OPINION
Wallowa County Chieftain
A4
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
THE TREASURE OF WALLOWA COUNTY
ome places find their treasures
underground—think Oklahoma,
Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia
and other places whose economies
have long leaned on hydrocarbons. In
other settings, treasure – the thing that
nurtures and sustains an economy —
lies in navigable rivers, deep harbors,
fertile soils, or beneficent climates.
Wallowa County’s treasure lies in its
landscape. The mountains. The can-
yons. And most of all, the lake.
The presence of antiquated, cor-
roding barrels that may still contain
toxic chemicals lurking just beneath
the surface of Wallowa Lake is alarm-
ing. Even if they prove empty, or at
least eviscerated of compounds that
we once used cavalierly, but now
view with dread, their presence is yet
another wakeup call to the fragility
S
and vulnerability of this invaluable
leaving our serene landscape forever
resource.
disrupted.
We all owe a huge debt of gratitude
Like the careful removal of those
to Blue Mountain Divers for find-
barrels. the promised transforma-
ing and reporting those barrels, and to tion of the Yanke property into a pub-
Oregon’s DEQ and to the federal EPA licly-accessible, multi-use, wild and
for taking their discovery seriously,
working landscape is another huge
and acting to
and significant
investigate
step toward
‘THERE REMAINS A SOURCE OF
and carefully
preserving a
remove the
treasure that
FUNDING AS YET UNTAPPED:
threat.
we all—resi-
OUR POOL OF VISITORS. AND THE
This scare
dents and vis-
INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITY.’
should be
itor alike—
wakeup call
revere. For
for all of us. It
the moraines
is a frighten-
are as much a
ing glimpse of what could be. Imag-
part of Wallowa Lake as its water, its
ine a lake with imperiled water qual-
fish, and its afternoon wind. Our new-
ity. With no fish. With algal blooms.
est commissioner has stepped up to
Or a lake surrounded with, choked
the plate to actively help the Wallowa
by, houses that few of us who earn
Land Trust and the other partners on
our livings here could ever afford, but this transaction find the funds needed
Oregon Wolf Plan vote Friday
OTHER VOICES
Few farms in the middle are a
challenge for rural communities
C
hris Mertz, direc-
tor of the USDA
National Agricul-
tural Statistics Service field
office in Olympia, Wash.,
says that while the number
of small farms continues to
grow, larger farms continue
to get bigger.
Farms both small and
large, it seems, are feeding
on the middle. That could
have big ramifications for
rural communities.
For purposes of the
Census, the USDA defines
a farm as any property that
produces, or has the capa-
bility of producing, $1,000
worth of agricultural prod-
ucts a year.
Because the bar is so
low, there are a lot of
farms — 98,405 in Oregon,
Washington and Idaho.
The USDA puts farms
into one of three catego-
ries — small, medium and
large — not by acreage but
by total sales. A small farm
is any operation with sales
of less than $250,000. By
that measure, 90% of the
region’s farms are small.
Sixty-five percent of all
farms produce less than
$10,000 in revenue a year.
Nearly a third did not actu-
ally sell $1,000 in prod-
uct, but had the potential to
do so.
A medium-sized farm
has sales of more than
$250,000 and less than
$500,000. Just 3,477 farms
qualify.
Large farms have sales
of more than $500,000, and
there are 5,871 of those in
the Pacific Northwest.
The census measures
what it calls “farm concen-
tration of market value,”
which reflects how many
farms make most of a
state’s income.
Just 2,870 farms in
Oregon, Washington and
Idaho, or 2.9% of the total,
account for 75% of the
region’s $21.8 billion in
stales. Half the total is sold
by 645 farms.
As more production
becomes concentrated in
fewer farms, Mertz said
it speaks to fewer small
farms growing and suc-
ceeding as mid-size farms.
“Farming is a challeng-
to complete the purchase.
There remains a source of funding
as yet untapped: our pool of visitors.
And the individuals in our community.
Suppose at each event, and at each
merchant, we had a donation box to
help consummate that purchase. Sup-
pose we put on a Save the Moraines
benefit concert. Suppose we offered
visitors and residents alike a way
to contribute, no matter how small,
toward conserving our treasure.
Lisa Anderson, one of the div-
ers who found and reported the bar-
rels that lurk beneath the surface of
the lake, said “The lake is a gem to
be treasured.” She’s right. The lake –
in its entirety, moraines and all—is
unique and beautiful. Such a creation
should be preserved for the future.
Thanks to all those working toward
this goal. Let’s keep going.
ing occupation,” Mertz
said. “You need to get to
the point of having the
resources available to pay
all your bills, raise your
family and to have a bal-
anced life. Sometimes in
the middle category, there
might just not be enough
revenue.”
More than 55,000 pri-
mary producers in the
region have off-farm jobs,
and 36,000 work more than
200 days a year off the
farm.
