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2 CapitalPress.com Friday, September 13, 2019 People & Places Sensors ‘sniff’ plant diseases By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press PULLMAN, Wash. — If potato farmers worry about storage losses, they might want to call “Rotbusters.” That’s the name Sind- huja Sankaran uses to explain her work using sensors to detect storage diseases like pythium and soft rot at early stages, even before their symp- toms become visible. Sankaran is an associ- ate professor in the Wash- ington State University Department of Biological Systems Engineering. She says the sensors “sniff” differences in pota- toes that a disease emits. For example, a farmer might use a portable sensor to scan different areas of his potato storage. If the sen- sor detects a certain marker compound produced by rot or another disease, it trig- gers an alarm. That allows farmers to address the prob- lem before it grows. The stakes are large. Every year storage diseases can damage up to 6% of the potato crop, according to WSU researchers. The sniffer system can be used in manual or auto- matic mode. Sankaran is now looking for processors to field-test the sensors. As part of the project, Sankaran plans to inoculate potatoes in a storage facility to determine how sensitive the sensor is. “The goal is a threshold much less than our human nose,” she said. “Maybe if we can know early enough, we can stop the spread of the infection.” The special olfactory sensors can “sniff” differ- ences more quantitatively, EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER Established 1928 Board of Directors Western Innovator SINDHUJA SANKARAN Age: 39 Born: Kumbakonam, India. Raised: Nagpur and Chennai, India. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Sindhuja Sankaran, a Washington State University researcher, talks about her work using sensors to “sniff” differences in plants July 22 in her lab. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Sindhuja Sankaran, an associate professor in agricultural automation engineering at Washington State University, second from left, stands with her team of agricultural automation engineering graduate students. For left are Worasit Sangjan; Sankaran; Afef Marzougi; Changyuan Zhang and Milton Valencia. enabling farmers to make early decisions on how to handle the problem. Sankaran also uses the sensors to help measure qualities not visible to the human eye, such as disease resistance. Her team stud- ies whether a potato releases certain compounds as a way to determine its disease resistance. Sankaran and her stu- dents are incorporating the sensor systems to create reli- able applications that will help farmers monitor their crops and storage facilities. “Any sensor can give you a bunch of numbers,” she said. “We just want to make sure the numbers make sense and provide some useful information that can assist in our decisions.” Sankaran’s research also includes potato nematode damage. Use of such technology is becoming more common, Sankaran said. She joined WSU in June 2013. The position at WSU was one of the first in phe- nomics, the study of the interaction of genes and the environment. Sankaran said she was excited about the wide diver- sity of crops in the state. She works on wheat, legumes, tree fruits, grapes, potatoes, onions and forage crops. Sankaran also wants to adapt existing tools to help growers, said Mark Pavek, WSU potato specialist. Sankaran’s work is “the next step in a lot of things that we do,” Pavek said. “Once the tools are avail- Current location: Pull- man, Wash. Title: Associate professor Education: Bachelor’s degree in zoology, University of Madras; master’s degree in environmental science, Anna University; master’s degree in environmen- tal engineering, Iowa State University; Ph.D. in agricultural and biosys- tems engineering, North Dakota State University. LAKEVIEW, Ore. — It’s back to normal in Lakeview after a weekend of capacity crowds at the Lake County Round-Up and Fair. Record crowds attended the rodeo, destruction derby and concert while streams of people with Lakeview con- nections gathered for fam- ily reunions and lined down- town streets for Monday morning’s parade that fea- tured more than 100 horses, most of them carrying past and present Lake County Round-Up Royalty. The occasion for the cele- brating was the 100th annual Lake County Round-Up. While most communi- ties throughout the Pacific Northwest have hosted rodeos, Lakeview’s two-day Round-Up on Sept. 1-2 was