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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 26, 2022
Groups welcome USDA investment in organic
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
USDA will spend up to $300
million to support organic and
transitioning farmers and address
organic market challenges.
The Organic Transition Initia-
tive aims at providing opportuni-
ties for new and beginning organic
farmers and reversing the declin-
ing trend in farmers transitioning
to organic, which has dropped by
nearly 71% since 2008, according
to USDA.
The initiative will invest:
• Up to $100 million through
the Agricultural Marketing Ser-
vice to build partnership networks
in six regions across the U.S. to
connect transitioning farmers
with mentors to share practical
insights and advice.
• Up to $100 million to help
improve organic supply chains
in targeted markets, such as feed,
legumes and other edible rota-
tional crops, livestock and dairy.
•
$75
million
through the Natural
Resources Conserva-
tion Service to develop
organic management
conservation standards
and offer financial and
technical assistance to
producers.
• $25 million through the Risk
Management Agency to support
transitioning and certain certified
organic producers’ participation
in crop insurance, including cov-
erage of a portion of their insur-
ance premium.
The Organic Farming Research
Foundation said the initiative is a
crucial investment that will sup-
port producers’ adoption of organic
management and build a resilient
and equitable food system.
“Organic farming brings envi-
ronmental and economic benefits
to communities across the country
but has historically been
under-invested in,” said
Brise Tencer, the founda-
tion’s executive director.
“This is a meaningful
investment in key pro-
grams to support organic
and transitioning farm-
ers. We have advocated
for these goals for many years,
and it is exciting to see them come
to fruition,” she said.
Tom Chapman, CEO and exec-
utive director of the Organic Trade
Foundation, said the initiative is a
big step in the right direction.
“For too long, organic agri-
culture has been underrepre-
sented in government programs
and support, and farmers want-
ing to transition to organic face
steep hurdles in accessing tai-
lored organic-appropriate pro-
grams and resources at USDA,”
he said. It takes three years to
transition from conventional to
organic farming.
“This initiative will have last-
ing positive impacts on organic
agriculture. And that will mean
an expansion of climate-smart
agriculture practices, more eco-
nomically sound rural communi-
ties, more help for beginning and
socially disadvantaged farmers
and ranchers and increased access
to organic foods for consumers,”
he said.
Mike Lavender, interim policy
director for the National Sustain-
able Agriculture Coalition, said
USDA’s commitment will support
organic producers and the grow-
ing market demand for organic
products.
“Overall, these investments
help address the mounting need
to assist farmers learning and
adopting organic production sys-
tems if they are to meet grow-
ing consumer demand for organic
and adopt practices that mitigate
and build resilience to climate
change,” he said.
The National Organic Coa-
lition applauded USDA’s com-
mitment and its recognition that
organic farming is critical to
building a more resilient food
system.
“The National Organic Coa-
lition is thrilled to see USDA
embracing ideas that have been
promoted by our members,
including farmer-to-farmer men-
torship programs, new technical
assistance resources and changes
in crop insurance programs to
help expand domestic organic
production in a sensible manner,”
said Abby Youngblood, the coali-
tion’s executive director.
Hungry pigeons ravage Oregon farm’s blueberry crop
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SILETZ, Ore. — An
unpredictable chain of
events has turned a bless-
ing into a curse for the blue-
berry crop at Gibson Farms
this year.
Cool, wet weather in
spring seemed to bode well
for the farm’s irrigation sea-
son, which depends on rain-
fall in Oregon’s Coast Range
Mountains.
“Water’s been the con-
cern of late, so when we had
the wet spring, it was a big
relief,” said Brenton Gibson,
whose family runs the farm.
However, high mois-
ture and low temperatures
had other consequences as
well: Delayed ripening and
poor fruit set in wild berries,
on which local band-tailed
pigeons depend.
Desperate for an alterna-
tive source of food, hundreds
of birds swarmed the farm’s
20-acre blueberry operation.
The family wasn’t prepared
for such an early onslaught.
