Friday, March 11, 2022
CapitalPress.com 11
Drought: ‘We are coming into some tough times here in Oregon’
Continued from Page 1
longer, melting more gradu-
ally to replenish streams and
rivers longer into the summer.
“That’s something we’re
certainly going to be keeping
an eye on,” he said.
Oregon
Larry
O’Neill,
Ore-
gon state climatologist, said
drought has been building
over the last two years with
the impacts worsening each
summer.
For the last two water
years — from October 2019
through September 2021
— Oregon has experienced
its third-driest period dating
back to 1895. Eight coun-
ties received their lowest
total precipitation on record,
including Sherman, Wheeler,
Jefferson, Crook, Wasco,
Deschutes, Klamath and
Jackson counties.
About half of all stream-
flow gauges in Oregon man-
aged by the U.S. Geologi-
cal Survey were recording
below-normal flows over the
last 45 days, O’Neill said. Of
those, 10% recorded record
low streamflows for this time
of year.
Most reservoirs are also
averaging 10-30% lower
storage than they were at the
same time last year, fore-
telling another lean year for
farms and fish.
“We are coming into some
tough times here in Oregon,”
O’Neill said. “Not only are
water supply issues going to
become more acute, but we’re
starting to grow concerned
about the general dryness
of the landscape and what it
means for wildfire risk.”
Eric Wise, meteorologist
for the Northwest Interagency
Coordination Center, said
conditions “certainly have the
potential for a very active sea-
son” in central and southern
Oregon.
Idaho
David Hoekema, hydrol-
ogist for the Idaho Depart-
ment of Water Resources,
said drought conditions in that
state vary from north to south.
Southern Idaho is “defi-
nitely heading in the direc-
tion of drought,” Hoekema
said, while northern Idaho
“is doing a little better at this
point.”
Last year, Southern Idaho
had the driest spring since
1924, leaving reservoirs
much lower than normal.
Hoekema focused his pre-
sentation on four basins that
he said are representative of
the area — the Boise, Big
Wood, Big Lost and Upper
Snake River systems.
The Boise Basin, he said,
is close to having an adequate
water supply for the year,
but will need at least normal
precipitation in the coming
weeks for that to happen. Oth-
erwise, the probability drops
to less than 50%.
Despite having near nor-
mal snowpack, it will take
more for reservoirs in the Big
Wood Basin to recover after
three consecutive years of
drought, Hoekema said.
”There’s kind of a mem-
ory in the system,” he said. “It
takes more than an average
year to recover.”
Conditions are similar in
the Big Lost and Upper Snake
basins. Hoekema said he
anticipates there will be some
water shortages in 2022, with
less carryover from a year
ago.
Washington
Of the three states,
Washington appears to be
in the best position to with-
stand drought in 2022.
Karin Bumbaco, assis-
tant state climatologist, said
overall snowpack, precipi-
tation and reservoir storage
in Washington is faring bet-
ter than Oregon and south-
ern Idaho.
“Perhaps we’re the win-
ners this year in terms of
drought,” Bumbaco said.
Water supplies in west-
ern Washington will likely
be in good shape, save for
parts of the Olympic Pen-
insula and Dungeness Val-
ley, which have had low
summer streamflows due
to lower snowpack the last
few years.
The U.S. Bureau of Rec-
lamation released its latest
forecast for reservoirs in
the agriculture-rich Yakima
Basin,
predicting
that
senior water rights holders
will receive a full allotment
this year and junior water
right holders will get 96%
of their normal water.
That doesn’t mean the
state is getting off scot free,
she said.
After a wet start in Jan-
uary, Washington’s snow-
pack had stalled to 89%
of median as of March 3.
Even with normal snow-
pack through the rest of the
year, several basins includ-
ing the Klickitat and Lower
Yakima basins would still
come in below normal.
Several areas east of the
Cascades received less than
25% of normal precipita-
tion from Jan. 11 through
Feb. 28, which coupled with
long-term deficits could
spell trouble for the region’s
dryland wheat farmers.
“We anticipate that there
could be a possibility of
continued impacts to dry-
land agriculture if we stay
dry,” she said.
Birdseed: Studies show positive effects of wild bird feeding
fall through the screens.
A second deck sifts out all of
the small pieces, such as dirt par-
ticles, dust and broken kernels,
considered “sub-prime” materials,
Hansen said.
“Sometimes you get product
from the Midwest or some place
like that, it’s coming out of an ele-
vator and it’s not always the high-
est cleanliness. We have to pro-
cess it when we get it into the
facility,” he said. “These local
guys, they take great pride in try-
ing to bring us the cleanest stuff
they can.”
Hansen enjoys watching local
farmers evolve in the program, as
they work to provide the best bird-
seed possible.
