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CapitalPress.com
Friday, July 1, 2022
People & Places
Second try a charm for reduced tillage
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Established 1928
MONROE, Ore. — Ris-
ing fuel prices have vali-
dated farmer Eric Horning’s
most recent experiment
with reduced tillage despite
earlier difficulties with the
technique.
A couple decades ago,
Horning built an implement
for tilling strips instead of
cultivating the entire field
before planting.
The intent was to pre-
vent erosion but the imple-
ment was too heavy and
unwieldy, particularly since
it had trouble preparing
adequate furrows of soil.
“We got frustrated with it
and let it fall off our radar,”
Horning said. “If the soil is
not conditioned properly,
it’s not going to work.”
Horning decided to give
strip tillage another chance
with a piece of equipment
specifically designed for
that purpose, which he used
for the first time last year.
The Orthman 1tRIPr
— pronounced “one-trip-
per” — aims to perform the
equivalent of six cultiva-
tion operations with a sin-
gle pass across the field.
Horning is impressed
with the implement’s till-
age functions, as well as
its light weight and ability
to be folded up for easier
travel on roadways.
Though it’s not a cheap
implement, he said the fuel
savings have justified the
investment: By cutting the
number of field passes, the
machine has reduced fuel
usage by about 40%.
“I probably saved 30,000
gallons running it last year,”
Horning said.
Cover crops, too
In conjunction with strip
tillage, he’s also expanding
the use of cover crops on
the farm.
Conventional
tillage
has “mined” organic mat-
ter from fields, but cover
crops help restore biomass
and legumes in particular
enhance nitrogen content,
he said.
The hope is that by turn-
ing over less ground, strip
tillage will also decrease
weed emergence, and thus
Capital Press Managers
Western
Innovator
Occupation: Farmer
Hometown: Monroe, Ore.
Age: Mid-60s
Family: Wife, Christine,
and two sons
Education: Associate
of science degree in
machine tool technology
from Linn-Benton Com-
munity College in 1995
National Onion Association Sum-
mer Convention: Grove Hotel, 245 S.
Capitol Blvd., Boise. Discussion top-
ics to include updates to food-safety
guidelines for dry bulb onions, immi-
gration reform, USDA National Potato
and Onion Report methodology.
Industry facility tours planned. Regis-
tration price to increase after June 15.
Website: https://bit.ly/3M8SgH7
JULY 15-31
California State Fair & Food
Festival: Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition
Blvd., Sacramento, Calif. The Cali-
fornia State Fair is dedicated as a
place to celebrate the best the state
has to offer in agriculture, technol-
ogy, and the diversity of its people,
traditions, and trends that shape
Samantha Stinnett .....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2022
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
An independent newspaper
published every Friday.
Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is
published weekly by EO Media Group,
2870 Broadway NE, Salem OR 97303.
Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR,
Five generations
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
The reduced tillage method has helped Eric Horning
save diesel at a time of sky-high fuel prices.
Horning’s need for herbi-
cides and labor.
“Every time you disturb
the soil, you’re going to
bring new weed seeds to the
top,” he said.
Running his machinery
less frequently will hope-
fully result in fewer break-
downs, Horning said. Less
cultivation also prevents
the field from drying out
too much before planting.
“You’ve got to get the
seed started as soon as you
drop it in the ground,” he
said. “You open it up and
the moisture is gone.”
Other considerations
While Horning’s repri-
sal of strip tillage has
proven effective for plant-
ing corn and squash, he
said farmers can’t assume
the method will work for
other crops.
Harvest is one consid-
eration, since strip tillage
leaves the field in rough
shape.
Corn is cut six inches
above the ground while
squash is rolled into fur-
rows and lifted during
harvest, but uneven field
surfaces can impede the
harvest of other crops.
Germination is another
factor, since seeds can be
particular about sprouting
conditions.
For example, Horning
expects bush beans will
continue to require conven-
tional tillage because they
don’t tolerate “lumpiness”
in the soil.
Generally, larger seeds
will perform better in strip-
tilled fields because they’re
more tolerant of crude
soil conditions, said Ed
Peachey, a retired Oregon
State University Extension
specialist who’s worked
with Horning.
Larger seeds are more
likely to get enough mois-
ture to germinate even if
their contact with the soil
isn’t ideal, he said.
With a rugged seed bed,
soil contact may not be suf-
ficient for smaller seeds,
which are also easier to
plant too deep or too shal-
low, he said.
