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4 CapitalPress.com September 21, 2018 Solar developer challenges project denial Yamhill County facility would include 12 acres of solar panels By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A solar developer claims Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals should order Yamhill County to reconsider its rejec- tion of a solar facility on farm- land. Earlier this year, the county government denied a condi- tional use permit for the 12-acre solar panel array on land zoned for “exclusive farm use” near Yamhill, Ore. The developer, Yamhill Creek Solar, appeared before LUBA on Sept. 13 arguing the decision should be remanded to the county because the rejec- tion was based on speculative concerns that weren’t support- ed by sufficient evidence. Damien Hall, the compa- ny’s attorney, said the county’s decision demonstrated a “plain case of bias,” pointing to one commissioner’s remarks sup- porting stronger restrictions on solar facilities that were later adopted. The county also effectively required the solar development to have “zero impacts” from soil compaction, which is an excessively high standard that misinterprets Oregon’s land use law, Hall said. Pilings driven into the ground to support solar panels aren’t much different from the fence posts that are commonly seen throughout rural areas, he said. “They do not create com- paction in any way that’s un- farmable,” Hall said, noting that such a high threshold would effectively preclude so- lar facilities anywhere in Yam- Capital Press File Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals has been asked to reconsid- er Yamhill County’s denial of a 12-acre solar project on farmland. hill County. Opponents of the installa- tion have incorrectly indicated the project would “pave over” farmland when it would actu- ally be eventually decommis- sioned after 30 years, he said. “There are no impervious surfaces proposed beneath the panels,” Hall said. The developer argued that solar panels wouldn’t adversely affect surrounding farm uses, but the county nonetheless found the facility was a “char- acter-changing use” that would hinder the success of the wine industry, which relies on a pas- Heat, smoke not expected to diminish Oregon potato harvest Early season yields looking about average toral landscape. Not only is this interpreta- tion of state land use law overly broad, but the county had no evidence of wineries or agri- tourism in the project’s near vicinity, Hall said. “There is no agritourism.” Atticus Wine, an opponent of the project that intervened in the case, argued that Yamhill County properly supported the denial of the conditional use permit and wasn’t biased in its decision. The statement made by one commissioner about a proposed ordinance for solar facilities was simply a political sentiment that elected officials are allowed to express, said Jennifer Bragar, attorney for the intervenor. Bragar said findings that the project didn’t meet the stan- dards necessary for a condition- al use permit were well backed- up with evidence by the county. For example, the county wasn’t compelled to accept the developer’s plan for mitigating soil compaction and erosion as complying with its standards, she said. “There were open questions that were never responded to,” Bragar said. Driving pilings into the ground every few feet isn’t the same as a fenceline, and it’s unclear what the long-term im- pacts would be, she said. Yamhill County correctly interpreted land use criteria in deciding preserving farmland weighed stronger in this case than expanding renewable en- ergy production, particularly since there’s “plenty of other land” for development, she said. “The county didn’t ignore anything the petitioner brought up,” Bragar said. “There are many reasons to deny this ap- plication.” An opinion in the case is expected to be issued by LUBA by Oct. 3. USDA serves up second round of cranberry cuts By DON JENKINS Capital Press By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Capital Press File Potato harvest is underway across Oregon. Growers report the crop is in good shape despite a hot summer and smoke from wildfires. a good start with warm weath- er early in the spring. Crews began harvesting early season potatoes on July 10, and Myers said yields have generally been very good. Threemile Canyon Farms grows 9,000 acres of mostly conventional and some organic russets, all for local food pro- cessors. Myers said it is still too early to tell if triple-digit heat and smoke in July and August has impacted full season pota- toes. Harvest just began Sept. 12, and will