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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 12, 2022
Outlook good for
potato crop despite
tight supply chain
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
As
potato
harvest
begins, regional supply
shortages are likely to be
alleviated “very shortly,”
a national potato industry
leader says.
“Generally speaking, this
time of year, every year, we
have some tightness in the
market,” said Blair Rich-
ardson, CEO of Potatoes
USA. “This year it’s a little
tighter than normal because
the demand for potatoes and
potato products has just been
really strong the last couple
of years.”
The Pacific Northwest
represents 60% to 63% of
the total U.S. potato crop.
Richardson expects a “fan-
tastic” quality crop that will
bring extra volume into trade
channels.
The global supply chain
remains stressed across all
commodities and products,
Richardson said, pointing to
“complexities” with ship-
ping containers, port strug-
gles and extended timelines
getting products to and from
sources and destinations.
He said the potato indus-
try is faring “fairly well”
compared to many commod-
ities. He’s heard anecdotes of
short-term supply constric-
tions, but the industry hasn’t
run out of anything.
“You could see some
tightness in certain areas, but
the great thing about pota-
Piva Rafter P Ranch
Custer County, ID
1,410 Acres | $13,000,000
Matthew Weaver
Capital Press File
Blair Richardson, CEO of
Potatoes USA.
toes is you can get them in
all kinds of forms — (dehy-
drated), frozen, fresh or
chips,” he said. “From a con-
sumer perspective, they’ll
still have access to pota-
toes. It may not always be
exactly the one they were
expecting.”
Processors and suppliers
are working to keep facili-
ties operating and producing
in the midst of global uncer-
tainty, including the war in
Ukraine and its effect on the
supply chain, Richardson
said.
“A lot of this is just going
to be something we’re going
to have to wait and see and
plan as best we can,” he said.
Any shortages or con-
strictions are a short-term
situation, Richardson said,
but he anticipates consumer
demand will only grow.
“They already love pota-
toes, but it’s becoming
obvious that (potatoes are)
healthy and they’re good
for you,” he said.
Succor Creek Cattle Ranch
Chilly Valley Lifestyle Estate
Klamath County, OR
27 Acres | $3,250,000
Some Oregon winemakers cut
costs by making energy upgrades
Malheur County, OR
1,052 Acres | $5,900,000
Rio Vista Ranch
Okanogan County, WA
114 Acres | $3,350,000
www.HaydenOutdoors.com
Last year, John Paul, wine-
maker at Cameron Winery in
Yamhill County, Ore., got a
call.
It was from Luis Morales,
an outreach specialist for
Energy Trust of Oregon, a
nonprofit that helps busi-
nesses save on energy costs.
Morales asked Paul if he would
like a free energy study — for
an expert to visit his winery
to look for ways he could cut
energy use.
Paul had already worked
with Energy Trust several years
prior to install solar panels at
his winery, so he welcomed the
visit to identify additional ener-
gy-saving opportunities.
During Morales’ visit,
the specialist discovered that
Paul’s heating and cooling sys-
tems were old and inefficient,
so he recommended that the
winemaker install new duct-
less mini-split heat pumps that
could both heat and cool spaces
and keep storage rooms at a
Jason Quigley/Energy Trust of
Oregon
John Paul of Cameron
Winery in Dundee, Ore.
more consistent temperature,
better controlling the wine-ag-
ing process.
The result was less energy
use and lower costs. Paul has
been keeping records on his
Portland General Electric util-
ity bills for years, and after
installing the new pumps in
January, he found that his
February bill was 75% lower
than it had been the previous
February.
“It’s saving me a huge
amount of money,” said Paul.
Energy Trust offered Paul
a $2,165 incentive to set up
the heat pumps. That incen-
tive helped cover part of the
installation cost, which was
done by Husky Heating &
Cooling of Newberg.
Installation cost Paul
around $8,000, and he antic-
ipates the return-on-invest-
ment timeframe — when he
has earned back in savings
the initial investment cost —
will happen within about four
years of installation.
Energy Trust of Oregon
has worked with other win-
eries as well. The owners
of Dobbes Family Estate in
Yamhill County, for exam-
ple, invited the nonprofit to
conduct energy audits. As a
result, Dobbes Family Estate
has installed new insulation
and upgraded its irrigation.
According to Energy
Trust, many business own-
ers — including farmers —
are eligible for the nonprof-
it’s services, which include
energy audits, consultation
and cash incentives to help
with installation costs for
HVAC systems, heat pumps,
water heating, refrigeration
and insulation.
Susan Jowaiszas, Energy
Trust’s spokeswoman, said
the nonprofit’s work can
“connect (business owners)
to equipment that will require
less maintenance, lower their
operational costs and can also
make their spaces more com-
fortable for them and their
customers.”
As a result of state legis-
lation, the Energy Trust of
Oregon gets its funding from
customers of five utility com-
panies: Portland General
Electric, Pacific Power, NW
Natural, Cascade Natural Gas
and Avista. A percentage of
customers’ utility bills goes
toward supporting energy-ef-
ficiency programs across Ore-
gon and Southwest Washing-
ton, including through Energy
Trust.
OSU course on farm wildfire plans available
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
An Oregon State University Exten-
sion course that helps farmers create
wildfire preparedness plans is available
online.
Oregon Occupational Safety and
Health began requiring the plans for
many farm operations in 2019.
Enrollment in the three-hour, sev-
en-module online course costs $25.
Topics include understanding unique
wildfire risks in agricultural areas; identi-
fying locating and documenting hazards;
mitigating risk with defensible space and
better-prepared structures; creating fuel
breaks; on-site water sources for firefight-
ing; inventorying available resources;
and creating medical, fire emergency and
fire-prevention plans.
OSU said the course is also designed
to benefit ag operations without employ-
ees, and rural residents.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via AP
An online course helps farmers and
others to write fire plans.
The requirements apply to produc-
ers with employees who work to sup-
press wildfires on farms and rangeland.
A documented emergency action plan is
required as well as firefighting action and
prevention plans.
Workers who go beyond using an
extinguisher or small hose to control fire
must have basic training and an annual
refresher.
OSU estimates the likelihood of fire
in Oregon’s populated urban and rural
areas is greater than that of 64% of
states.
Jacob Powell, the OSU Extension
educator for Sherman and Wasco coun-
ties, developed and leads the course.
Extension fire educators provided
peer-review edits.
It covers how to create emergency
farm plans. He said the advantages of a
written plan include having all contacts
easily accessible in one place and clear
steps to follow.
“I’m seeing a lot more people have
those plans in writing,” Powell said.
A course goal is “to provide tools for
producers to deal with these problems,”
Powell said.
He said more producers are taking fire
precautions such as shutting down equip-
ment in high-risk conditions and parking
it in safe areas and using disc lines to cre-
ate defensible space.
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