“You get uneven emer-
gence,” Peachey said. “It
doesn’t come up nice.”
Due to these differ-
ent planting needs, some
growers may be reluc-
tant to invest in strip-till-
age equipment in addi-
tion to their conventional
implements, he said. Con-
ventional tillage also helps
control slugs, which are a
major concern in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley.
“It’s an exceptional
idea for Eric and his crop
rotation but it’s not going
to work for everybody,”
Peachey said.
Horning grows vegeta-
ble row crops on roughly
75% of the 1,700 acres he
farms, depending on the
year.
His family has farmed
for five generations in
Oregon’s Benton County,
where his ancestors arrived
in the mid-1800s after leav-
ing their native Prussia.
Though farming has
always been his passion,
Horning
traditionally
focused on the operation’s
mechanical side until 2006,
when his brother Clifford
died. Since then, he’s taken
on the full gamut of farm
duties.
Working on equipment
came naturally to Horn-
ing, but he also studied
machine tool technology at
Linn-Benton Community
College and later taught the
subject there.
His interest initially
grew out of necessity,
he said. “The equipment
we were working on, we
needed to be able to repair
it.”
Apart from always
being “good for a chuckle,”
Horning has long been sup-
portive of Oregon State
University’s
agriculture
research, Peachey said.
Growers are sometimes
reluctant to participate in
studies from a fear of com-
plicating their operations,
but Horning has never
turned down a research
opportunity, he said.
“He likes to contrib-
ute, he’s got a lot of ideas
and he’s willing to try new
stuff,” Peachey said.
Eternity Farm
“Kimmy” Kim and Emma Hersh of Eternity Farm in
Camano Island, Wash.
“Kimmy” Kim and Hersh
to build the world they want
to see, including provid-
ing nutritious, delicious and
healing food to people and
pollinators.
“I realized that our society
is so removed from the natu-
ral world in some ways that
I had to go and find it on my
own in my mid-20s to try and
find that connection again,”
Kim said.
Eternity Farm is starting
its second season and putting
more emphasis on growing
perennials and Asian vegeta-
bles. Kim said at the begin-
ning of their first season she
was nervous about growing
culturally relevant produce
because they live in a majority
white area and were unsure if
it would be profitable.
“But as we continued
growing I found myself feel-
ing a lot of joy and connec-
tion,” she said.
They grow multiple vari-
eties of Korean red peppers,
balloon flower, as well as
Asian greens such as mizuna,
kamusta and Korean mus-
tard. Their seeds are sourced
from Second Generation
Seeds in California and Kim’s
grandmother.
“Last summer growing
things, our all-star crops that
were most reliable and most
delicious through the heat of
summer and chill of spring
and fall were Asian vegeta-
bles,” Hersh said.
Many of these vegetables
are also perennials, which
Kim said has been of spe-
cial interest to her, along with
propagation and seed saving.
She said in the future one of
their goals is growing into a
nursery as well as adding edu-
cational programming, about
which Hersh is passionate.
Although their vegetables
are finding a market with all
customers, they have been
able to build more connec-
tions with Asian custom-
ers and are now contracted
with a food bank that serves
a largely Chinese immigrant
client base.
The farm’s connection
with people is one of the
most gratifying aspects for
Kim and Hersh. Meeting
customers at the market and
seeing the camaraderie and
community between ven-
dors and consumers made
Kim feel like they were
“supposed to be there.”
“It’s humbling and not
easy to be a farmer,” she
said, “but when people are
excited and want to eat it,
it’s very rewarding.”
the Golden State’s future. Website:
https://calexpostatefair.com/
TUESDAY
JULY 19
Transitioning Your Ag Busi-
ness to the Next Chapter:
9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. City of Vale Library,
Vale, Ore. Attorney Maria Schmid-
lkofer will present on the topics of
succession and estate planning, and
how to prepare your operation to
be resilient for future generations.
She will review the steps of estate
and succession planning, how to
address taxes and corporate farm
structuring, and more. Easement
specialist Marc Hudson will answer
your questions about working lands
conservation easements — what
they are, what they aren’t, and how
they may be helpful in executing
your agricultural business plans.
These in-person events are part of a
free 6-workshop series in Lake, Har-
ney and Malheur counties. All are
welcome, and the events are free.
