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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.