Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2018)
November 23, 2018 CapitalPress.com 7 Northwest pear crop prices are good, but sales are slow By DAN WHEAT Capital Press Dan Wheat/Capital Press Esperanza Sanchez boxes Bartlett pears at Blue Star Growers Inc., in Cashmere, Wash., on Nov. 2. The 2018 Northwest pear crop is near record volume. Prices are good. Sales are slow. WENATCHEE, Wash. — August through October pear harvest is over and now the Pacific Northwest pear in- dustry is about three months into packing and shipping a near-record crop of 20.4 mil- lion, 44-pound boxes. The crop is 29 percent larger than a year ago and 5.5 percent behind the re- cord 21.6-million-box crop of 2013. “Prices are good compared to last year while movement is not,” said Brian Focht, manager of the Washing- ton and Mid-Columbia Pear Marketing Associations, in Wenatchee. The Nov. 2 averages of industry asking prices, in Wenatchee and Yakima, were $23 to $28.90 per box for size 70s and 80s of U.S. No. 1 Bartlett and $22 to $26.90 for 90s, according to USDA. The price for d’ Anjou U.S. No. 1 was $24 to $30.90 for 70s and 80s and $24 to $28.90 for 90s. Bosc U.S. No. 1 was $26 to $30.90 for 70s and 80s and $24 to $28.90 for 90s. “Movement started out slower than we would like but has been picking up,” said Kevin Moffitt, president of The Pear Bureau Northwest in Portland. As of Nov. 2, 20.6 percent of the crop had been shipped versus 25.7 percent a year ear- lier with a much smaller crop, Moffitt said. Movement has been slow because California, always in the market before Washington and Oregon, had a large crop with slow movement causing retailers to take their time switching over to buy North- west Bartlett, Moffitt said. California had 2.75 mil- lion, 36-pound boxes of pears versus 3 million a year ago, he said. Warm weather in the Midwest, New England and Canada slowed fall pear sales and a lot of grapes and sum- mer fruit stayed in the market longer, Moffitt said. The table grape crop was huge and that delayed up front sales displays of pears in gro- cery stores, Focht said. This year’s d’Anjou pear crop in the Wenatchee Valley was larger, which contrib- uted to it being better quali- ty than recent seasons, said Greg Rains, horticulturalist for Blue Star Growers Inc., in Cashmere. $5.3M awarded to 7 Oregon water projects; decision on 8th delayed By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Seven Oregon water infrastruc- ture projects have won $5.3 million in grant funding from the Oregon Water Resources Commission, which postponed deciding on an eighth project until next year. Most of the projects focus on im- proving water conveyance systems, such as replacing open canals with pipes, as well as improving the func- tion of water storage and diversion structures. One of the grant proposals that state water regulators recommended for approval — $1 million for re- placing a municipal pipeline in The Dalles — will be reconsidered by the commission in 2019 due to ob- jections from tribes and an environ- mental group. The commission also turned down 11 grant proposals for nearly $10 million at the recommendation of the Oregon Water Resources De- partment. The decisions were made during the commission’s final meet- ing of 2018, held Nov. 15-16 in Sa- lem, Ore. A portion of one of the rejected proposals — drilling two deep water supply wells in Mosier, Ore. — did win funding under a previous grant cycle, but the remaining phase did not rank high enough under a scoring system intended to measure social, environmental and economic value. Money from the previous water supply development grant proved in- sufficient to drill both Mosier wells, so a farmer and local soil and wa- ter conservation district asked for $670,000 in funding to complete the second well. Members of the commission dis- cussed the project’s value to learning more about Columbia Basin basalt aquifers, but decided to allow sup- porters to re-apply with more infor- mation during a future grant cycle. Tom Byler, OWRD’s director, noted that Oregon’s water supply de- velopment grant program is relative- ly new, and more established grant programs also wrestle with tough decisions. “We have a lot to learn,” Byler said. Following are descriptions of the projects that did win funding: • Conversion of 300 acres in Wal- lowa County from flood irrigation to a center pivot irrigation system, with the conserved water dedicated to in-stream flows that will benefit federally protected fish. The grant will pay for about $600,000 of the project’s total cost of $800,000. • Replacing 6 miles of open ca- nals and aging pipe used by the Dee Irrigation District in Hood River County with a new pipeline, with the conserved water dedicated to in- stream flows. The grant will pay for $1.6 million of the total project cost of $2.7 million. • Installing 6 miles of pipe to re- place an open canal used by the Tum- alo Irrigation District in Deschutes County, with conserved water to be dedicated to in-stream flows. The grant will pay for $1.3 million of the total $6.7 million project cost. • Raising the capacity of the Paint- ed Hills reservoir in Wheeler County from 800 acre-feet to 1,300 acre- feet, along with upgraded irrigation equipment that will conserve water, contributing to in-stream flows. The grant will pay for $580,000 of the project’s total $1 million price tag. • Storing and treating stormwater from Beaverton, Ore., with the water then recharging an aquifer through an existing well. The grant will pay for $860,000 of the project’s total $1.15 million cost. • Replacing equipment and mov- ing the point of diversion for irriga- tion water from Galls Creek in Jack- son County, restoring fish habitat due to dam removal and conserving wa- ter through improved efficiency. The grant will pay for roughly $150,000 of the $200,000 cost. • Excavating the Pinchot reser- voir in Grant County to return it to full storage capacity. As part of the project, converting the irrigation sys- tem from wheel lines to a center piv- ot is expected to conserve water, and a new delivery headgate will include a fish screen. The $200,000 grant will pay for half the project’s cost. Seed cooperative grows in regional niche By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press The Snake River Seed Co- operative is bigger than its compact spread in a northwest Boise neighborhood might in- dicate. Founder Casey O’Leary likes it that way. “A lot of people are be- coming interested in where their seeds come from,” she said. A growing contingent also wants to learn about sav- ing seeds, the subject of an instructional booklet Snake River sells. The seed cooperative, now in its fifth year, is adding to its grower base while increasing the number of seed varieties it has available. The volume of sales to end-user customers also is rising. As the world’s seed indus- try consolidates, “more peo- ple are waking up to the idea that it is scary to have your food security in the hands of a handful of corporations,” O’Leary said. “So the de- mand for ‘seeds with a face’ — produced in your area by someone you trust — is in- creasing.” More people are garden- ing, including a rising per- centage in the millennial gen- eration, which bodes well for continued solid demand, she said. Operations Manager Rei- ley Ney said Snake River of- fers around 320 varieties. “It seems like we add about Brad Carlson/Capital Press Snake River Seed Cooperative Operations Manager Reiley Ney, left, packs seed in the northwest Boise shop as founder Casey O’Leary takes in seed from a new grower. Online https://www.snakeriverseeds. com/ 30 every year,” she said. O’Leary said 36 family farmers produced seed for Snake River this year, up from 29 a year earlier. The cooperative’s farm- er-suppliers produce a wide variety of seeds in and for the Intermountain West — from sugar snap peas and zucchini to carrots, Zinnia flowers and various heirloom seeds. They use organic practices to grow seeds for mostly home gar- deners and small-scale farm- ers in the region. Cooperative-member suppliers range from home gardeners to larger farms, O’Leary said. Some are com- mercial growers of pea and bean seed. All must use or- ganic practices under the co- operative’s rules. End-user customers, in- cluding those selling at farm- ers’ markets, range from home gardeners to growers who oc- cupy several acres. They use low-input approaches and want locally adapted, non-ge- netically-modified seeds that produce a good crop and good seed for replanting, she said. “When you save a seed in a certain place, it becomes more adapted, year after year, to that place,” O’Leary said. Because Snake River’s seeds were started in the re- gion, they tend to grow bet- ter and with less care in its arid environment compared to seeds that originated else- where, she said. Strong Since 1959 Trusted Manufacturing Diverse Bag Capabilities 1-800-456-7878 www.justusbag.com • SPOKANE PLANT & HEADQUARTERS 11205 E. Trent Ave. Spokane Valley, WA 99206 - 4630 darin@justusbag.com 509-924-8353 • PORTLAND PLANT 2734 N. Hayden Island Dr. Portland, OR 97217 ctoombs@justusbag.com 503-287-3885 • MOSES LAKE BRANCHES 417 E. Broadway, Suite 1 Moses Lake, WA 98837 johnlvk@justusbag.com 509-750-2900 223 Linden Ave. East Moses Lake, WA 98837 adam@justusbag.com 509-765-2872 WHEN IN NEED OF BAGS, ” CALL “ Polypropylene Bags Polypropylene Bulk Bags Burlap Bag Multiwall Paper/Paper Poly Flexible Packaging | BOPP Bags Onion/Potato Mesh Bags Pallet Netting Stretch Wrap | Sewing Twine Bagging Supplies 45-13-3/104 47-1/100