RSVP for these or any of OAT’s other
events and refer any questions
about the event to diane@orego-
nagtrust.org 503-858-2683
Intro to Good Manufacturing
Practices (online): 8 a.m.-noon. Dr.
Janna Hamlett & Catherine Cantley
of TechHelp and the U of I will help
participants learn and understand
the revised current Good Manufac-
turing Practices or cGMPs according
to the final rule for FSMA’s Preven-
tive Controls for Human Food. Con-
tact: 208-736-3610 Website: https://
bit.ly/3y3SNq9
WEDNESDAY
JULY 20
Blueberry Field Day: 1 p.m.
North Willamette Research & Exten-
sion Center, 15210 NE Miley Road,
Aurora, Ore. This annual field day
will inform participants about the
latest research in blueberry prop-
agation and breeding. Contact:
Amanda Davis, (971)-801-0394 or
amanda.davis@oregonstate.edu
Website: http://extension.oregon-
state.edu/NWREC/
and at additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: send address changes to
Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR
97308-2048.
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CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY-
SATURDAY
JULY 6-9
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Farmer Eric Horning in a field that’s being strip-tilled in preparation for planting.
By ALIYA HALL
For the Capital Press
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com
or by email to newsroom@capital-
press.com.
Anne Long ................. Advertising Director
ERIC HORNING
Farmers find a niche in Asian vegetables
CAMANO
ISLAND,
Wash. — At a farmers market
filled to the brim with stan-
dard market veggies, the own-
ers of Eternity Farm wanted
to offer something different.
“I don’t want to be the
farmer who grows the most
beautiful carrots, but rather be
providing something that you
can’t find at the other stands
that’s beautiful, nutritious,
unique, culturally relevant
and affordable,” co-owner
Emma Hersh said.
Eternity Farm is a Korean
and Jewish, women-owned
and -operated .25-acre farm
on Camano Island, Wash.,
that specializes in Asian
vegetables.
It’s a no-till farm that
doesn’t use synthetic pesti-
cides or fertilizers.
The farm originated out of
a desire for co-owner Emily
Joe Beach ..................... Editor & Publisher
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
JULY 30-31
Great Oregon Steam-Up:
7 a.m.-6 p.m., Powerland Heritage
Park, 3995 Brooklake Road NE,
Brooks, Ore. Enjoy a steam-pow-
ered day with train and trolley rides,
a parade, steam sawmilling, tra-
ditional tractor pulling, machin-
ery demos, threshing, flour mill-
ing, fire apparatus demos, museum
tours, kids pedal tractor pulling and
a youth passport program. Web-
site: www.antiquepowerland.com/
steam-up Phone: 503-393-2424
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
AUG. 6-7
Great Oregon Steam-Up:
7 a.m.-6 p.m., Powerland Heritage
Park, 3995 Brooklake Road NE, Brooks,
Ore. Enjoy a steam-powered day with
train and trolley rides, a parade, steam
sawmilling, traditional tractor pull-
ing, machinery demos, threshing,
flour milling, fire apparatus demos,
museum tours, kids pedal tractor pull-
ing and a youth passport program.
Website: www.antiquepowerland.
com/steam-up Phone: 503-393-2424
FarmSeller.com
MarketPlace.capitalpress.com
facebook.com/CapitalPress
MONDAY
AUG. 8
facebook.com/FarmSeller
Transitioning Your Ag
Business to the Next Chapter:
12:30-4 p.m. Paisley Community Cen-
ter, 705 Chewaucan St., Paisley, Ore.
Farm and Ranch succession coun-
selor and accountant Diana Tourney
will prepare you for the human and
financial elements of succession plan-
ning. Easement specialist Marc Hud-
son will answer your questions about
working lands conservation ease-
ments — what they are, what they
aren’t, and how they may be helpful
in executing your agricultural busi-
ness plans. These in-person events
are part of a free 6-workshop series in
Lake, Harney and Malheur counties.
All are welcome, and the events are
free. RSVP for these or any of OAT’s
other events and refer any questions
about the event to diane@oregonag-
trust.org 503-858-2683
youtube.com/CapitalPressvideo
twitter.com/CapitalPress
Index
Markets .................................................14
Opinion ...................................................8
Correction policy
Accuracy is important to Capital Press
staff and to our readers.
If you see a misstatement, omission or
factual error in a headline, story or photo
caption, please call the Capital Press news
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We want to publish corrections
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