the 100th consecutive. Despite some ups and downs over the years, Lakeview, a town of about 2,300 people and Lake County with less than 8,000 people, have been able to keep the rodeo going. The Labor Day Weekend’s rodeo and fair were no exception. “It was a win-win deal,” said John Flynn, a third gen- eration Lake County rancher who is a past parade grand marshal and past president of the Round-Up Associa- tion. “The attendance for all Lee Juillerat/For the Capital Press Queens and princesses from the 1950s rode aboard a horse-driven float in the Sept. 2 parade marking the centennial of the Lake County, Ore., Round-Up. the activities was fantastic.” As usual, crowds lined downtown Lakeview streets to cheer on parade entrants, including more than a hun- dred former Round-Up Queens and Princesses and a cavalcade of past Round-Up presidents and grand mar- shals. Some families rode on floats. Young kids trav- eled the parade route on small horses while queens and princesses from Grant, Harney and other rodeos rode horseback with sad- dles laden with bouquets of flowers. “That was the larg- est crowd I’ve ever seen,” Flynn said of the numbers of people he passed who were watching the parade. “They were wall-to-wall.” Among those riding in the parade, and visible all weekend, were this year’s Round-Up royalty, Queen Alena Vickerman and Prin- cess Rebecca Warner. Both have deep family ties. Vick- erman’s sister, Mattee, was the queen in 2015 and 2016, and her grandmother Teresa was a princess in 1964. War- ner also has a family history. Her aunt Kristy Reese was the 1984 Queen while her cousin Ashley Reese was the 2012 Queen. Uniquely, there was no grand marshal for the 100th celebration. As Flynn explained, no one was selected, “Because we felt nobody should get the notoriety. We’re all in this together.” Past and present pres- idents, grand marshals and queens and princesses were among those filling the grandstands at the Lake County Fairgrounds for the 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Hollinshead Barn, 1235 NE Jones Road, Bend, Ore. Restore Oregon will host its annual 2019 Heritage Barn Work- shop, where barn owners will learn practical solutions from experts on how to maintain, rehabilitate, and adapt old barns for today’s needs. Attendees will learn about the his- tory and construction of barns as well as maintenance, stabilization, funding opportunities and preser- vation. Cost includes snacks, lunch with choice of sandwich and side, and beverages. $40 www.restoreo- regon.org shop focusing on safety and health for the cannabis industry. Deschutes County Farm Bureau, the Oregon Farm Bureau Health & Safety Committee, in part- nership with Oregon’s Occupa- tional Safety & Health Division, will present. http://bit.ly/2jVhoKe 503-947-7411 Spokane County Interstate Fair: Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St., Spo- kane, Wash. Spokane County, Wash., invites people from around the region to celebrate. https:// www.spokanecounty.org/1077/ General-Information THROUGH SEPT. 22 Washington State Fair: Wash- ington State Fairgrounds, 110 9th Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Washing- ton’s statewide celebration opens at 9:30 a.m. on weekends and 10:30 a.m. on weekdays. It will be closed Sept. 3-4, 10 and 17. www. thefair.com SATURDAY, SEPT. 14 Heritage Barn Workshop: MONDAY, SEPT. 16 Cannabis Safety Workshop: Riverhouse on the Deschutes, 3075 N. Business 97, Bend, Ore. Cannabis growers, extractors and processors are invited to a work- MONDAY, SEPT. 23 Fall Cover Crop Workshop: 6-7:30 p.m. Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center, 569 Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore. In this class, we will discuss the bene- fits of using fall-planted cover crops, learn about the species and mix- tures well suited to southern Ore- gon, and detail the process of grow- ing and managing cover crops for multiple benefits to your farm{/ span}. $10 per person http://bit.ly/ Pastries and coffee provided. http:// www.aglink.org Oregon Aglink Open House: 9 a.m.-noon. Oregon Aglink’s new office, 2195 Hyacinth St. NE, No. 105, Salem, Ore. Join the staff and members of Oregon Aglink at the organization’s new Salem office. Joe Beach ..................... Editor & Publisher Kevin Blodgett ........... Advertising Director Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor Jessica Boone ............ Production Manager Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2019 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 2870 Broadway NE, Salem OR 97303. To Reach Us able, people will say, ‘What did we do without it?’” he said. “Any tools that give a grower more information so they can help market their product is going to be very useful.” Sankaran loves apply- ing the things she learns to what’s needed by farmers. “Farming is a lot of hard work,” she said. “If we can use technology to make it more efficient, why not?” JacksonExtAgriculture THURSDAY, SEPT. 26 Capital Press Managers POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. Janson, who ignited the audi- ence — some seated in the stands and others crowded and standing in front of the stage — for more than hour with music, including his hit singles. Different sounds, those of cars colliding, were heard Sunday night at the annual Destruction Derby, in front of an overflow audience. The extended week- end, which officially began Thursday with a series of 4-H and FFA exhib- its, judging, other activi- ties and Saturday’s 4-H- FFA Fat Stock Sale, also included exhibit building displays, a ranch rodeo, food stands, vendors, 100th anniversary merchandise, and book sales. The car- nival offered a variety of rides and activities, includ- ing bumper cars, a super slide, children’s games, balloon creations to a tradi- tional Ferris wheel. “I think for the most part everything went super- smooth,” said Lake County Fairgrounds Manager Ronne Lindsay, adding, “We have to have at least one broken pipe in the grandstands bath- room or it isn’t a fair.” Lind- say had no figures yet on attendance, but said the food concessions all reported increases in sales. “I know when the figures are in we’ll see a significant increase in attendance.” Public Lands Council Annual Meeting: Great Falls Civic Center, 2 Park Drive S, Great Falls, Mont. The agenda includes federal agency updates, an Endangered Species Act panel discussion, a public lands ranching panel discussion, a PLC business meeting and a predator tour. http://publiclandscouncil.org Rick Hansen Chief Financial Officer Website: https://labs. wsu.edu/sankaran-phe- nomics/ Sunday and Monday rodeos. Both days, Jere Barry, a former grand marshal and Round-Up president, was honored during the Empty Saddle presentation. Barry, 84, died in March. The Empty Saddle ceremony has been held the past 30 years to remember people who have been highly involved with the Round-Up. As in past years, a horse with a sad- dle but no rider was escorted in front of the grandstands while Barry’s accomplish- ments were read over the loud speaker to the hushed crowd. The grandstands were loud for both days of the rodeo, with Sunday’s atten- dance a record 2,365. PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cow- boys Association) cowboys competed for prize money and a chance at qualifying for the PRCA finals in Las Vegas later this year. Events includes saddle bronc rid- ing, bull riding, steer wres- tling, tie down roping, team roping and bareback rid- ing while local cowboys and cowgirls from South- ern Oregon and far Northern California competed in var- ious events, including calf riding, goat tying, barrel rac- ing, and men’s and women’s team roping. The grandstands were also packed for Saturday night’s dynamic concert fea- turing country singer Chris WEDNESDAY- SATURDAY SEPT. 25-28 Heidi Wright Chief Operating Officer Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. CALENDAR THROUGH SEPT. 15 Corporate Officers Family: Husband Lav Khot; son Madhav, 8; daughter Mukta, 3. Rodeo’s 100th celebration draws record crowds By LEE JUILLERAT For the Capital Press Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Harrison Forrester Mike Omeg Cory Bollinger Jeff Rogers SATURDAY, SEPT. 28 Goat Education Day: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Auditorium, Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center (SOREC), 429- 569 Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore. Adults $35, Youths (18 and younger) $20 http://bit.ly/ JacksonGoatEdDay2019 Sauvie Island Jubilee: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Howell Territorial Park, 13901 NW Howell Park Road, Portland, Ore. The event is free and open to all. Celebrate Sauvie Island history and culture, and the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conser- vation District’s 75th anniversary. It will be a fun-filled day of activities for all ages. https://www.sauvieis- landjubilee.org/main Circulation ...........................800-781-3214 Email ........... 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