EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, July 31, 2020
Volume 93, Number 31
CapitalPress.com
$2.00
Oregon’s blueberry boom
Millions
of pounds
Processed market production
Millions
of pounds
2009-2019
150
80
Total pounds
harvested
2009-2019
Millions
of pounds
15
On-farm
sales
2009-2019
10
60
100
5
40
50
‘09
‘09
‘10
‘11
‘12
‘13
‘14
‘16
‘15
‘17
‘18
‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16
‘19
‘17 ‘18
‘10
‘11
‘12
‘13
‘14
‘19
‘15
‘16
‘17
‘18
‘19
Capital Press graphic
Bernadine Strik/OSU
Workers pick organic Liberty blueberries, a late-season variety, as part of a trial at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center. The station has
the world’s only certified organic blueberry research planting.
Worldwide growth creates
challenges for NW producers
swooped them to the upper deck and into plas-
tic crates.
From there, the crates were loaded into refrig-
erated trucks and driven from the farm north of
LBANY, Ore. — On a season-
ably warm July afternoon
Albany, Ore., to a packing shed east of
in the fertile Willamette
Portland.
Valley, Doug Krahmer
Krahmer popped a berry in his
stood between rows of
mouth, reflecting on what he said has
organic blueberries and watched as
been a fairly decent growing season.
a large mechanical harvester rolled
“Weather-wise, it’s been OK,”
slowly through the field, rattling
said Krahmer, president of Berries
bushes heavy with ripe fruit.
Northwest. “It’s getting hot now,
Measuring a little more than 15
but we’re past that critical point.”
feet tall, 11 feet wide and weigh- George Plaven/Capital Press
Twenty years ago, blueberries
ing 7 tons, the harvester seemingly Ripe organic blueber- were a niche crop in Oregon and
floated in the distance over neat ries ready to harvest.
along the West Coast. Most U.S.
rows while fiberglass rods, or “fin-
gers,” shook the berries onto a conveyor belt that
See Blueberries, Page 9
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
A
George Plaven/Capital Press
Doug Krahmer, president of Berries
Northwest, walks between rows of
organic blueberries during harvest
at a farm near Albany, Ore. Berries
Northwest grows both conventional
and organic blueberries for the fresh
and processed markets.
George Plaven/Capital Press
An over-the-row mechanical
blueberry harvester in action at
Berries Northwest, north of Al-
bany, Ore. Machine harvesting is
one way to save on rising labor
costs, but may not be right for all
varieties and markets, industry
experts say.
USDA details beef/cattle price spread
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
REPORT ONLINE
USDA this week released a
detailed report on its investigation
into the record gap that developed
between beef and cattle prices
related to the August 2019 fire at
a Kansas packing plant and the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Cattle producers across the
The report is available at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/reports/boxed-
beef-and-fed-cattle-price-spread-investigation-report
country have called for an inves-
tigation by USDA and the Depart-
ment of Justice to determine
whether meatpackers took advan-
tage of the situation through
price manipulation or other unfair
practices.
The report, however, does not
examine potential violations but
summarizes the market conditions,
fed cattle prices, boxed beef values
and the price spread caused by the
two events.
The investigation into poten-
tial violations is continuing, and
USDA is engaged with DOJ
regarding allegations of anticom-
petitive practices, the agency said.
“Findings thus far do not pre-
clude the possibility that individual
entities or groups of entities vio-
lated the Packers and Stockyards
Act,” USDA stated in the report.
The report outlines the market
reactions to the fire at the process-
ing plant and COVID-19’s signif-
icant disruptions to markets and
beef processing:
• On Aug. 9, 2019, a fire at
Tyson’s plant in Holcomb, Kan.,
See Price, Page 9
State officials warn about mysterious seed packets from China
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Agriculture departments in at
least 27 states are warning residents
to report any unsolicited packages of
seeds that arrive in the mail appearing
to come from China.
The packages, officials warn, might
contain invasive plant seeds, insect
species or pathogens, some of which
may be invisible to the naked eye.
Officials in Washington state, Vir-
ginia, Kansas and Louisiana have issued
statements during the past few days about
residents receiving in the mail packages
of seeds that they did not order.
According to local news reports,
residents in Utah, Arizona and Ohio
have also received seeds. Chanel
Tewalt, spokeswoman for the Idaho
State Department of Agriculture, told
the Capital Press Monday the agency
has also received about 20 reports
from Idahoans who received seeds.
“Please, do not open the seed
packet,” Chris McGann, spokesman
for the Washington State Department
of Agriculture asked the Capital Press
to tell readers. “It may contain insect
pests or pathogens. These things could
be inside any type of seed, and since
they entered the United States with-
out agricultural inspection, they pose
a higher risk.”
In a statement, WSDA warned the
seeds could introduce disease to local
plants or harm livestock. Research-
ers warn the packages, if opened, may
pose a risk to agricultural industries
and the environment.
Photographs from WSDA show
the seeds appear to have been mailed
in white pouches marked on the out-
side with Chinese lettering and the
words “China Post.” But Monday, the
WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE SEEDS
What Washington residents should do
Here is what Washington State residents who receive unsolicited interna-
tional seed packages in the mail should do:
• Do not open the seed packets or plant
the seeds.
• Double bag the seeds (for example,
leave in the seed packet they came in
and also put inside a sealed zip-lock bag)
and put them in the regular trash. Don’t
put them in a compost or recycling bin.
• If you already planted the seeds, please
pull up the plants, double bag them and
put them in the trash (not compost) bin.
Anyone outside of Washington State
who receives an unsolicited package of seeds from China or other coun-
tries should contact their state plant regulatory official or APHIS State plant
health director.
Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture
See Seeds, Page 9
WSDA
What residents in other states should Unsolicited seed packages that
appear to come from China.
do