REGION
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
PENDLETON
Wheat growers gather for field day
Projects include weed
control, disease resistance
Staff photo by George Plaven
Christina Hagerty, plant pathologist for the Oregon State University,
discusses how to identify wheat diseases during field day at the
Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center.
is “like a freight train coming down
the line” for farmers.
One possible soil amendment is
biochar, a charcoal-like substance
made by roasting biomass such as
woody debris at high temperatures
and low oxygen. Biochar has already
been proven to instantly increase
organic matter and soil pH in tests
conducted at the research station.
Stephen Machado, agronomist
for OSU, reviewed his data from
early experiments and said he is now
looking into how long the residual
effects of biochar may last.
“If it does last, I think this is going
to be a great thing for farmers,”
Machado said.
When he started his project,
Machado said biochar cost a
whopping $1 per pound. The price
has since dropped to 5-10 cents per
pound, and he anticipates market
demand could make biochar a
cost-effective solution in the future.
Later during the lunch break,
David Schemm and Chandler
Goule with the National Association
of Wheat Growers outlined the
industry goals for the next farm
bill and agriculture appropriations
for fiscal year 2018. Schemm, the
association’s president, emphasized
the importance of crop insurance
moving forward.
“It’s a key component to a good
risk management program,” said
Schemm, a farmer from western
Kansas. “It’s about ensuring your
program will be there the next year.
Schemm said the association
opposes the proposal in President
Donald Trump’s budget that calls
for a $40,000 hard cap on crop
insurance subsidies, which could
prevent some larger and mid-size
farms from ensuring their entire
acreages.
“This is something that cannot
work,” Schemm said.
As the Trump administration
announced its intention to renego-
tiate the North American Free Trade
Agreement, the wheat industry is
also urging the government not to
harm its trade relationships with
Canada and Mexico. Exports to
Mexico have been especially strong
under NAFTA, increasing by as
much as 400 percent, according to
the association.
A second field day will be held
Wednesday at the OSU Sherman
County station in Moro.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0825.
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Page 3A
Former TRCI inmate
faces child porn charges
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Gusty winds made for a chilly
Tuesday morning at the Columbia
Basin Agricultural Research Center
north of Pendleton, where scientists
with Oregon State University and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
hosted their annual field day for
local wheat growers.
The station, located on Tubbs
Ranch Road, is home to both OSU
and the USDA Agricultural Research
Service. Field day provides an
annual update of ongoing research
projects to help farmers improve the
quality of their crop and the bottom
line of their business.
Participants rode in buses from
one wavy wheat field to the next,
where project leaders discussed
their latest findings on experiments
to battle weeds, plant diseases and
soil degradation. Representatives of
the National Association of Wheat
Growers were also on hand to gather
feedback on priorities for the 2018
Farm Bill.
Christina Hagerty, plant patholo-
gist at the station, said this year was
a perfect storm for stripe rust across
the region, given early seeding of
winter wheat followed by a cool,
wet spring. Stripe rust is capable of
cutting wheat yields by more than
half if it goes untreated.
Hagerty passed around samples to
show how to identify diseases such
as stripe rust, eyespot and crown rot.
While OSU has done a good job of
developing disease-resistant wheat
varieties, Hagerty said options are
still lacking for soil-borne mosaic
virus, which has been another major
focus of her program.
“Our options for genetic resis-
tance are pretty limited,” she said.
Bob Zemetra, a wheat breeder
for OSU in Corvallis, said he began
screening for soil-borne mosaic
virus in 2008. The disease is espe-
cially on the rise around the Walla
Walla Valley, and can cause severe
stunting in plants.
“One of my goals is to release
varieties that can fit in across the
state, and in these micro-climates,”
Zemetra said.
Other issues raised during field
day included soil stratification,
where the nutrient and pH levels
are uneven in the soil profile. Don
Wysocki, a soil scientist with OSU
Extension Service, said that problem
East Oregonian
A former inmate of Two
Rivers Correctional Institution
faces almost two dozen counts
of possessing child pornography
while he was in the Umatilla
prison.
The Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Office on May 18
indicted Robert Wayne Bray,
51, on 22 counts of first-degree
encouraging child sexual abuse
and one charges of supplying
contraband. All the crimes took
place Dec. 7-9, 2014, according
to the indictment.
District Attorney Dan Primus
said he could not discuss the
details of the case but confirmed
Bray was an inmate in the state
prison at the time of the alleged
crimes. He was later released
after serving his sentence.
Bray has a history of child
sexual abuse and making and
accessing child pornography,
according to court records. And
the Argus Observer reported
Bray in 2001 bypassed secu-
rity measures on a computer
at the call center in Snake
River Correctional Institution,
Ontario, and downloaded at
least 22 pornographic images of
children.
Bray had been in the prison
there since 1996, serving almost
19 years on a Douglas County
conviction of using a child in
a display of sexual conduct
and delivery of a controlled
substance to a minor, the Argus
Observer reported. Dan Norris,
the Malheur County District
Attorney at the time, told the
newspaper the Douglas County
case involved Bray “taking
pictures of children performing
sex acts or using them in a live
sex show.”
Accessing the child porn in
2001 netted Bray another 15
years in prison, according to the
Observer.
Bray had a hearing Monday in
Umatilla County Circuit Court,
Hermiston, to face the 23 new
charges, but he did not appear. He
has been in the Douglas County
Jail, Roseburg, since May 2 on a
parole violation. His release date
from Douglas County is July 28.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0833.
Two taken to hospitals
after crash on overpass
East Oregonian
Two Boardman residents were
seriously injured in a three-ve-
hicle collision on Highway 207
Monday near Interstate 84.
A teenager was most seriously
injured, and he was transported
by air to a hospital in Richland
and later to Spokane.
Oregon State Police is still
investigating the crash, which
took place at 10:31 a.m. on
Monday. The investigation so
far shows that Markus Smith,
20, was driving a silver Pontiac
Grand Am with a 13-year-old
male passenger. The Pontiac was
stopped at the stop sign at the top
of the I-84 eastbound ramp of
exit 182.
The Pontiac pulled onto
Highway 207 and into the path
of a commercial motor vehicle
operated by Kevin Helzer of
Hermiston. The Pontiac side-
swiped Helzer’s vehicle and
spun, striking another vehicle,
which was facing south and
waiting to turn onto I-84 east-
bound.
Smith was seriously injured
and transported by ambulance to
Good Shepherd Medical Center
in Hermiston. His 13-year-old
passenger, whose name was not
released by OSP, suffered critical
injuries and was transported by
Life Flight to Kadlec Medical
Center in Richland, and then to
a Spokane hospital. Helzer and
Glen Sharp, the driver of the
other commercial vehicle, were
not injured.
As of Tuesday morning, the
condition of both Smith and his
passenger were unknown. Good
Shepherd said Smith was no
longer a patient at the hospital,
but did not say whether he had
been released or transported for
further care.