EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, June 25, 2021
Volume 94, Number 26
CapitalPress.com
1 Farm
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Julie Wuesthoff , who has worked at Central Market for
15 years, puts a sign beneath the Dharma Ridge spin-
ach to signify that it was grown locally in the Pacifi c
Northwest.
Simplified
produce
supply
9
chain
$2.00
5 Distribution center
2 Loader 3 Transporter
4 Receiver
6 Loader
7 Transporter
Retail destination
8 Receiver
EDITOR’S NOTE
In this two-part series, the Capital Press follows food
from farm to retail store. This week’s story follows fresh fruits
and vegetables. Next week’s story will follow the separate
supply chain for groceries and other value-added products.
Capital Press graphic
SPINACH
THE SECRET
LIFE OF
Following a pallet of produce from fi eld to retail store
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
P
Zach Wailand,
co-owner of
Dharma Ridge
Organic Farm
in Quilcene,
Wash.
OULSBO, Wash. — Around 7 a.m. in
the Central Market grocery store on the
Friday before Memorial Day, a shopper
pulled a bunch of spinach from a shelf,
stuff ed it in a bag and dropped it into her
cart.
The sequence took seconds. But the story behind
this bunch of spinach and how it got there is far from
simple.
The produce supply chain is an ensemble of parts
and people working in concert to bring food to con-
sumers’ tables. The size of the 2021 U.S. fruit and
vegetable market, measured by revenue, is $5.3 bil-
lion, according to market research fi rm IBISWorld.
To take a snapshot of this system, the Capital Press
followed a precise bunch of spinach from the farm
where it was grown to the retail store.
Following a lowly spinach bunch, in Lot No.
8525, opened a window into this complex system.
DAY ONE Wednesday, May 27
Dharma Ridge Organic Farm
Quilcene, Wash.
8 a.m.
The spinach trail began in Quilcene, Wash., on the
Olympic Peninsula. Here lies Dharma Ridge Organic
Farm, a strip of land hemmed in by evergreen trees.
Zach Wailand and his wife, Haley Olson-Wailand,
started this farm in 2003. They began by selling to
farmers markets.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
See Spinach, Page 11
The view from inside the truck as Zach Wailand
loads a pallet.
FERC approves license transfer of Klamath River dams slated for removal
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. —
The largest dam removal project
in U.S. history is one step closer to
becoming reality.
Federal energy regulators have
approved the transfer of operat-
ing licenses for four hydroelec-
tric dams along the Klamath River
in Southern Oregon and North-
ern California, handing ownership
from Pacifi Corp to the nonprofi t
Klamath River Renewal Corp.
The KRRC plans to demol-
ish the dams to help endangered
salmon, opening approximately
400 miles of upstream habitat.
“We view this as a big win for
every stakeholder in the basin,”
said KRRC spokesman Dave
Meurer. “That includes the farm
and ranch community.”
The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission issued the order June
17 for J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco
2 and Iron Gate dams, marking
a key milestone in the eff ort to
revive dwindling salmon runs in
the Klamath Basin.
Removal of the fi sh-blocking
dams is currently slated to begin
in 2023, with a project budget of
$450 million — including $200
million from Pacifi Corp ratepay-
ers, and $250 million earmarked
from California Proposition 1, a
$7.5 billion statewide water bond
that passed in 2014.
Jim Root, president of the
KRRC Board of Directors, said the
FERC decision is a “crucial and
signifi cant step forward” in restor-
ing a free-fl owing Klamath River.
“I am deeply appreciative to
all of the parties who have sup-
ported this project over the years,
and I wish to especially note the
signifi cant and sustained eff orts of
our tribal partners,” Root said in a
statement.
Getting to this point has taken
decades of work, and overcoming
setbacks that threatened to derail
the plan, he said.
The four dams were originally
built between 1911 and 1962,
with a total generating capacity of
169 megawatts. They do not pro-
vide any irrigation storage or fl ood
control.
Eff orts to remove the dams
See Dams, Page 11
Oregon ag overtime bill amended with $100 million price tag
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A bill requiring Oregon farmers to pay higher
overtime wages has passed a key legislative
committee, though it now includes a hefty price
tag that may hinder further progress.
The House Rules Committee voted 4-3 to
approve House Bill 2358 with an amendment
that would phase out the agricultural overtime
exemption over three years and allocate $100
million to help farmers make the transition.
To put that amount in perspective, it’s more
than twice the general fund tax dollars appropri-
ated for the entire Oregon Department of Agri-
culture during the most recent biennium.
Before the House votes on HB 2358, it must
fi rst clear the budget-setting Joint Committee
on Ways and Means. The bill would then need
to pass the Senate before the end of this year’s
legislative session, which is constitutionally
required to end by June 27.
Under the amended version of HB 2358, farm
Andrea Johnson
workers would be owed one-and-a-half the reg-
ular wage rate after 55 hours per week in 2022, A bill that would end the Oregon agriculture
after 48 hours per week in 2023 and after 40 industry’s exemption from higher overtime
wages has been amended to include $100 mil-
See Bill, Page 11 lion to help farmers transition.
Providing
Financial
ARLINGTON BOARD-
BURNS Support for the
MAN
CONDON INDUSTRIES.
AG ATHENA
and COMMERCIAL
CALDWELL Growing Generat ions ONTARIO
422 S. 9TH AVE
208-402-4887
Toget her!
435 SW 24TH ST
541-889-4464
S228586-1
MEMBER FDIC