4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2015
In West, women farmers
carry economic clout
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
The percentage of Pacif-
ic Northwest and California
farmers who are women eas-
ily tops the national average,
according to statistics re-
leased by the USDA.
Nationally, 31 percent of
farmers are women, and they
farm more than 301 million
acres and have a $12.9 billion
annual economic impact, ac-
cording to USDA.
In Oregon, 39 percent of
farmers are women; 37 per-
cent in Washington and 33
percent in Idaho and Califor-
nia.
MORE ONLINE
USDA’s state-by-state analysis of women farmers:
http://1.usa.gov/1Z8oUfk
2013 Capital Press article on daughters taking over
the family farm: http://bit.ly/1OjWziN
The West in general has a
higher percentage of women
farmers than the rest of the
country. Arizona tops the list
with 45 percent women; Ne-
vada counts 39 percent, Colo-
rado 37 percent, Wyoming 35
percent and New Mexico and
Montana have 34 percent.
Katy Coba, director of the
Oregon Department of Agri-
culture, said the culture of the
West is more receptive than
other regions to women being
involved in agriculture.
That can¶t help but inÀ u-
ence or change agriculture,
although the women them-
selves may not think there’s
anything special about their
presence, Coba said.
“When there’s a diversity
of perspectives, that’s a good
thing,” she said. “Women are
one element of that diversity.”
Young farmers and people
who grew up in urban areas
and are turning to agriculture
also bring diverse viewpoints
and experience to farming,
she said.
“The more we can bring
those people together and
help shape ag policy, I think
you just get better policy,” she
said.
In the Midwest, women
make up 23 percent of the
farmers in Illinois, 25 per-
cent in Iowa and 28 percent
in Ohio.
The numbers are drawn
from the 2012 Census of
Agriculture, which actually
showed a 2 percent decline
nationally in women farm-
ers compared to the 2007 ag
census. The 2012 census also
showed the number of women
who are principal operators
declined by 6 percent.
Nonetheless, women’s im-
pact in ag is evident. In Ore-
gon, for example, they farm
7.3 million acres and have a
$263 million economic im-
pact.
The USDA also announced
it has established a mentoring
network for women in agri-
culture. The agency invited
people to take part by email-
Women farmers
in the U.S., 2012
Of the nearly 1 million women
farmers nationwide, more than
10 percent come from the
Northwest and California.
Northwest and
California:
98,263 or
10.1%
Source: U.S.
Census of
Agriculture
Rest of U.S.:
871,409 or
89.9%
Breakdown
by state
40,072
22,772 22,376
13,043
Calif.
Ore. Wash. Idaho
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
ing AgWomenLead@usda.
gov or follow #womeninag on
Twitter.
Chinook port still plotting a course toward solvency
By KATIE WILSON
EO Media Group
CHINOOK, Wash. —
People in Chinook have do-
nated what their port can’t
currently buy — stuff like
coffee, basic office supplies
and toilet paper.
Even though Port of Chi-
nook Manager John Demase
has managed to pay most of
the bills since mid-Septem-
ber when he took over after
former manager Ashley Da-
vis resigned to spend more
time with family, the port
is still broke. Demase had
hoped the port could hold
on until January, the month
when fuel sales increase
thanks to the opening of the
commercial Dungeness fish-
ery and when annual moor-
age comes due.
But now, with no reserves
and little revenue likely to
come in for the rest of the
year, he says he’s modified
his expectations.
A regular commissioners
meeting will be held p.m.
Thursday at the port office.
Demase hopes to present a
EO Media Group/File Photo
The Port of Chinook was busy in August with recreational fisheries, but not as busy as hoped.
draft budget for next year to
commissioners Ken Green-
field, Les Clark and Corky
Wilson, and seek direction
from them on how to gen-
erate revenue for the port in
the short term.
“We need to figure out
if this port is going to run
through the year,” Demase
said, adding the port can’t
wait for, or count on, what
may or may not happen in
January.
The port still owes
$133,000 to fuel supplier
Wilcox and Flegel and has
just $74,000 left in the bank.
Supporting you for a
Lifetime of Health
This month, and for the rest
of the year, the port’s income
is down to roughly $100 a
day in fuel sales and tran-
sient moorage fees, and the
port tenants that pay month-
ly leases (some pay yearly).
“That just doesn’t get us
through this year,” he said.