likely run through Oct. 20-25. “Early season was very warm, and things looked pretty good,” Myers said. “Then sum- mer heat comes in like it does every year and knocks us back a little bit. ... We always know it’s going to get hot over the summer, and at periods we’re going to have smoke.” Brewer said he believes the smoke does have an effect on LEGAL SECRETARY OF STATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Oregon Department of Agriculture, Nursery, Christmas Tree, & Hemp Programs, Administrative Rules Chapter #603, Seán Fornelli, Rules Coordinator, (503) 986-4758. ADOPT: OAR 603-048-0125, 603-048-0150, 603- 048-0225, 603-048,0550, 603-048-0625, 603-048-1100, 603-048-1500; AMEND: OAR 603-048-0010, 603-048-0100, 603-048-0200, 603-048-300, 603-048-0400, 603-048-0600, 603-048-0650, 603-048-0700, 603-048-0700, 603-048-0800, 603-048-0900, 603-048-1000, 603-048-2305. RULE SUMMARY: The 2018 legislative assembly passed HB 4089(OL 2018, Ch. 116), which made substantial revisions to industrial hemp statutes, ORS 571.300 to ORS 571.348. It is necessary for the Oregon Department of Agriculture (department) to adopt permanent rules to revise the rules to align the regulatory scheme with HB 4089 revisions. Some of the changes in HB 4089 that make it necessary for the department to revise its rules include: The direction for the department to administer the hemp program for the purpose of carrying studying the growth, cultivation and marketing of industrial hemp in the state; Explicit authority to charge a fee for pre- harvest testing; Permission for registrants to transfer industrial hemp and industrial hemp products and commodities to Oregon Liquor Control (OLCC) licensees under certain circumstances; Expansion of the requirement for testing of commodities and products prior to transfer; The requirement that industrial hemp products containing more than 0.3% THC may only be sold by an OLCC-licensed retailer; Expanded authority for the department to adopt rules establishing public health and safety standards and industry best practices. The department proposes to adopt these rules to address HB 4089’s changes to the hemp program and to otherwise clarify existing rules. To summarize, the proposed permanent rules; Add definitions of grow site, handling site, harvest lot identifier, hemp item, OLCC, process lot, produce, production area, and process lot identifier; Clarify when an individual must be registered, who a registration applies to, and when a new application is required due to change in business structure; Require that products containing more than 0.3% THC may only be sold through the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC)’s marijuana regulatory system; Clarify who a registrant may transfer or sell industrial hemp to within the state; Restructure the grower registration application process and fees; Restructure handler registration application processes and fees and adds the option for registration by reciprocity for OLCC-licensed processors certified to process industrial hemp; Add requirements for registrants to report certain information to the department for research purposes; Clarify requirements for agricultural hemp seed producer registrations to match that of growers and handlers and increases fee; Clarify and update recordkeeping and reporting requirements including provisions to better identify harvest and production lots; Add requirements for transportation of industrial hemp; Require that when a grower uses a private labs for pre-harvest THC testing, that the laboratory first attended department-provided training; Add the option to remediate through resampling if a harvest lot fails pre-harvest testing; Revise sampling procedures for pre-harvest THC testing; Establish a fee for submission of change form; Adopt a fee for department-provided pre-harvest THC testing; Clarify circumstances when the department may detain, seize, embargo, and dispose of industrial hemp or industrial hemp products and commodities; Restructure and classify violations for purposes of imposing civil penalties; Require that registrants also certified or licensed by OLCC comply with applicable OLCC rules; Identify requirements for individuals making retail sales of industrial hemp in Oregon; and Clarify purpose of testing rules. Hearing date: September 25, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Location: Hearings Room, Oregon Department of Agriculture, 635 Capitol St NE, Salem, OR. Last day for public comment is October 5, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. 