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CapitalPress.com
Friday, July 2, 2021
People & Places
Researcher brings kiwi production to Oregon
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
AURORA, Ore. — Ber-
nadine Strik had a dream.
It was 1990, and she was
working as a professor and
berry crop researcher at Ore-
gon State University, where
she still works today.
Her dream was to add
another berry choice for
growers in the Pacific North-
west. Today, she’s watching
that dream unfold. And the
berry of choice? Kiwis.
Kiwifruit, a type of berry,
is a climbing vine native
to Asia. The most com-
mon kiwifruit species is
Actinidia deliciosa, or the
“Hayward” cultivar, an
egg-sized fruit with brown,
fuzzy skin and green flesh.
A smaller, olive-sized vari-
ety is called the Actinidia
arguta, or “kiwiberry.” Its
interior looks like a minia-
ture Hayward, but its exte-
rior is smooth and often
blush-colored.
Strik planted both vari-
eties in the 1990s. The
kiwiberry
was
more
successful.
“It’s been really excit-
ing,” said Strik. “It’s an
amazing fruit.”
She ducked under a can-
opy of trellises to escape
the midday sun. Strik was
standing in her trial vine-
yard at the North Willamette
Research and Extension
Center in Aurora.
Growing kiwis in Ore-
gon has proved to be a steep
learning curve, said Strik.
For years, she has experi-
mented with cultivars, irri-
gation methods, storage and
pruning techniques.
The Hayward variety
Established 1928
Capital Press Managers
Western
Innovator
BERNADINE
STRIK
Age: 59
Hometown: Born in Hol-
land, raised in Australia
and Canada, career and
family in Oregon
Education: B.S. in Bota-
ny, University of Victoria,
B.C., Canada, 1983; Ph.D.
in Horticulture, Univer-
sity of Guelph, Ontario,
Canada, 1987
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Bernadine Strik with a cluster of kiwiberries at her trial vineyard in Aurora, Ore. The
fruit will be ready for harvest in September or October.
comes from Southeast Asia,
and California leads in U.S.
production, so it’s been chal-
lenging to grow the variety
through Oregon’s winter
cold snaps.
Kiwiberries, which orig-
inate from colder North-
east Asia, have fared better
through frost. Strik has been
perfecting her technique of
overhead irrigation for frost
protection.
Despite challenges, Strik
said the industry is picking
up momentum, and she sees
“huge potential” for expan-
sion if growers set up con-
tracts in advance.
It can cost more than
$30,000 per acre in cumu-
lative establishment costs to
break into the industry, but
growers who have are “tast-
A Hayward kiwifruit, left,
next to a Ananasnaya ki-
wiberry, right.
ing the fruits” of their labors.
Oregon only has about
25 acres of Haywards but is
now the nation’s No. 1 pro-
ducer of kiwiberries, with
about 250 acres.
Kiwiberries can be eaten
in their entirety. Their flavor
is sweet and strong, with flo-
ral notes.
The main downside is, in
contrast to Haywards, which
store well for six months,
kiwiberries are seasonal.
They are harvested Septem-
ber through October and last
4 to 8 weeks.
The industry is already
worth at least $2 million in
Oregon.
Mark Hurst, co-owner of
Hurst Berry Farm and man-
aging director of HBF Inter-
national in McMinnville,
Ore., said he gets a much
better return on kiwiberries
than blueberries.
He was first exposed
to
Strik’s
experimen-
tal kiwiberries in the early
1990s, and recalls thinking:
“This is a pretty awesome
piece of fruit.”
Hurst planted vines on
his own property and con-
tracted with several other
growers.
Occupation: Professor
and North Willamette
Research and Exten-
sion Center berry crop
research leader
HBF International contin-
ues to expand its kiwiberry
operation. Hurst started
with a variety called “Anan-
asnaya.” To extend the sea-
son, Hurst recently added
about 65 acres of a new
variety with longer shelf
life, called “Hortgem Tahi,”
licensed from New Zealand.