The port’s other main
money-making month —
August, with busy recre-
ational fisheries in the ocean
and on the Columbia River
— is over and did not bring
in nearly as much revenue as
Davis had projected in the
budget she drew up for this
year.
Though the port plans to
raise moorage and launch
rates and charge for parking
next year, Demase says he is
looking at everything he can
do now to bring in revenue.
This could include selling
some assets, though, he add-
ed, that “kills us in the long
term.”
As he and the Pacific
County Treasurer’s office
sort through the port’s con-
fusing finances, it is clear
that the port has been operat-
ing at a loss for many years.
“It’s costing the port to
operate its business,” De-
mase explained.
Commissioners Green-
field and Wilson authorized
Demase to seek a state ac-
countability audit as it is
unclear when things began
to go wrong at the port.
Until Demase was asked to
take over as manager and he
asked for a closer look at the
books, the commissioners
said they believed every-
thing was fine. They said
Davis told them the port had
plenty of money in the bank.
The Washington State
Auditor’s Office has been
asked to investigate finances
at the port, and is in the mid-
dle of a preliminary investi-
gation to see if the situation
warrants a full investigation.
It is not clear who, if anyone,
is to blame for the current
circumstances.
Demase was previously in
charge of the port’s mainte-
nance projects and dredging
in the marina. He and Andy
Beckford are now the port’s
sole employees. By the end
of October, Demase plans to
have Beckford out in the ma-
rina, running the dredge. The
marina silts in and must be
regularly dredged to remain
viable, but this anticipated
and much-discussed project
was not included in Davis’
budget.
When the media
becomes the story
TO ATTE N D :
F or M em bers:
D in n er & L ecture:$25 ea .
L ecture on ly: n o ch a rge
F or Non -M em bers:
D in n er & L ecture: $35 ea .
L ecture on ly: $15 ea .
:RPHQ/LHY[
of North Oregon Coast
community support connection
E
D
0HHWLQJV
3 rd Wednesday of the month, 6:30 pm
CMH Health & Wellness Pavilion
3rd Floor Conference Room
2165 Exchange Street
Astoria, OR
Oct 21: Dr. Anna Marina, Type 2 Diabetes
Nov 18: Heart Healthy Cooking
1VPU`V\YSVJHSJOHW[LYVM
>VTLU/LHY[HUVYNHUPaH[PVUMVY
^VTLUSP]PUN^P[OVYH[YPZRVMOLHY[
KPZLHZL;OPZJOHW[LYPZZWVUZVYLK
I`*VS\TIPH4LTVYPHS/VZWP[HS
Nigel Duara
October 15
Based in Tucson, Duara covers the border
for the Los Angeles Times. A Miami
native, Duara was previously a reporter for
the Associated Press in Portland. He
covered the Ferguson, Missouri,
demonstrations. He wrote about that
experience in Oregon Humanities
magazine.
Appetizers w ill be
a va ila ble a t 6 p.m .
D in n er w ill be served a t
6:30 p.m .
T h e spea ker w ill begin
a fter th e din n er service
is com plete a n d n on -
din n er m em bers a n d
guests of th e a udien ce
ta ke th eir sea ts.
F orum to be h eld a t th e
CM H Com m un ity Cen ter
a t 2021 E xch a n ge St.,
Astoria .
LIM ITE
SEATIN D
G
RE SE R
VE
SPACE TO Y D O U R
AY !
Contact Michele Abrahams
MVYTVYLPUMVYTH[PVUH[
>/5VY[O6YLNVU*VHZ['
^VTLUOLHY[VYN
Columbia Fo r um
FOR RESERVATION OR TO JOIN COLUMBIA FORUM CONTACT:
H olly L a rk in s a t 503.325.3211 ext. 227 or foru m @ d a ilya storia n .com by O ct. 12th, 2015
WomenHeart is the only national organization dedicated to advancing women’s heart health through
advocacy, community education and patient support. As the leading voice for the 42 million American
women living with or at risk of heart disease, WomenHeart advocates for equal access to quality care
and provides information and resources to help women take charge of their heart health.
&YDIBOHF4U"TUPSJB0SFHPOt
XXXDPMVNCJBNFNPSJBMPSHt"1MBOFUSFF%FTJHOBUFE)PTQJUBM
Columbia Forum is sponsored by:
The D a ily Asto ria n • Cra ft3 • O SU Sea fo o d L a b o ra to ry • K M U N -F M
Ca n n ery Pier H o tel & Sp a
