EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, December 18, 2020
Volume 93, Number 51
CapitalPress.com
$2.00
Harold Hutchinson
The Port Westward Industrial
Park is at the center of a contro-
versy involving local farmers.
DEVELOPING DISPUTE
NW Oregon port, farmers at odds over industrial expansion
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
C
LATSKANIE, Ore. — A beaver
irreparable harm caused by a proposed expan-
sion at the neighboring Port Westward indus-
scurried into a nearby slough as
trial park, which is seeking to rezone 837
Jim Hoffmann drove his growling
Tacoma
acres of high-value farmland
UTV past rows of
5 Olympia
for rural industrial development.
organic blueberries
The case illustrates a common
at Hopville Farms.
WASH.
scenario playing out in many
Hoffmann bought the prop-
OREGON
erty as an investment 10 years Astoria
parts of the West as development
Clatskanie
ago in Clatskanie, Ore., about
moves onto agricultural land.
60 miles northwest of Portland
Columbia County commis-
Portland
sioners have already approved
along the Columbia River. What
the rezone request twice since
he found was an impeccable area
ORE.
2014, only for the decision to
for growing blueberries, with its
Salem
be appealed and remanded both
cool climate, clean water and
times by the Oregon Land Use
soils rich in organic matter.
Board of Appeals, or LUBA.
“The soil, it’s like peat,” Hoff-
Corvallis
mann said. “Because of that, it
Now, just one question
Eugene
lends itself to organic growing.”
remains: can a new industrial
Capital Press graphic tenant be compatible with local
Hopville Farms finished its
three-year organic certification
agriculture, fish and wildlife?
regimen in 2020, and will begin selling certi-
The Port of Columbia County, which owns
fied organic blueberries in 2021.
See Dispute, Page 9
But Hoffmann said his farm would face
Clatskanie, Ore.
30
47
26
101
5
20
101
20
ODA pulls back state hemp plan as
Congress extends deadline for new rules
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of Agriculture
has withdrawn the updated
state hemp plan it submit-
ted to USDA in August after
Congress voted to delay
implementation of new pro-
duction rules through Sept.
30, 2021.
That means ODA will
continue regulating hemp
growers under the current
pilot program established
in the 2014 Farm Bill for at
least another year.
Sunny Summers, Ore-
gon’s cannabis policy coor-
dinator, said the move
allows extra time to ensure
compliance with USDA
requirements.
“All in all, I think it ben-
efits the industry to wait and
see if we can smooth out
some of those bumps along
the road,” Summers said.
USDA issued its interim
final rule for hemp produc-
tion on Oct. 31, 2019, giv-
ing states one year to sub-
mit plans for approval before
the law went into effect. But
Summers said they were
struggling to meet the origi-
nal deadline.
For example, hemp grow-
ers applying for a license
cannot have any felony con-
victions on their records,
though ODA does not have
the statutory authority to
conduct background checks.
Shoppers are buying more
poinsettias this December
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Capital Press File
Hemp grows in an Oregon
field.
Bills to fix the situation in the
state Legislature failed after
the last two sessions ended in
Republican walkouts.
“We decided to pull back
our planned submission
from USDA and wait,” Sum-
mers said. “We just wanted
to take advantage of that
opportunity.”
Hemp industry mem-
bers were also concerned
about the deadline, primarily
See Hemp, Page 9
Poinsettias and other
decorative holiday plants
are selling well this year at
nurseries across the West.
Growers in California,
Washington and Oregon
told the Capital Press that
while sales of poinsettias for
events, churches and fund-
raisers have slumped, many
growers are experiencing
record retail sales. Market-
ers say it appears shoppers
are decorating early this
year and brightening their
homes for a COVID-19
Christmas.
“Definitely more peo-
ple are buying poinsettias
this year. Our retail sales
are actually up about 33%,”
said Mark Bigej, CEO of
Al’s Garden & Home, a
multi-generation nursery
with operations in Wood-
burn, Sherwood, Gresham
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
Although poinsettia sales to fundraisers and events
are down this year, growers say they are experiencing
strong retail sales as shoppers look to decorate their
homes during the holidays.
and Wilsonville, Ore.
In
California,
the
nation’s top poinsettia-pro-
ducing state, some large
retail growers say their sales
are up 100% or more from
last year. According to the
California Farm Bureau
Federation, growers across
the state are seeing poinset-
tias sell more “briskly” this
year.
In 2019, USDA esti-
mated Americans bought
around $34 million in pot-
ted poinsettias. Experts say
it’s harder to predict this
year’s totals because while
See Poinsettias, Page 9
Thank You to our Customers and Community.
We’re Honored to Serve You.
!
Merry Christmas
Here’s to a New Year of Health,
Thriving Growth and Plentiful Har vests.
Member FDIC
ARLINGTON BOARDMAN CONDON
FOSSIL HERMISTON IRRIGON LA GRANDE MORO
PENDLETON
ATHENA
BURNS ENTERPRISE HEPPNER
IONE
JOHN DAY
MADRAS ONTARIO PRAIRIE CITY
ONTARIO / 541-889-4464 / 435 SW 24TH ST.
S216200-1
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
George Plaven/Capital Press
Jim Hoffmann, left, owner of Hopville Farms in Clatskanie,
Ore., with his oldest son, Gus, in front of a block of organic
blueberries.