38-4/999 potato production, blocking sunlight needed by the plants and possibly altering taste, but more research is needed to back up anecdotal evidence. Dan Chin, who runs Chin Family Farms Organic outside Merrill in the Klamath Basin, said they were socked in by smoke from wildfires raging in southern Oregon and northern California for a solid month and a half. “A lot of times, you couldn’t see more than a couple of miles, or a mile,” Chin said. “It was pretty intense.” However, Chin theorizes the smoke actually helped his pota- toes this year by lowering the heat and causing the plants to put more energy into the tubers. He started harvesting Sept. 12, and said both size and quality are looking good. “Just looking at it last year and this year, we’re seeing a little trend that the smoke didn’t really hurt our sizing and yield as much as we thought it might,” Chin said. “As far as our crop is concerned, we’re pretty happy with it.” That being said, Chin said they definitely do not want smoke every year, which makes it harder for employees to work outside. Mark Ward, chairman of the Oregon Potato Commission, farms 160 acres of potatoes on the north edge of Baker City. He is targeting Sept. 24 to begin harvest, and like others, expects to see solid yields. Ward exclusively supplies potatoes to Simplot for making french fries. He said this sum- mer’s heat, including five days of triple-digit temperatures, may increase the likelihood of sugar ends, a defect in pota- toes that results in unappealing brown ends. “We won’t know that un- til we deliver some potatoes,” Ward said. “If you were man- aging your water properly, you should be OK.” The Baker Valley also ex- perienced 10 days of smoke so thick the surrounding Elkhorn Mountains couldn’t be seen, Ward said, which may affect potato yields, though he does not see it being a tremendous problem. “Just what I’ve seen doing our little hand-digs, they look good,” Ward said. Don Jenkins/Capital Press Cranberries tumble into bins during harvest on the Long Beach Peninsula of south- west Washington. The USDA ordered handlers Sept. 12 to withhold 25 percent of this year’s crop to stabilize prices. Handlers will be able to meet half their obligation by diverting juice concentrate instead of fresh cranber- ries. Juice concentrate is a byproduct of making dried cranberries. Cranberries can be divert- ed to charities and for animal feed, as well as to foreign markets, except Canada. The 2017 withholding di- verted 729 barrels, or about 9 percent of the harvest, ac- cording figures presented last month by the Cranberry Mar- keting Committee. The order exempted about 35 percent of the crop. The order also does not apply to cranberries imported into the U.S. The industry continues to have a large surplus, and USDA forecasts this year’s crop will be larger than last year’s. The cranberry industry also faces recently imposed tariffs by China, Canada, the European Union and Mex- ico. The tariffs are part of broader disputes between the U.S. and trading part- ners. Oneonta Starr Ranch more than doubles organic apples By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WENATCHEE, Wash. — Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, of Wenatchee, is more than doubling its offerings of or- ganic apples this season with the addition of Apple King to its program and more fruit from Gilbert Orchards, both of Yakima. Oneonta Starr Ranch will LEGAL CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE 2680 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97301 (503) 399-7454 AUCTION SAT., OCTOBER 6, 2018 at 10 A.M. Unit AS-26 Jamie Zepeda Unit 189 Kevin Krantz Unit 78 Sam Tablanza Unit AS-54 Jesus Silva Unit AS-80 Anna Arosla Unit AS-101 Jessica Snegirev Unit 124 Cynthia Mendoza Unit 134 Mercedes Perez- Sandoval Unit 162 Erik Vincent Unit AS-68 Stephani Steeley Unit AS-11 Kevin Keller CherryAvenue Storage reserves the right to refuse any and all bids. 38-2-3/999 increase from about 600,000, 40-pound boxes of organic ap- ples last season to 1.5 million boxes this season, said Dan Davis, the company’s import and organic manager. “It not only increases our volume but our flexibility be- cause we now have two ded- icated organic lines packing apples every day, Apple King’s and Gilbert’s,” Davis said. “We can do multiple varieties on the same day or increased volume of one on the same day to meet retail needs more quickly.” Oneonta Starr Ranch’s or- ganic apple manifest by order of volume is now Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Granny Smith, he said. “We’ve only transitioned LEGAL OREGON TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING (OTAC) WHEN: October 18, 2018 @12:30pm-4:00pm