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CapitalPress.com
September 7, 2018
People & Places
From Australia to Wenatchee
Tobin Northfield
studies pluses,
minuses of insects
that farmers face
Western
Innovator
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
In Australia, Tobin Northfield
was on a team of scientists
who found cocoa yields could
be doubled by using cocoa
waste to boost pollinators and
natural insect predators.
Now he’s the newest assis-
tant professor and entomolo-
gist at the Washington State
University Tree Fruit Re-
search and Extension Center
in Wenatchee, where a career
of innovation awaits him. The
brown marmorated stink bug,
spotted wing drosophila and
codling moth are among the
challenging pests facing the
region’s growers.
Northfield, 37, was born
and raised in Enum Claw,
Wash., and in 2003 received
his bachelor’s degree in bi-
ology from Pacific Lutheran
University in Tacoma.
While in college, he
planned to be a dentist but he
enjoyed biology and during
an entomology class decided
“it was way too much fun to
do anything else.”
“I was also inspired by all
the benefits to society that en-
tomology can bring, like med-
ical and agricultural improve-
ments,” he said.
His interest in science was
aided by his father being a
forester and his mother being
a speech therapist.
He earned a master’s de-
gree in entomology at the
University of Florida in 2005
and spent the next two years
as a research associate there.
A key focus was studying
how Pierce’s Disease, deadly
in grapevines, is spread by the
Glassy-winged sharpshooter,
a large leafhopper, that sucks
xylem fluid, mostly water and
nitrogen, out of plants and
spreads bacterium. He also
studied the spread of stink
Tobin Northfield
Age: 37
Born and raised: Enum
Claw, Wash.
Family: Wife, Kirsten; son,
Micaiah, 3.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Tobin Northfield, WSU entomologist, center, looks at Honeycrisp apples growing in a shade netting
field trial in Quincy, Wash., with WSU physiologist Lee Kalcsits, on Aug. 28.
bugs from peanuts to cotton.
Northfield returned to
Washington and in 2011 re-
ceived his doctorate from
WSU and a master’s degree
in statistics. He had a USDA
post-doctoral fellowship in
entomology and biological
control at the University of
Wisconsin and in 2013 took a
position at James Cook Uni-
versity in Cairns, Australia.
‘Fruit of the gods’
Cocao trees and beans,
from which chocolate is de-
rived, were cultivated in
Central and South America
as a “fruit of the gods,” long
before the Spanish arrival in
North America in 1492.
The beans grow inside
pods that look somewhat like
papaya, ranging in size from
a softball to a youth football.
Beans are harvested from the
pods or husks, and that waste
is seldom left in orchards.
But an Australia grower
wondered what would happen
if husks were left in orchards
and talked about it with a
student at James Cook Uni-
versity. The student came to
Northfield, who looked into
it and found just one study in
Africa showing cocoa husks
increasing pollinators but not
discussing yields.
Northfield began field tri-
als of letting husks rot at the
base of cocao trees in 2014. It
resulted in a proliferation of
midges, tiny flies that then in-
creased the pollination of co-
cao flowers 10-fold, doubling
and even tripling the yields of
cocao fruit.
“The original idea was that
of an Australian cocao grower.
So lesson learned was listen to
growers,” Northfield said.
The rotting husks also in-
creased lizards and spiders
that serve as natural predators
to insect pests, he said. And as
natural mulch, the husks add
to soil quality.
The study is continuing to
determine if substances other
than the husks can be used to
increase the midge popula-
tion.
Opportunity knocks
Northfield was planning to
stay in Australia but “couldn’t
pass up” the opportunity to
move closer to home when
an entomology position at
the Tree Fruit Research and
Extension Center was adver-
tised earlier this year. It was
the position once held by Jay
Brunner, former center direc-
tor, who retired in 2015.
Northfield applied, was
hired and moved his family
to Wenatchee in early August
and began work at the center
on Aug. 16. His wife, Kirsten,
also grew up in Cle Elum, and
they have a son, Micaiah, 3.
Northfield will work in
integrated pest manage-
ment of tree fruit pests. It’s
a long-practiced holistic ap-
proach that relies on benefi-
cial insects, predators’ habitat
changes and other eco-friend-
ly techniques to manage pests.
