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CapitalPress.com
Friday, December 31, 2021
Startup connects farmers with project financing
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
During her years working
for the USDA, Sami Tellatin
heard from farmers about the
barriers to adopting innova-
tive soil health management
practices such as no-till and
cover cropping.
The biggest challenge,
despite high demand, was
finding the money to help
pay for projects, Tellatin said.
Last
year,
Tellatin
co-founded a startup com-
pany called FarmRaise, a
web-based platform that
assesses whether producers
are eligible for federal grants
and loans, and provides “suc-
cess teams” to assist with
applications.
Switching farming prac-
tices can be expensive. Farm-
ers may need to buy new
equipment, such as no-till
seed drills, that can cost tens
of thousands of dollars.
Though the investment
does pay off over time —
requiring fewer fertilizer and
pesticide
applications
— it can take
five years or
more before
farmers see
any return.
Sami
“Fund-
Tellatin
ing through
grants and
other mechanisms is import-
ant to surmount that barrier,”
said Tellatin, the chief oper-
ating officer of FarmRaise.
To date, FarmRaise has
helped growers from across
the country submit more than
100 applications seeking $3
million for stewardship proj-
ects. More than 10,000 farm-
ers have taken the company’s
eligibility quiz, tapping into
a database of 1,000 state and
federal funding programs.
“It’s mostly planning and
accountability,” Tellatin said.
“We’ll manage all of the
deadlines for you, and keep
you up to date on different
opportunities.”
Tellatin, 29, grew up in
the Ozarks of southern Mis-
LEARN MORE ONLINE
To learn more about FarmRaise, or to take the funding eligi-
bility survey, visit www.farmraise.com
souri, where she developed a
love of the landscape with its
rolling hills, caves and lush
deciduous trees.
She fondly remembers
visiting her family’s cabin at
Bull Shoals Lake, a 45,150-
acre reservoir straddling the
Missouri-Arkansas border
that is managed by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
The lake’s heavily forested
shoreline is undeveloped and
protected as a buffer zone for
400 feet, which left it undis-
turbed for Tellatin to explore.
“That really instilled in
me an appreciation for public
resources, the land and land
management,” she said.
Tellatin studied biological
engineering at the University
of Missouri, with the inten-
tion of pursuing a career in
the renewable energy sector.
Instead, she fell in with
the farm crowd while work-
ing on a project turning agri-
cultural waste into energy by
capturing methane emissions
through anaerobic digestion.
“There is something about
farms that sucks people in, in
a wonderful way,” Tellatin
said. “It takes a really cre-
ative, gritty and entrepre-
neurial person to be a farmer.
Working with those people is
really fun and rewarding.”
That led to a job after
graduation with the USDA’s
Sustainable
Agriculture
Research and Education
program, or SARE. Tellatin
joined the agency as a project
manager and extension asso-
ciate, conducting outreach
with growers.
Though her primary
focus was serving farmers
in the Midwest, she worked
remotely in Corvallis, Ore.,
after her husband landed a
fundraising job with Oregon
State University.
Tellatin spent two years
in Corvallis, inspired by the
vibrancy and diversity of
Willamette Valley agricul-
ture. “Oregon was such a
cool place to live,” she said.
In 2018, Tellatin enrolled
in the Emmett Interdisciplin-
ary Program in Environment
and Resources at Stanford
University. There, she met
Jayce Hafner, the now-CEO
of FarmRaise. They shared
an interest in agricultural
sustainability and soil health,
with Hafner having grown up
on her family’s cattle farm in
Virginia.
Wanting to start their own
company, Tellatin and Haf-
ner came up with the idea for
FarmRaise to streamline the
process of applying for farm
financing.
Including Tellatin, Haf-
ner and the company’s third
co-founder, Albert Abedi,
FarmRaise now has 12
employees and is looking to
grow.
“The acute need for fund-
ing is there,” Tellatin said.
“The more interest we can
get ... the more we might be
able to engage them and get
some funding available.”
Producers who visit
the FarmRaise website are
prompted to take a two-min-
ute quiz to determine which
programs they might be eli-
gible for, filling out basic
information about their farm
or ranch. From there, they
can sign up for a premium
account to work directly
with the company’s “suc-
cess teams.”
“The people we can actu-
ally do the most for today
are those farmers who are
established, but they’re
not huge,” Tellatin said.
“They’ve been at it for sev-
eral years. They have pro-
duction and sales, and
control land. They’re look-
ing to invest and grow the
operation.”