“I enjoy the fact that you can
drive a very short distance and
go out and see a field of sunflow-
ers,” he said. “That is just not seen
in this area. It causes some back-
ups on the road, people taking
pictures.”
Continued from Page 1
In the early days of the COVID-
19 pandemic, interest in feeding
wild birds surged, Hoysak said.
“With people spending more
time at home, and working from
home, bird food and feeder sales
shot up,” she said. “Initially, it
was a real struggle to keep up with
demand.”
Many people who picked it up
have stuck with it, she said.
“There have been studies that
show the positive effects of wild
bird feeding on mental health and
how it helps alleviate depression
and anxiety,” she said. “I think it’s
a rewarding hobby that has brought
a great deal of comfort and peace
to people, especially over the last
couple years.”
Sales have not slowed down,
Hoysak said.
“We are seeing a new genera-
tion of birders that are excited to
feed their backyard birds and share
this rewarding hobby with their
own children,” she said.
Attracting attention
Most popular food
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Of the hundreds of millions of
pounds of birdseed Global Har-
vest Foods produced last year, the
largest single crop input is black
oil sunflower seed, the most pop-
ular food among wild birds, Hoy-
sak said.
“It’s extremely nutritious for
birds, containing high levels of
healthy fat and protein, as well as
vitamins and minerals,” she said.
“Birds also like it because black
oil sunflower shells are thin and
easy for them to open. Birds love
to eat it, and consumers know it
will attract a broad variety of birds
to their backyard.”
Consumers look for different
birdseed blends depending on their
geographic region, the birds they
are trying to attract, and their bud-
get, Hoysak said.
“We have decades of scientific
research on the best types of seeds
to offer wild birds, and we work
with ornithologists to make sure
our foods are best for bird health,”
Hoysak said.
The company has its headquar-
ters in Seattle and Spokane and
manufacturing plants in Mead,
Wash.; Akron, Colo.; Roscoe,
S.D.; Harrold, S.D.; Reynolds,
Ind.; and Allentown, Pa.
The company supplies bird food
to major retailers across the coun-
try — mass market, discount, big
box, grocery, hardware and garden
stores.
U.S. farmers produced 1.3 mil-
lion acres of sunflowers last year,
said John Sandbakken, execu-
tive director of the National Sun-
flower Association, based in Man-
dan, N.D.
Bud Hansen is the plant manager for the Global Harvest Foods birdseed facility in Mead, Wash.
Global Harvest Foods
Black oil sunflower seeds are the most popular ingredient in wild bird
food.
About 40% to 50% of the crop
goes to birdseed each year, he said.
“There was a great upturn as
far as bird feeding (during the pan-
demic) because obviously people
were stuck at home,” Sandbak-
ken said. “The future’s bright for
bird feeding because it’s a great
hobby.”
The association is always look-
ing for opportunities to expand
acreage, Sandbakken said.
Helping small farmers
As part of Global Harvest
Foods’ black oil sunflower pro-
gram, the company seeks smaller
farms, supplies them with seed and
commits to buying their crop.
“They have a guaranteed cus-
tomer every year and sunflowers
offer great long-term benefits to
the soil,” Hoysak said. “Sunflower
roots grow deep into the ground
and pull up nutrients that other
crops are unable to reach. This fer-
tilizes the soil and makes it fruit-
ful for future crops, so farmers can
continue to farm their land for gen-
erations to come.”
The company buys about 45%
of its primary grains directly from
farmers. About 10 to 12 farmers
around the Pacific Northwest are
in the sunflower program.
Urbat says the company is
“definitely” helpful. It helps a
farmer locate the seed and pro-
vides answers to questions about
marketing, delivery, handling,
varieties, fertilizer and chemical
recommendations, he said.
The Mead plant
“I am an enthusiast, I do have
bird feeders at my house,” said
Bud Hansen, business unit man-
ager at the Global Harvest Foods
plant in Mead.
The plant produces more than
50 million pounds of birdseed each
year. The main ingredients are sun-
flower seeds, millet, milo, wheat,
barley and corn.
The company does not regu-
larly source any other major ingre-
dients from Washington farmers,
Hoysak said.
“Occasionally maybe a truck-
load of something here or there,
but mostly it is grown in other
areas,” she said.
The minor ingredients —
“gosh, there’s a lot,” Hansen said
— include fruit pieces, whole or
broken peanuts, “confectionary”
sunflower kernels without the shell
and thistle seeds.
Most farmers consider thistle a
weed, but the seeds are sterilized
before they arrive at the company,
Hansen said.
“Finches enjoy thistles,” he
said.
Mixes also include cherries, rai-
sins, mangos and tree nuts such as
walnuts and almonds.
But people should not eat the
birdseed, Hansen said.
