FARMERS MARKETS SYMPOSIUM.
Page A5
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 52
M Crow
owner
eyes
unique
brewery
April 13, 2016
$1
A kitchen staffer at Veritable
Quandary of Portland pours out
a mountain of freshly cooked
quinoa to be served in a dish
with duck. It is a dish that
will be served with Wallowa
County
quinoa in
the future.
Tyler Hays
envisions brewing,
woodworking and
ceramics business
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
See BREWERY, Page A7
Ellen Morris Bishop/For The Chieftain
IN WALLOWA COUNTY, THE
POPULAR GRAIN IS ‘A THING’
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
allRZa &RXnty RI¿ FLally LV Ln the TXLnRa
EXVLneVV
It’s been a couple of years coming but last
year second-generation quinoa seed was plant-
ed on the Daggett Ranch property on the East
Moraine where Patrick Thiel grows his organic
crops — and they’re liking what they see.
“They” in this case is not just Patrick Thiel and his marketing
partner Ted Golder of Enterprise. It also refers to Washington State
8niYersity, which has a seed trial for quinoa underway, ¿ nanced by
Lundberg Family Farms.
The Idaho branch of Paci¿ c 1W Grain and Feed Association
also is looking at quinoa as a rotation crop on signi¿ cant acreage if
all the parameters could be worked out for processing and getting a
consistent production.
Those last two “if all the parameters could be worked out” ques-
tions are the big ones: processing and consistent production. Con-
sistency looks like it’s coming. But processing is a not a job that
one guy with 60 acres on the moraine can work out on his own.
“The goal is to have 1,200 to 1,500 acres of organic production
in the upper valley and a facility that will allow for processing and
packing our products,” Thiel said.
“Our” product is the key word in that sentence. Wallowa County
Quinoa growers will not want to send their quinoa to a large out-
of-state production facility because Wallowa County quinoa is
already too good, too distinct, to be mixed in with quinoa grown in
other places.
If 20 years of marketing Wallowa County organic products has
taught Thiel anything it’s the value of what we have.
“I know we have a value in our Wallowa County products —
and it is À avor,” Thiel said. “Quinoa is like my porcini powder I
can sell a small bag of porcini powder to a chef in Portland and he
or she can earn the James Beard Award. It’s the secret ingredient.
Quinoa is like that. We’re sitting on something that there is a high
W
“
Ellen Morris Bishop/For The Chieftan
Chef Annie of Veritable Quandary and Patrick Thiel.
demand for.”
And you don’t ¿ nd that À avor just anywhere.
Chefs on Thiel’s marketing route are drawn to Wallowa County
quinoa because of Thiel’s reputation and their personal experience.
“
If native son Tyler Hays has his
way, a new microbrewery in Joseph
may help boost Wallowa County’s
employment statistics.
Hays is the owner of BDDW, a
very successful East Coast arts and
design company,
as well as the M.
Crow & Co. store
in Lostine. He
maintains his Wal-
lowa County roots
by frequently vis-
iting the home he
Hays
owns here.
Hays says he’s
very concerned about the long-term
economic disruption caused by
the closure of the area’s sawmills.
He purchased the M. Crow & Co.
store in Lostine that was in immi-
nent danger of permanent closure.
1ow, he hopes to bolster the Wal-
lowa County economy by building
a microbrewery and has already
purchased a 22-acre Joseph proper-
ty with plans of eventually adding a
commercial woodworking/ceramic
workshop.
Hays said the project was about
three years in the making. The
working title of the beer is simply
“M. Crow”. Hays plans to start off
brewing and possibly selling the
boutique beer out of the shop as
well as the M. Crow and Co. store
and his online site.
He said the building is not a
multi-million dollar enterprise, but
a small operation — at least at the
outset.
“We have a lot of good contacts
and a lot of good people behind it.
We want to keep our growth slow
and stable.
“It’s going to be more than
just beer. I’m working with (local
rancher) Alan Klages, who is grow-
ing Heritage Barley, a strain invent-
ed by his great uncle.”
Hays said a two-year search led
him to a farmer growing the seed in
southern Oregon. Hays purchased
500 pounds for Klages to sow. Half
of the total is slated for the brewery
and the other half for more sowing.
The idea of being a big-shot em-
ployer in the county doesn’t appeal
to Hays, but he is aware of the scar-
city of family-wage jobs in the area.
See QUINOA, Page A7
I KNOW WE HAVE A VALUE IN OUR
WALLOWA COUNTY PRODUCTS — AND IT IS FLAVOR.
Forest Plan discussion draws crowd
Show featured Thursday
on OPB’s ‘Think Out Loud’
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
An overÀ ow crowd of about
100 people gathered Wednesday
evening at Blue Mountain Com-
munity College in Pendleton
— coming from as far as Baker
City, Joseph and even Bend —
looking for answers to the same
basic question.
Who should be allowed to
do what, and where, on the Blue
Mountains national forests?
Those decisions are ulti-
mately guided by the Blue
Mountains Forest Plan, which
is undergoing its ¿ rst revision
since 1990. It has been a slow,
laborious process as the Forest
Service attempts to balance all
manner of public interests, from
access and recreation to logging
and conservation.
The stakes were laid out
during Wednesday’s discussion
of the forest plan, which was
recorded and aired Thursday on
“Think Out Loud” on Oregon
Public Broadcasting.
See MEETING, Page A7
E.J. Harris/East Oregonian
Steve Beverlin, supervisor of the Malheur National Forest, gestures to the audience while
answering a question while sitting on a panel of experts during a taping of OPB’s “Think
Out Loud” on Wednesday at BMCC in Pendleton. The topic of the show was the highly
controversial Blue Mountains Forest Plan.