Researcher: Grasshoppers
bear watching in years to come
FDA proposes
to tighten water
quality testing
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
weigh in during a 120-day
comment period that began
Dec. 6.
Water-testing require-
FDA plans virtual pub-
ments under the federal lic meetings at 9:45 a.m. to
Produce Safety Rule would 5:45 p.m. Mountain Time
change under a new U.S. Feb. 14 and at 6:45 a.m. to
Food and Drug Adminis- 2:45 p.m. Feb. 25.
tration proposal.
FDA said the assess-
FDA Dec. 2 proposed a ments required under the
new rule that would
proposed rule would
require comprehen-
help identify and
sive assessments of
mitigate hazards in
water quality. The
water used to grow
agency at the same
produce. A goal is
time gave states
to avert outbreaks of
that administer and
food-borne illnesses
enforce the Pro-
linked to pre-har-
Pamm
vest water, includ-
duce Safety Rule,
Juker
ing water coming
including
Idaho,
from nearby land.
discretion in enforc-
ing the current rule’s water
Juker said that under
requirements.
the proposed rule, covered
The Produce Safety Rule farms would be required to
applies to produce that is conduct pre-harvest water
eaten raw and is tied to the assessments once a year,
Food Safety Modernization and whenever a change
Act. FDA’s introduction occurs that may intro-
of the new proposed stan- duce contamination risk
dard means water-related to produce or food contact
compliance deadlines will surfaces.
be extended from Jan. 26
The assessments would
to a yet-to-be determined address water-quality fac-
tors including the agri-
date.
“The
Idaho
State cultural water system and
Department of Agriculture practices, crop character-
will continue their inspec- istics and environmental
tion frequency for cov- conditions.
ered farms and, as we have
Juker said the state
done in the past, will apply Department of Agriculture
enforcement discretion on since 2019 has inspected
the current water require- all farms and facilities cov-
ments of the rule,” said ered by the Produce Safety
Pamm Juker, the depart- Rule. The state began
ment’s produce safety inspecting large farms in
administrator.
2019, small farms in 2020
She said the department and very small operations
will enforce any new final this year.
rule.
The state has about 85
Meanwhile, represen- covered farms and facil-
tatives of Idaho farms ities. The number var-
and facilities the Produce ies because of crop
Safety Rule covers can rotations.
Farmers should keep
a close eye on grasshop-
pers as weather conditions
become more favorable for
them in the future.
“There’s no reason to
panic,” Arash Rashed, asso-
ciate professor of ecologi-
cal entomology at the Uni-
versity of Idaho. “We just
need to be more aware of
factors that could influ-
ence (an) outbreak and
address them as they come
— at least know what our
resources are.”
Grasshoppers
prefer
warm springs and light rains
over extended cool and wet
weather, and a warmer fall
for extended egg-laying.
They like the sun and don’t
like dense plant canopies.
Rashed spoke Dec. 17
during the Idaho Wheat
Commission’s
virtual
“From the Field” farm chat
webinar.
The USDA Agricultural
Research Service offers an
annual grasshopper hazard
map.
Some of the most com-
mon grasshopper species
are the differential grass-
hopper, red-legged grass-
hopper, two-striped grass-
hopper and migratory
grasshopper.
Grasshopper outbreaks
are sporadic, but the insects
are highly mobile, he said.
“If you see them one day
in one location, it doesn’t
mean the population is
there, and the next day, it
doesn’t mean the popula-
tion won’t appear some-
where else,” he said.
Damage is expected
when large numbers of
grasshoppers are present.
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
ODA
Pest species of grasshoppers
The most damage is likely
to occur along the edge of
fields.
Insecticide applications
should only be done when
large numbers of grasshop-
pers are present, Rashed
said. That would be greater
than seven grasshoppers
per 10 square feet in a field
or 12 grasshoppers per 10
square feet in the natural
vegetation around a field.
“If you have 15 grass-
hoppers per square yard,
it’s a large population,” he
said. “That would basically
translate into 100 pounds of
grasshoppers for an acre.
One hundred pounds of
grasshoppers is almost the
size of a sheep.”
Three to four grasshop-
pers per square yard would
require management in a
newly planted field.
Grasshoppers have small
mouths, snapping the plants
at the base instead of leaving
a part that could recover, as
in the case of a larger graz-
ing animal, he said.
Seedling damage is the
most critical, but damage
to crop heads may occur at
later crop developmental
stages.
Rashed
recommends
farmers inspect vegeta-
tion about 10 days before
planting.