“It’s very well-documented on
all of our packaging — the prod-
uct is from the field, so it’s raw,” he
said. “It’s not human food because
there’s no process to make sure
that it’s consumable for humans.”
As grain comes in from the
field, it is weighed and run through
an aspirator to pull light material
off with air. Then it goes through a
tumbling aspirator to remove more
stems and sticks.
The grain drops into a multi-
deck screener, removing sticks and
cob on top and allowing seeds to
The sunflowers are a big draw
indeed. Urbat, the farmer, said the
response can be “overwhelming.”
“People for the most part are
pretty good about staying out of
them,” he said. “Probably the
worst thing is if they just let their
kids run wild. It’s public access to
a playground for them, but it’s our
livelihood.”
Urbat puts up signs, and local
news media advise people to stay
out of the fields.
Birds, deer and elk do a lot of
damage, Urbat said. He estimated
he had more than 160 elk cause
$30,000 worth of damage last year.
He expects to be compensated
through a Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife program.
Urbat particularly appreci-
ates sunflowers for how the plant
grows.
“It’s just an incredible crop to
watch throughout the stages of its
growth,” he said.
While demand is high, the
bird seed plant accepts grain on
a capacity basis, said Hansen, the
Mead plant manager. He recom-
mends farmers contact the compa-
ny’s purchasing group in Spokane
to learn more.
Urbat plans to grow 250 to
300 acres again this year, dictated
partly by the availability of land
from his neighbors.
He estimates the immediate
area could handle close to 7,000
acres of sunflower production.
“We’ve had as much as 3,500
acres, but we could easily double
that,” he said.
Any advice to a new farmer?
“It’s well-worth the enjoyment
of growing them, and it’s profit-
able,” Urbat said.
Industry: Hemp is seeing new demand in products that have nothing to do with CBD
Continued from Page 1
At the same time, Ore-
gon law enforcement author-
ities have complained to
state lawmakers that hemp
is being used to disguise the
illegal production of mari-
juana, a related cannabis crop
with psychoactive properties.
“When you can’t regu-
late an industry, it makes no
sense to add more work for
our regulatory agencies,” tes-
tified Nathan Sickler, Jack-
son County’s sheriff, during
a legislative hearing last
month.
The original language
of SB 1564 would have
imposed a two-year morato-
rium on new hemp licenses,
but the bill was amended so
that the decision was left to
counties.
The idea was to provide
“local control” since the
problem with sham hemp
farms was mostly reported
in Jackson and Josephine
counties.
However, the amount
of licensed hemp grown in
hoop house systems com-
mon for marijuana represents
less than 2% of state acreage,
Whitney said.
“The data does not sup-
port the narrative at all,” he
said, referring to licensed
hemp growers allegedly pro-
ducing black market mar-
ijuana. “Will this really do
any good? Probably not.”
Whitney said it’s com-
mendable that lawmakers
scaled back the bill’s scope
in response to hemp industry
concerns, but he fears the bill
still sends the wrong signal.
Hemp is seeing new
demand in products that have
nothing to with CBD, includ-
ing bioplastics and livestock
feed, he said. The crop can
even by used as an alterna-
tive to lithium in batteries.
Meanwhile, carbon cred-
its — which are sold to off-
set emissions — are poised
to become a new revenue
source for hemp farmers, he
said.
“This regulatory uncer-
tainty is impacting the fiber
and grain side,” Whitney
said. “It’s suppressing the
growth and development.
At the time Oregon should
be supporting hemp on an
industrial scale, it’s trying to
put restrictions on hemp.”
Mark Taylor, founder of
the Southern Oregon Hemp
Cooperative, said the bill
could punish growers who
wisely decided to stop grow-
ing hemp temporarily due to
the oversupply or for crop
rotation. It also blocks legit-
imate newcomers with fresh
ideas from the industry.
“They’re penalizing us for
their lack of pre-planning,”
Taylor said of state lawmak-
ers. “You restrict brainpower
that could come in and do it
better.”
Oregon hemp farmers
have drastically scaled back
planting in response to market
conditions, which isn’t rec-
ognized by lawmakers who
don’t understand the industry,
Taylor said.
“The market self-adjusted
and they gave no due to that
whatsoever,” he said.
The state government
would have been more effec-
tive with outreach and educa-
tion to the hemp industry and
other farmers, warning them
to keep an eye out for bad
actors who’d attempt illicit
marijuana production, Taylor
said.
“I don’t think government
spends enough time on the
ground,” he said. “They’re in
their ivory tower.”
County restrictions would
diminish the industry’s com-
petitive spirit and amount
to the government “picking
winners and losers” by allow-
ing existing growers to keep
their licenses, Taylor said.
“It all speaks of government
overreach.”