Friday, January 28, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
China tariff hike scrambles hazelnut outlook
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A tariff hike on hazel-
nuts recently imposed by
China is expected to reduce
the bonuses Oregon farmers
will receive for last year’s
crop.
Growers have already
received 80-90 cents per
pound for hazelnuts they
harvested last year, but are
expecting additional pay-
ments based on the indus-
try’s fi nal sales results.
“We need to under-
stand where this market is
headed before that can hap-
pen,” said Terry Ross, exec-
utive director of the Hazel-
nut Growers Bargaining
Association.
The new 35% Chinese
tariff on hazelnuts, which
became eff ective at the
beginning of the year, has
scrambled expectations for
exports to that country.
Bonuses will still be
paid for last year’s crop but
the outlook isn’t as posi-
tive as it once was, he said.
“It will be good, just not as
good as we hoped.”
Hazelnut buyers in
China may seek to change
contract terms due to the
new tariff , which eff ec-
Courtesy of Tim Aman
Wooden totes are fi lled with hazelnuts harvested in
2021 at Aman Bros. LLC in Mt. Angel, Ore.
tively increased their price
by 35 cents or more per
pound, Ross said.
“They can actually rene-
gotiate prices on what’s
been delivered,” he said
Jan. 20 during the Nut
Growers Society’s annual
meeting in Grand Ronde,
Ore.
Normally,
processors
could simply send ship-
ments back from China and
process the in-shell crop for
kernels.
However, lower kernel
prices in Turkey, the pre-
dominant global hazelnut
producer, and congestion in
the shipping industry have
precluded that possibility.
“There’s no way I can
aff ord to bring that con-
tainer back,” said Larry
George, president of the
George Packing Co.
Retaliatory tariff s and
taxes of 81% were sig-
nifi cantly decreased under
waivers that China granted
under the phase one trade
deal struck in 2020, he said.
The exact tariff rate
depended on the waiver,
but the reductions were
substantial, George said.
At the beginning of Janu-
ary, though, China suddenly
slapped another 35% tariff
on top of those rates.
“Immediately, it just
created chaos in the mar-
ket,” he said.
The tariff increase likely
pertains to broader trade
posturing and political dis-
cussions between the U.S.
and China, but “Oregon got
hardest hit by it,” George
said, adding that it’s possi-
ble that by April, China will
again impose the full 81%
in tariff s and taxes.
“There’s a message
being sent with these tariff
increases,” he said.
Farmers who produce
in-shell varieties for the
Chinese market, such as
the Barcelona and Jeff erson
cultivars, will be the most
hurt by the tariff , George
said.
“It will aff ect growers of
certain varieties more than
growers of other varieties,”
he said.
Fortunately, China con-
sumes only about 20-25%
of Oregon’s hazelnut crop,
down from roughly 60%
at times in the past, George
said.
“We’re
considerably
less dependent on the Chi-
nese market than we were a
decade ago,” he said.
However, the new Chi-
nese tariff isn’t the only
problem faced by the hazel-
nut industry.
Port of Morrow Executive Director Ryan Neal dies
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
BOARDMAN, Ore. —
Ryan Neal, executive direc-
tor of the Port of Morrow in
northeast Oregon, has died.
Neal, 40, was sick with
COVID-19 and suff ered a
heart attack while at Provi-
dence St. Vincent Medical
Center in Portland on Jan. 17,
according to sources.
“It’s a tough loss for the
community, for his fam-
ily and really for the region
as a whole,” said Don Rus-
sell, a Morrow County com-
missioner and longtime fam-
ily friend. “He’s going to be
hard to replace.”
Russell described Neal as
“a brilliant guy,” who cared
deeply about Eastern Ore-
gon and his hometown of
Boardman.
He took charge of the Port
of Morrow — Oregon’s sec-
ond-largest port district — in
2018, following in the foot-
steps of his father, Gary Neal,
who was the port’s director
for 30 years before retiring.
The port operates several
industrial parks in Morrow
County, including the Board-
man Industrial Park along the
Columbia River. It includes
major food processing com-
panies such as Lamb Weston,
Tillamook Cheese, Oregon
Potato Co. and Boardman
Foods.
According to the port, its
businesses provided 8,452
permanent jobs and $2.77
billion in total economic out-
put in 2017. Morrow County
boasts the third-highest aver-
age wage in the state, due in
large part to economic devel-
opment at the port, Russell
said.
State Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, said Neal was
“a strong advocate for ports
throughout the United States,
and his work in economic
development at the Port of
Morrow has made our econ-
omy stronger in Eastern
Oregon.”