Tools also include selective
use of pesticides and biologi-
cal controls such as the mating
disruption of codling moth.
Northfield’s
statistics
background will be used in
improving WSU’s Decision
Aid System used by grow-
ers in the U.S. and Canada.
DAS uses current and histor-
ic weather data from WSU’s
AgWeatherNet to drive insect
and disease models to help
growers know when to com-
bat pests and diseases.
Northfield plans to learn
as much as he can from the
center’s more experienced en-
tomologists, Elizabeth Beers
and Vince Jones. He also will
Education: Graduated from
Enum Claw High School,
1999; bachelor’s degree in
biology, Pacific Lutheran
University, 2003; master’s
degree in entomology,
University of Florida, 2005;
master’s in statistics and
doctorate in entomology,
Washington State University,
2011.
Occupation: Assistant
professor of entomology,
Washington State University
Tree Fruit Research and Ex-
tension Center, Wenatchee.
Work History: Assistant
professor of entomology,
James Cook University,
Cairns, Australia, 2013 to
2018; USDA post-doctoral
fellowship, University of
Wisconsin, 2012.
learn from other professors,
consultants and growers.
“The size and shape of
trees, trellises, shade netting,
mulches — they all may in-
fluence pest or predator be-
havior,” Northfield said. “I’d
like to focus on system levels
management and how that
alters pest abundance. If you
focus on just one pest and ig-
nore others you may end up
with a whack-a-mole situa-
tion where you knock down
one and something else pops
up. We want to look at the
broader picture, which is not
easy to do.
“When you look at the ex-
perience at the center it’s pret-
ty amazing. I’m really thrilled
to be here.”
4-H dairy club a lifestyle for couple
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
ROSEBURG, Ore. —
Peggy and Alton Clark felt
very comfortable surround-
ed by dairy cows and calves
at the 2018 Douglas County
Fair in early August.
The dairy scene has
been part of the couple’s
life for many decades. They
have been co-leaders of the
Umpqua 4-H Dairy Club for
15 years and have been co-su-
perintendents of the dairy di-
vision at the county fair since
1982.
Peggy Clark, 75, cele-
brated her 65th year in dairy
and at the fair this year. As
a 10-year-old member of the
same club — Umpqua 4-H
Dairy Club — that she now
helps lead, Peggy showed
Daisy, a Jersey heifer, at the
1953 fair. Alton Clark has
been involved since the cou-
ple’s engagement following
their 1961 graduation from
Oakland High School.
“I think it was just the ex-
Craig Reed/Capital Press
Alton and Peggy Clark have been involved in 4-H and the dairy
division at the Douglas County, Ore., Fair for decades. Peggy Clark
showed a Jersey heifer 65 years ago when she was a 10-year-old
member of the Umpqua 4-H Dairy Club. The Clarks are long-time
leaders of that club and long-time superintendents of the dairy
division at the fair.
perience of 4-H that kept me
coming back,” said Peggy,
who was born and raised in
the Umpqua area 15 miles
northwest of Roseburg. “We
milked cows, my dad sold
cream to Umpqua Dairy (in
Roseburg) so dairy was an
obvious choice for me as a
project.
“I continued on with it be-
cause I enjoyed it so much as
a 4-H member,” she added.
“When I was too old for 4-H,
I didn’t want to be done.”
Peggy said she remembers
doing well with her dairy an-
imals at fair during her teen-
age years. One year, her fam-
ily brought 13 head — cows,
calves and a yearling — to
show at the fair.
“I remember being cham-
pion dairy showman,” she
said.
Delmar Murphy, Peggy’s
father, was both the dairy and
sheep superintendent at the
fair for many years. During
Peggy’s college years at Or-
egon College of Education
(now Western Oregon Uni-
versity) in Monmouth, she
was home during the summer
and helped her father with his
superintendent duties at the
fair.
Peggy graduated from
OCE in 1964 and then taught
for 34 years in the Sutherlin,
Ore., School District. Alton
was an insurance adjustor.
The couple helped Murphy at
the fair for years and became
the dairy superintendents
when he retired.