WHERE: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 4034 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE Salem, OR 97310 For more information, or to arrange special accommoda- tions for meeting attendees, please contact Julie MacSwain at 503-414-3250 or julie.macswain@or.usda.gov. 38-4/999 our best blocks to organic and so our volume consists of the best varietal makeup of the most current strains,” he said. The 107-year-old Apple King is headquartered in Yaki- ma with conventional packing in Gleed and organic packing in Union Gap. It has had an “excellent relationship” mar- keting its organics with the Chilean company, Viva Tierra, but with production increasing decided it was time to switch, said Ray Keller, Apple King general manager. Davis said he’s known Ap- ple King for 20 years and did business with it last year. Apple King’s conventional fruit will still be marketed by L&M Northwest, based in Ra- leigh, N.C. Apple King joined with Oneonta Starr Ranch in June, Davis said. The agreement is for all of Apple King’s organic fruit but it just has apples right now, Keller said. Gilbert Orchards was in organics “before organics was defined,” Davis said, and pro- vided Oneonta Starr Ranch with its first organic cherries this year. While the gap in profit mar- gins between organic and con- ventional has been narrowing as organics increase in volume, organics “are still a premium above conventional and allows us to craft a more hearty retail program with all our retailers,” Davis said. With consumer demand for organics still climbing, One- onta Starr Ranch has become more proactive in finding ways to highlight the product. LEGAL LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 10/1/2018. The sale will be held at 10:00am by COPART OF WASHINGTON INC 2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR 2015 HYUNDAI TRLR VIN = 3H3V532C4FT658063 Amount due on lien $2,295.00 Reputed owner(s) NEW LEGEND INC 38-2-3/999 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 10/04/2018. The sale will be held at 10:00am by MARK DOWN 1915 COMMERCIAL SE SALEM, OR 2008 GMC YUKON UT VIN=1GKFK66878J174355 Amount due on lien = $4,255.00 Reputed owner(s) Luis Alberto Gonzalez Rodriguez Westlake Financial Services 38-2-3/999 Months of intense heat and smoky skies are not expected to diminish Oregon’s potato crop, with farmers across the state predicting average to above-av- erage yields heading into the bulk of harvest. Bill Brewer, CEO of the Or- egon Potato Commission, said the overall impact of wildfire smoke is yet to be determined in spuds, but he has not heard of any major setbacks or problems with quality. Hot weather can be hard on certain potato varieties, such as Russet Burbank — the gold standard for french fries — though in general, Brewer said he anticipates a roughly aver- age harvest statewide and good quality potatoes. “The higher heat during the summertime has been a bit of an issue, only on select varieties,” Brewer said. “So far, I have not heard any other negatives about other growing conditions.” About 70 percent of Ore- gon potatoes are grown in the Columbia Basin around Herm- iston and Boardman. Potatoes ranked as the seventh most valuable agricultural commodi- ty in the state in 2017, raking in $176.9 million. Marty Myers, general man- ager of Threemile Canyon Farms near Boardman, said the growing season got off to The USDA has ordered a second cut in cranberry production, directing larger handlers to withhold 25 per- cent of the fruit they receive this year. The volume-control mea- sure, finalized last week, was requested by the cranberry industry to stabilize prices. The USDA previously or- dered 15 percent of the 2017 crop be diverted from the market. A cranberry surplus has swelled over the past sever- al years as U.S. and foreign production increased while demand has been flat. With inventories surpassing annu- al sales, returns for the 2016 crop fell below the cost of production for many farmers, according to USDA. The order will apply to 65 handlers who receive cranberries from some 1,100 growers in Oregon, Wash- ington, Connecticut, Mas- sachusetts, Michigan, Min- nesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Long Island in New York. Wisconsin, Massachu- setts and New Jersey are the top three cranberry-produc- ing states, followed by Ore- gon and Washington. The marketing orders for the 2017 and 2018 crops do not apply to some cranber- ries. Handlers who take in fewer than 125,000 barrels are exempt from the with- holding requirement, as are handlers who do not have any carryover fruit. A barrel equals 100 pounds. Organic cranberries also are exempt from the order.
