
is in production agriculture
or food entrepreneurship.
Agriculture’s role in health,
energy and national security
is expanding and we need to
lead that growth.”
Sams will also serve as
director of the Oregon Agri-
cultural Experiment Station
on campus in Corvallis. He
begins his new duties Oct.
31. Bill Boggess, executive
associate dean of the college,
will serve as interim dean
from Sept. 1 through Oct. 30
following Arp’s retirement.
During his nine years as
executive associate dean at
Texas A&M, Sams helped
the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences increase
enrollment by 25 percent,
increase its budget by 30
percent and expand both re-
search and international pro-
grams.
Sams was also previously
dean of the College of Ag-
riculture, Forestry and Life
Sciences at Clemson Univer-
sity from 2007 to 2009.
Sams holds a bachelor’s
degree and master’s degree
in poultry science and a doc-
torate in food science and
human nutrition, all from the
University of Florida, where
he started his academic ca-
reer as a graduate assistant.
He joined the Texas A&M
faculty in the Department of
Poultry Science and Food
Science in 1984, where he
stayed until he was named
dean at Clemson. He then
returned to Texas A&M in
2009.
Sams also has experience
in the private sector, having
worked as a quality assur-
ance analyst with Gold Kist
Poultry in Florida.
Ed Feser, OSU provost
and vice president, described
Sams as a seasoned and
savvy administrator with a
strong vision for the college.
“There’s the strong ex-
perience factor with Alan,”
Feser told the Capital Press.
“Also, I think he’s very com-
fortable and skilled working
with the different constituen-
cies you need to work with at
an agricultural college.”
Feser said a hiring com-
mittee of 15 people selected
Sams from a 12-candidate
field, which was whittled
down to four finalists who
each visited campus earlier
this year.
Sams has a strong sense
of the college’s ability to
serve agriculture in Oregon,
as well as nationally and in-
ternationally, Feser said.
“He has a great interest in
working with stakeholders,”
Feser said.
Dave Dillon, executive
vice president of the Ore-
gon Farm Bureau, said that
bodes well for members who
depend on the university for
data, outreach and educating
the next generation of farm-
ers and ranchers.
“For us, OSU is our land
grant institution,” Dillon
said. “It has the closest con-
nection to family farms and
ranches. The things that they
do have an ongoing rele-
vance to producers well be-
yond their college years.”
Europe foresees record apple crop
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Europe is forecasting a
record 12.6 million met-
ric ton apple crop this fall,
which means it will be in-
creasingly
competitive
against Washington apples
in the Middle East and Asia.
The forecast was released
at the Prognosfruit Confer-
ence in Warsaw, Poland,
Aug. 9, attended by about
300 international apple and
pear growers, according to a
news release from the World
Apple and Pear Association.
The forecast is up 36
percent over last year’s low
crop of 9.25 million metric
tons but is only 3 percent
over the 2014 to 2016 aver-
age. It is slightly above the
record 12.5 million metric
ton 2014 crop. Europe’s pear
crop is predicted at 2.3 mil-
lion metric tons, up 4 per-
cent from 2017.
The increases are due to
better climatic conditions
across Europe with a mild
winter, no late frost and lim-
ited impact of hail so far, the
association said.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Just a small portion of the thousands of apple bins staged at
the McDougall & Sons Inc. Baker Flats facility north of East
Wenatchee, Wash., waiting to be trucked to area orchards for
harvest in the next few weeks.
Apples will be strong in
Poland at 4.5 million metric
tons and more average in Ita-
ly and France. Last season’s
stock is sold out so there will
be strong demand in Europe
on the fresh and processing
side, the association said.
Drought and heat waves
in several parts of Europe
so far have had limited im-
pact on the quality and fruit
size. Markets are also com-
plex given the continuing
Russian embargo of Western
produce and restrictions in
the Mediterranean, the asso-
ciation said.
The 12.6 million fresh
and processing metric ton
forecast equates to 662
million, 42-pound boxes
compared to a 131 million,
40-pound box Washington
fresh forecast and a U.S.
total fresh and processing
likely to be about 280 mil-
lion, 42-pound boxes, said
Desmond O’Rourke, world
apple market analyst and re-
tired Washington State Uni-
versity agricultural econo-
mist, in Pullman, Wash.
Washington’s fresh crop
equals 2.4 million metric
tons and the U.S. fresh and
processed is 5.3 million met-
ric tons, he said.
“But you have to remem-
ber that the European popu-
lation is well over 500 mil-
lion people compared with
our 320 million, so propor-
tionally that makes U.S. and
European crops more com-
mensurate,” he said.
“But they have a huge
crop and a lot of markets are
very difficult. Russia is still
closed to all of Europe and
us,” O’Rourke said. “It hurts
us in Asia and the Middle
East, probably more in the
Middle East. They can sell
low-value product in there.
They will be scrounging for
markets so we’d better keep
our promotions up.”
Washington exporters are
concerned about tariffs in
Mexico, India and China, all
top Washington export mar-
kets, he said.
That makes the Middle
East more important and
Washington has been falling
there in recent years due to
the Russian embargo and be-
fore it, he said.
Former NIFA chief questions USDA decision to relocate institute
Ramaswamy says
move will hinder
ag research
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The former director of the
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture is questioning the
USDA’s decision to relocate it
outside Washington, D.C.
NIFA provides funding for
and pools together collabo-
rative efforts on agricultural
research, said Sonny Ra-
maswamy, di-
rector of NIFA
from 2012 to
2018.
Moving the
agency
will
take two to
Sonny
five years, he
Ramaswamy said, potential-
ly impacting
funding for research and de-
terring state researchers from
taking on projects without
NIFA funding.
The USDA recently an-
nounced most NIFA and
Economic Research Service
employees will be relocated
outside the Washington, D.C.,
area by the end of 2019. New
locations have yet to be deter-
mined.
According to the USDA,
the move is being done:
• To improve USDA’s abil-
ity to “attract and retain” high-
ly qualified staff. The press
release cites “significant turn-
over” and difficulty recruiting
employees to the Washington
D.C., area due to the high cost
of living and long commutes.
• To place the programs clos-
er to stakeholders, “most of
whom live and work far from
the Washington, D.C., area.”
Ore.
(6-10 day outlook as of Aug. 14)
ELLIS EQUIPMENT 800-949-2336
31-5-3/102
.COM
search and extension system
in the world.”
Also a former dean of the
College of Agricultural Sci-
ences at Oregon State Uni-
versity, Ramaswamy is now
president of the Northwest
Commission on Colleges and
Universities in Seattle.
Weekly fieldwork report
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of Aug. 14)
7
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
90%
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
88%
• Precipitation probability
33-40% Below
MFG OF BRUSH MULCHERS | STUMP GRINDERS | DRAINAGE PLOWS
BOOM MOWERS | PTO GENERATORS | AUGER BITS & DRIVES
TRENCHERS | TREE SPADES | TREE SAWS | LIMB SHEARS AND MORE
• To benefit American tax
payers with “significant sav-
ings on employment costs and
rent,” allowing more employ-
ees to be retained even in the
face of tightening budgets.
Ramaswamy worries mov-
ing NIFA will “destroy the
most vaunted and envied re-
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.8
0
65%
0
56%
6.9
0
72%
0
67%
7
0
70%
0
70%
33-40% Below
Normal
40% Below