“We weren’t oriented
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Brenton Gibson examines blueberry bushes damaged
by pigeons that caused severe crop loss at the family’s
farm.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Alan Fujishin speaks about the crop loss caused by an influx of pigeons this year at
Gibson Farms near Siletz, Ore. With him is his wife, Lorissa.
toward bird damage because
the fruit wasn’t even ripe
yet,” said Alan Fujishin,
who’s married to Gibson’s
sister, Lorissa. “When they
hit our early varieties, they
started cleaning them out
remarkably quickly.”
The farm began hazing
the birds with propane can-
nons, pyrotechnics, lasers
and other methods, while
seeking help from state and
federal wildlife experts.
“It became clear the
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problem was bigger than the
tools we have combined,”
Fujishin said.
By late July, though, up
to 700 pigeons were feast-
ing on the blueberry crop,
ultimately erasing roughly
$80,000 from the farm’s
expected revenues.
“The birds have effec-
tively taken the first and
second picks,” Gibson
said.
Apart from the direct
loss of blueberries, the
bushes were damaged by
so many relatively heavy
birds sitting on their
branches.
“Those pigeons aren’t
a graceful bird when they
land or take off,” Gibson
said. “They sort of thrash
around.”
Federal
authorities
decided against allowing
lethal removal of any birds,
since their population isn’t
considered robust in the
area.
“Maybe they’re just not
looking for them in the
right places,” joked Brooke
Gibson, Brenton’s wife.
It’s rare for the federal
government to approve
lethal bird removal, but
the method isn’t particu-
larly effective anyway, said
Jason Kirchner, a wild-
life biologist with the state
Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
Unlike other animals,
birds will still tend to come
back even if members
of their flock are killed,
Kirchner said. “It would be
detrimental to the popula-
tion to keep killing them.”
Crop damage from
pigeons is common in Ore-
gon but the concentra-
tion at the Gibson’s farm
was unusual for the Coast
Range, he said. “At this
intensity level, it was a
crazy year. It’s a hundred
times worse when the wild
berries aren’t there.”
Fujishin said he should
have called in biologists
from ODFW and USDA’s
Wildlife Services a couple
weeks earlier to forestall
the invasion.
“Growers should move
quickly so they’re not play-
ing catch-up,” he said. “It’s
easier to prevent them from
getting established than to
haze out an established
flock.”
The pigeons ultimately
ate most of the blueberry
crop after the farm had
already invested in the nec-
essary inputs and spent
additional money on haz-
ing the intruders.
Fujishin jokes that he
could still try to “throw
dollar bills at the birds,” but
the financial toll they’ve
taken is serious. The farm
will be forced to cut back
on fungicides and fertilizer
next year, adversely affect-
ing future yields.
“Things will be tight
next year,” said Lorissa
Fujishin.
While this year’s crop
loss is the worst experi-
enced by its current opera-
tors, they know earlier gen-
erations survived similarly
devastating setbacks from
bird damage and freezing
temperatures.
The farm is also diversi-
fied, growing hay and rais-
ing cattle, so the blueberry
crop isn’t its sole source of
income.
“You don’t expect all the
enterprises to do well all the
time,” Alan Fujishin said.
Wild berries have finally
been maturing in the for-
ests surrounding the farm,
so most of the pigeons have
now moved on to other
food sources.
The
family
hopes
enough blueberries remain
for a machine harvest to be
worthwhile, and it’s also
opened the farm’s U-pick
operation to the public.
Pickers
have
been
warned they’ll have a
tougher time filling buckets
with an abundance of fruit
for their freezers.
“We didn’t want them
to come unprepared for
what they’re going to see,”
Lorissa Fujishin said.
“It sort of feels like a sal-
vage operation at this point,”
added Alan, her husband.
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/29/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2018 HYUN ELATRA 4D
VIN = 5NPD84LFXJH353710
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s)
BONNIE L S ROBERTSON
OREGON COMMUNITY C.U
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
08/29/2022. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2011 MERZ M35 UV
VIN = 4JGBB8GB3BA655495
Amount due on lien $1555.00
Reputed owner(s) >
ELIZABETH A & NATHAN L GRANGER
MECHANICS BK