Management includes
early spring seeding or
late fall seeding, crop rota-
tions, tillage and trap strips
around a field.
Female
grasshoppers
will lay 20 to 100 eggs in
late summer.
“The individual that
comes out of those eggs
looks exactly like the
adults, with the exception
that they are small in size
and they don’t have wings,”
Rashed said.
As the nymphs molt,
they grow larger and their
wings develop. The insects
molt five or six times before
reaching full adult stage.
They live two to three
months as an adult.
One concern is that as
current grasshopper experts
reach retirement age, a new
generation of researchers
is needed to take over and
address the complex sys-
tems of pests that could
cause widespread out-
breaks, Rashed said.
“At least five years of
overlap is needed” between
current and new research-
ers, he said. “So all this
experience is being trans-
ferred into the next genera-
tion of these people who are
addressing grasshopper and
katydid outbreaks.”
Oregon Wheat Growers League’s Maney looks to boost farmer messages
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 TOYT RAV4 UT
VIN = 2T3RWRFV2KW027776
Amount due on lien $1515.00
Reputed owner(s)
ANTON A LI
TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 HYUN SONATA 4D
VIN = KMHEC4A44FA136183
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
SARAH RUTH-EVELYN CLARK WELLS
FARGO AUTO
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 KIA OPTIMA 4D
VIN = 5XXGM4A77FG460513
Amount due on lien $1455.00
Reputed owner(s)
NATHAN & JANICE WAGNER
CENTRAL WILLAMETTE COMMINITY C U
S273522-1
S273521-1
S273527-1
S273520-1
Maney encourages farm-
ers to keep engaged and
informed.
“But we also want our
growers to tell us what
they’re doing right —
what have they been suc-
cessful at on their farm?
What are some of the chal-
lenges?” he said. “The
more we get that out there
for our grower base, it
helps everybody. Guaran-
teed, if one guy’s having
a challenge or a little bit
of a struggle on his field,
his neighbors may also
be having that same chal-
lenge and not sure how to
go about it.”
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2016 FORD XPD LL
VIN = 1FMJK2AT4GEF57165
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
JESSIE HAWKINS & JOHN RITTER
WELLS FARGO AUTO
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2021 KIA K5 4D
VIN = 5XXG24J26MG018068
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
DEBRA LYNN ANDERSON
ONPOINT COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 HYUN KONA LL
VIN = KM8K12AA7KU268222
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
HEALTH IRVIN DAVILLIER JR
CHRYSLER CAPITAL
S273526-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/05/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
BAKER & BAKER TOWING & CRANE
2874 NEWBERG HWY WOODBURN, OR
2016 INTL PROSTAR TR
VIN = 3HSDJSNR9GN074236
Amount due on lien $51635.00
Reputed owner(s) TCM TRUCKS LLC
ARROW TRUCK SALES INC, BEACH TO
BEACH LLC, FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Maney
said
he’s
advocating
for his farm,
his neigh-
bors
and
for farmers
Ben Maney across the
state.
He’s also advocating for
the next generation, he said,
noting that he and his wife,
Julie, had a son, Rhett, in
March.
“These last couple of
years have been challeng-
ing for wheat farmers, with
the drought, heat, change
in weather and policies,”
Maney said.
S273524-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2017 KIA NIRO UT
VIN = KNDCB3LC5H5097144
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
ARIEL M & NANCY C VINCENT
north of Pendleton in Uma-
tilla County on about 4,000
acres.
His father was also a
county president. When he
returned to the farm, Maney
wanted to follow his dad’s
example.
“I knew that farming and
working the tractor were
only a part of it,” he said. “A
lot of times, unfortunately,
there’s decisions made in
Salem and Washington,
D.C., that affect you on the
farm. You’ve got to have
a voice, you’ve got to tell
your story. If you don’t, no
one knows and they’ll start
making decisions for you.”
S273523-1
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
01/03/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2015 KIA OPT 4D
VIN = 5XXGM4A77FG460513
Amount due on lien $1435.00
Reputed owner(s)
NATHAN W & JANICE K WAGNER
CENTRAL WILLAMETTE COMMUNITY CU
S273547-1
“What our improvement in
technology has been, allow-
ing farmers to be more
efficient.”
A fifth-generation farmer,
Maney raises dryland wheat
S273529-1
Ben Maney, new presi-
dent of the Oregon Wheat
Growers League, wants to
improve the way farmers tell
their story.
He want to let “people
know just how valuable we
are, what our farmers do
on a daily basis,” he said.
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