“Ryan has left a legacy of
hard work, professionalism
and goodwill throughout our
region and will be missed by
all of us,” Smith said.
Lisa Mittelsdorf, the
port’s economic develop-
ment director, said port com-
missioners will meet to dis-
cuss fi lling Neal’s position.
Marv Padberg, vice pres-
ident of the port commis-
sion, said everyone at the
port is adjusting to the news
of Neal’s death.
“We lost a key member
of our port family,” Padberg
said. “His loss leaves a big
hole. It won’t be easy.”
Rick Stokoe, president
of the port commission and
Boardman police chief, said
he admired Neal’s dedica-
tion to the region and port
industries.
“I know this will be a
huge loss,” Stokoe said. “My
heart goes out to the Neal
family.”
Neal graduated from
Oregon State University in
2004 with a degree in busi-
ness management. He began
his management career with
Knight Transportation in
2006 as operations man-
ager for the national trucking
company, and was promoted
to regional sales manager in
2011.
In 2012, Neal was hired
as director of operations for
Haney Truck Line LLC in
Yakima, Wash., managing
day-to-day operations for
staff and a fl eet of more than
400 trucks.
Neal spent two years at
Marten Transport as an area
sales director before return-
ing to Boardman with the
Port of Morrow. He took
over as general manager of
the port’s freezer warehouse
in 2016, where food pro-
cessors store frozen vegeta-
bles before shipping them to
stores.
The port’s board of direc-
tors hired Neal as executive
director from a pool of 33
applicants.
“He really wanted to
move back to this area after
he went to college,” Rus-
sell said. “He was trying
to make a diff erence in his
community.”
Senate panel OKs
bill to stop sheriff ’s
cougar pursuits
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — A bill to
stop Klickitat County Sher-
iff Bob Songer from deputiz-
ing hound handlers to chase
and kill cougars passed the
Senate Agriculture and Natu-
ral Resources Committee on
Jan. 20.
The committee amended
the bill to allow sheriff s to
use dogs to pursue and kill
cougars, but only with per-
mission from the Department
of Fish and Wildlife. Songer
said Jan. 21 in an interview
that he still opposed the
legislation.
“I don’t agree with the
‘Mother, may I?’ approach,”
he said.
Songer announced in 2019
that his offi ce would take
the lead in answering cougar
calls in his rural south-central
Washington county.
Songer said cougars were
prowling in populated areas
and that having county-dep-
utized hound handlers would
ensure a speedy response. The
program, the only one of its
kind in the state, has angered
wildlife advocates and irri-
tated Fish and Wildlife.
Senate Bill 5613 origi-
nally sought to prohibit sher-
iff s from pursuing cougars
with dogs. The amended bill
would at least hold open the
possibility that sheriff s could
get permission from Fish and
Wildlife managers.
Songer said he doesn’t
have to answer to a state
department to protect public
safety.
“The sheriff is the top law
enforcement offi cer in the
county,” he said. “I’ve made
it very clear to the top brass at
the wildlife department that
this was our policy.”
The committee voted 4-1
to recommend the full Senate
pass the bill. The committee’s
four Democrats voted yes.
Two Repub-
licans took a
neutral posi-
tion on the
legislation.
Sunnyside
Republican
Sheriff Bob Jim Honey-
Songer
ford was the
only no vote.
Honeyford, whose district
borders Klickitat County, said
he had more confi dence in the
sheriff than Fish and Wildlife.
“I know Bob Songer. I
know he is interested in pro-
tecting his citizens,” Honey-
ford said.
Fish and Wildlife testifi ed
earlier in the week in favor of
the bill. Southwest Regional
Director Kessina Lee said that
state wildlife offi cers who
respond to cougar calls edu-
cate landowners about co-ex-
isting with cougars.
Lee said the sheriff
offi ce sees every cougar as
dangerous.
Songer said his offi ce has
never stopped state wildlife
managers from working with
landowners. He said his pro-
gram targets only cougars that
are a threat to people, live-
stock and pets.
“We do not hunt cougars
willy-nilly,” he said.
The Klickitat County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce has removed
27 cougars since starting the
program, according to fi g-
ures compiled by Fish and
Wildlife. State wildlife man-
agers have said they were
killing cougars at about
the same rate in Klicki-
tat County before Songer
enlisted his own hound
handlers.
SB 5613 was sent to
the Senate Rules Commit-
tee, which votes on which
bills to bring to the Senate
fl oor. If passed by the Sen-
ate, the bill would likely
be referred to the House
Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee.
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