Hurst said he couldn’t
have done it without Strik.
“She’s awesome,” he
said. “She did so much to get
this industry going.”
Strik plans to retire Dec.
31, but growers say the inno-
vations she’s left are just the
beginning of Oregon’s kiwi
industry.
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Dairy farmer headed to Olympics
By MIA RYDER-MARKS
Capital Press
EUGENE, Ore. — On June 21, during one of
the hottest days in Eugene this year, Elle Purrier
St. Pierre, a dairy farmer from Vermont, set her
own record.
Clad in spandex and yellow reflective sun-
glasses, the 26-year-old swept across the finish
line ahead of her competitors, finishing first in
the 1,500-meter run, with an Olympic-trial record
time of 3 minutes, 58.03 seconds — surpassing
the previous record set by Mary Decker Slaney
over three decades ago.
“She’s in a league of her own in this race and
she is going to become an Olympian,” said one of
the event’s moderators in sync with the cheering
crowd as she finished.
In a month, Purrier St. Pierre will head to this
summer’s Olympics set in Tokyo to compete, but
her journey started on a dairy farm in Montgom-
ery, Vt.
Before Purrier St. Pierre’s feet smacked across
the burnt orange track at the University of Ore-
gon’s Hayward Field, they walked on her fami-
ly’s farm in northern Vermont. Purrier St. Pierre
grew up tending to her family’s farm, primarily by
helping raise the cows and pigs. One of her chores
included waking up at 5:30 each morning before
school to milk the family’s 30 cows.
Purrier St. Pierre attributes growing up on a
farm and learning the value of working hard to
Instagram
Elle Purrier St. Pierre is sponsored by Cabot
Creamery Cooperative.
her success on the track.
“It’s a skill that I learned from an early age
and it’s just ingrained in me. And so I can’t just
fake that. That’s something that has helped me so
much in my career,” she said on “Dairy Defined,”
a podcast produced by the National Milk Produc-
ers Federation.
Purrier St. Pierre’s dairy farming lineage dates
back decades, and she continued her family’s gen-
erations-long occupation by owning a dairy and
maple farm with her husband, Jamie St. Pierre.
The two married in September of 2020 but have
been together since high school. They even
offered a glimpse into their future farm life by rid-
ing a tractor to their high school prom.
Brian Carpenter, chairman of the Vermont
Dairy Producers Alliance, said the members are
ready to cheer on one of their own. “We’re all
excited to see not just the local lady, but a local
farm girl head off to represent our community,”
he said.
The Vermont native trains with a team spon-
sored by the athletic brand New Balance and is
personally sponsored by the Cabot Creamery
Cooperative in Waitsfield, Vt.
Amber Sheridan, Cabot’s director of corporate
communications, told Capital Press that Purrier
St. Pierre had shown support for Cabot, dairy, and
the agricultural industry for years, so the partner-
ship was a “natural progression.”
Amanda St. Pierre said her daughter-in-law
authentically represents who the dairy-producing
community is.
“The stories that she tells are real. What you see
is what you get — from kissing a cow, to being in
the barn with her dad, sister and her mom, to help-
ing us on our farm — that is the real Elle and she’s
sharing that with the world,” she said. “I think it
just validates what we do.”
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E. Oregon woman hopes to make cut for timbersports competition
By ANNIE FOWLER
EO Media Group
HEPPNER, Ore. — Kate
Page is no Paul Bunyan,
but the Oregon woman can
swing an ax and use a saw
with the best of them.
A native of John Day,
Ore., Page has been com-
peting in lumberjack sports
since 2014, and competed
in the West Coast qualifier
June 6 in Centralia, Wash.,
ahead of the STIHL Timber-
sports Series July 23-25 in
Little Rock, Ark.
“This year was different
because of COVID,” Page
said. “We have to apply to
get into the STIHL series.