The Clarks live in the
Umpqua area on a donation
land claim that had been se-
cured by earlier family mem-
bers in 1851. They raise a few
dairy animals that are avail-
able for kids to care for and
to show or for kids who need
a last-minute replacement
to show because their own
animal has come down with
some issue.
“Kids learn a lot of re-
sponsibility when raising an
animal,” Peggy said. “They
learn how to handle them-
selves and their animal. They
learn to make good decisions.
“They have to learn to
keep records on the animals,
track the lineage, keep re-
ceipts for feed, the income off
calves sold and health records
that include vaccinations, any
diseases, dehorning…”
“Most of the kids are eager
to learn,” Alton said. “They
listen when it comes to learn-
ing how to take care of an an-
imal.”
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Index
Calendar
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
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mit an Event.” Calendar items can
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Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
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ment and supplies on display. Cost:
$19-$29 Website: www.pnwcta.org
goats. Details: https://bit.ly/2N5Ymxg
Eastern Idaho State Fair. Eastern
Idaho State Fairgrounds, 97 Park St.,
Blackfoot, Idaho. Website: https://fun
atthefair.com/
Oregon Farm Bureau Classic
Golf Tourney. 1 p.m. Stone Creek
Golf Club, 14603 S. Stoneridge
Drive, Oregon City, Ore. Contact: tif-
fany@oregonfb.org
Through Saturday
Sept. 8
Washington State Fair. 110 Ninth
Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Website:
www.thefair.com/
60th Annual Pacific Northwest
Christmas Tree Association Tree
Fair & Trade Show. Holiday Inn,
Portland Airport, 8439 NE Colum-
bia Blvd. Portland, Ore. The world’s
largest trade show in the Christmas
tree industry. Members have market
exposure at the Tree Fair and Trade
Show, where buyers and sellers
meet. It also features industry equip-
Capital Press
Through Sunday
Sept. 23
Tuesday, Sept. 11
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m.
OSU Southern Oregon Research &
Extension Center, Auditorium, 569
Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore.
The fourth session of a series on pro-
ducing and marketing grass-fed and
grass-finished meat animals. The
program covers cattle, sheep and
Tuesday, Sept. 18
Meat School 2018. 5:30-9 p.m.
OSU Southern Oregon Research &
Extension Center, Auditorium, 569
Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore.
The fifth session of a five-evening
class series on producing and mar-
keting grass-fed and grass-finished
meat animals. Details: https://bit.
ly/2N5Ymxg
Tuesday-Wednesday
Sept. 18-19
Safety and Health in the Can-
nabis Industry. Riverhouse, 3075 N.
Highway 97, Bend, Ore. Topics for
growers include OLCC requirements,
grow operations, extraction methods,
fire regulations, worker protection
and Oregon OSHA consultation ser-
vices. Website: osha.oregon.gov/
conferences
Saturday, Sept. 22
Hood River Hops Fest. Noon-8
p.m. Columbia Lot, Fifth and Co-
lumbia, Hood River, Ore. The Hood
River Hops Fest is an annual cele-
bration of beer’s bitter friend, freshly
harvested hops. Hood River County
is surrounded by world-renowned
hop growing regions, and since 2003
brewers have gathered each Sep-
tember in downtown Hood River to
share their fresh-hop beer creations.
The family-friendly event features
more than 50 breweries with more
than 60 fresh-hop beers, plus a va-
riety of food vendors, live music, and
an awesome collectible mug. Web-
site: http://hoodriver.org/hops-fest/
Saturday, Sept. 29
Oregon Ag in the Classroom Fall
Harvest Dinner and Auction. 5-9 p.m.
CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Oregon
State University. The silent auction
starts at 5 p.m., followed by dinner
featuring food produced by Oregon
farms and ranches. The oral auction
is at 7:45 p.m. All proceeds from the
dinner and auction will support the
Oregon Ag in the Classroom mission:
to help students grow in their knowl-
edge of agriculture, the environment,
and natural resources. Registration
due by Sept. 14. Website: https://or-
egonaitc.org/events/fall-harvest-din-
ner-2/
Dairy .................................... 15
Farm & Ranch Safety ........ 9-10
Livestock ............................. 15
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
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