Normally, the women have
three qualifiers and one wild
card that qualifies. On paper,
they created pools. We com-
pete at our nearest quali-
fier. There were five at our
qualifier.”
With four qualifier com-
petitions throughout the
country, Page still is waiting
to hear if her time gets her to
the U.S. Championships in
Arkansas. She should know
by the end of the month.
“The anticipation is kill-
ing me,” Page said. “I set a
personal record in one of my
events (single buck, with a
cross-cut saw), so that was a
positive.”
The first year women
were included in the Tim-
bersports Series was 2017,
and they went to Cherry Val-
ley, N.Y. In 2018, the qual-
ifier for the women was in
Cherry Valley, and those
who advanced competed
alongside the men in Mil-
waukee, Wis. Page finished
eighth that year.
In 2019, Page fin-
ished seventh at the U.S.
Championships.
“This year, I want to be in
the top five,” Page said.
Page and her husband,
Camron Tack, returned to
Eastern Oregon in April
to be closer to her parents.
She works in the Heppner
Ranger District in the Uma-
tilla National Forest for the
U.S. Forest Service.
“I’m on a fire crew right
now,” Page said. “We live at
the Tupper Guard Station.”
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Kate Page/Contributed Photo
STIHL Timbersports Series
competitor Kate Page of
Heppner, Ore.
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CALENDAR
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com
or by email to newsroom@capital-
press.com.
THROUGH SUNDAY
JULY 4
St. Paul Rodeo: 7:30 p.m.
nightly, with a 1:30 p.m. mati-
nee Sunday at the St. Paul, Ore.,
rodeo grounds. Tickets are $16
to $26, not including a con-
venience fee, and can be pur-
chased online at StPaulRodeo.
com. For more information, visit
the rodeo’s website or call 800-
237-5920. Covid guidelines will
be in place during the rodeo.
Tickets purchased earlier in the
year will be honored.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
JULY 9-10
100th Annual Idaho Ram
Sale: Gooding County Fairgrounds,
Gooding, Idaho. Lamb viewing and
a lamb barbecue dinner will start
at 6 p.m. July 9. The sale begins at
10:30 a.m. July 10. Website: www.
idahowoolgrowers.org
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
JULY 9-11
Marion County Fair: 10 a.m.
Oregon State Fair and Expo Cen-
ter, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem, Ore.
We are planning on the best live
fair possible.For more details go
to our website: https://marion-
countyfair.net/
MONDAY, JULY 12
Applied Pathogen Environ-
mental Monitoring (live online):
Foodborne illnesses and recalls
can put a company out of busi-
ness. A pathogen environmental
monitoring (PEM) program is one
way of mitigating that risk and
ensuring a strong sanitation pro-
gram. In this course, participants
will understand how to create a
successful environmental moni-
toring program. Participants will
learn how to implement, man-
age, and continually improve the
PEM program to mitigate inherent
food safety risks. The class repeats
July 26. Cost: $495 Contact: Bill
Mullane, 208-426-2266, william-
mullane@techhelp.org Website:
https://bit.ly/3xt9FTM
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
JULY 15-17
Linn County Fair: 11 a.m. Linn
County Fair & Expo Center, 3700
Knox Butte Road E, Albany, Ore.
Giant elephant ears, fluffy col-
orful clouds of cotton candy,
live music nightly, carnival rides
from mild to wild and of course,
cattle, pigs and chickens galore
will fill the Linn County Fair &
Expo Center July 15-17 as the
Linn County Fair returns live.
Website: https://linncountyfair.
com/
SATURDAY, JULY 17
Pacific Northwest Christ-
mas Tree Association Summer
Farm Tour: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. The
farm tour will be held at Furrow
Farm and Windy Acres Tree Farm.
For more information, visit our
website at https://bit.ly/3gAX-
IVy or contact Kari Puffer, 503-
364-2942, pnwchristmastree@
gmail.com
Index
Drought ...................................................8
Opinion ...................................................6
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