There’s nothing wrong
with being a part-time
farmer as long as there’s an
off-farm job available to
sufficiently supplement the
farm income. If there’s not,
that farm will be absorbed
by a larger operation, or
sold into hobby farms,
and a family will have to
move to find opportunities
elsewhere.
The challenge for
rural communities is to
remain economically via-
ble and able to provide the
opportunities to support
these farm families in the
middle.
SALEM,
Ore.—The
Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission meets Thurs-
day and Friday, June 6-7 at
ODFW Headquarters, 4034
Fairview Industrial Drive
SE, Salem beginning at
8 a.m. both days.
See the full agenda
at
www.dfw.state.or.us/
agency/commission/min-
utes/19/06_June/index.asp
During
Thursday’s
meeting, Commissioners
are expected to:
• Hear a briefing on the
crab fishery and reduc-
ing the risk of whale
entanglements.
• Adopt harvest limits
for Pacific sardine in state
waters for July 2019-June
2020 based on federal reg-
ulations. No directed com-
mercial fishery and very
limited other fisheries are
recommended due to a
decline in Pacific sardine
biomass over recent years.
• Allocate big game auc-
tion and raffle tags, which
are special hunting tags that
allow a long hunting sea-
son in and expanded hunt
area while raising funds
for the Access and Habitat
program, plus Rocky Mtn
goat/bighorn sheep and
pronghorn research and
management.
• Approve funding for
See the full
agenda at
www.dfw.state.
or.us/agency/
commission/
minutes/19/06_
June/index.asp
Access and Habitat projects
that provide hunting access
or improve wildlife habitat
on private land.
• Hear a briefing on pro-
posed changes to 2020 big
game hunting regulations
as part of efforts to improve
and simplify the Big Game
Hunting Regulations
A public forum will be
held Thursday morning
after the Director’s report
for people who wish to tes-
tify about an issue not on
the formal meeting agenda.
Call the ODFW Director’s
office at least 48 hours
before the meeting at (503)
947-6044 to schedule.
On Friday, Commission-
ers will be asked to correct
minor errors in the deer and
elk roadkill salvage rules
and season dates for Burns
Paiute Tribe Ceremonial
harvest tags.
The rest of the day will
be devoted to consideration
and adoption of a revised
Oregon Wolf Conserva-
tion and Management Plan.
Once adopted, the Plan will
be the third edition of the
Wolf Plan, which was first
adopted in 2005 after an
extensive public process
and last revised in 2010.
The proposed Draft
Plan was developed after
extensive meetings with
stakeholders and public
comment at several prior
Commission meetings. It
incorporates ideas where
consensus among stake-
holders was reached, but
agreement was not possible
on all topics.
The Oregon Fish and
Wildlife Commission con-
sists of seven members
appointed by the gover-
nor for staggered four-year
terms. One commissioner
must be from each congres-
sional district, one from
east of the Cascades and
one from the west of the
Cascades. Two commis-
sioners recently ended their
terms (Bob Webber of Port
Orford and Laura Ander-
son of Newport) and new
commissioners Mary Wahl
of Langlois and Bob Spel-
brink of Siletz began their
terms in May. All seven
current commissioners are
expected at the meeting
June 6-7.
U.S. organic sales break records, top $50 billion
By CAROL RYAN
DUMAS
Capital Press
The U.S. organic mar-
ket hit a record $52.5 billion
in 2018, up 6.3% from the
previous year and breaking
through the $50 billion mark
for the first time.
Records were made in
both food and nonfood cat-
egories. Organic food sales
at $47.9 billion increased
5.9% year over year, and
organic non-food sales
jumped 10.6% to $4.6 bil-
lion, according to the 2019
Organic Industry Survey
released May 17.
Almost 6% of all food
sold in the U.S. is now
organic, and growth in the
organic sector continued
to outpace gains in overall
food and comparable non-
food sales in 2018.
Total food sales in the
U.S. increased 2.3% and
nonfood sales rose 3.7%,
according to the Organic
Trade Association, which
commissioned the sur-
vey performed by Nutrition
Capital Press
Business Journal.
“Organic is now consid-
ered mainstream,” Laura
Batcha, CEO and executive
director of OTA, said.
Organic products can be
found in every aisle of the
grocery store and in box
stores, club warehouses and
convenience stores and are
increasingly available on the
internet, she said.
The organic seal is gain-
ing new appeal as consum-
ers realize not only that cer-
tification is monitored and
supported by official stan-
dards but it’s the only seal
that encompasses the spec-
trum of non-GMO and free
of chemicals, dyes and pre-
servatives, she said.
The survey found sales
of organic fruits and vegeta-
bles, which now account for
36.3% of all organic food
sales, grew 5.6% to $17.4
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
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VOLUME 134
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Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.
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billion in 2018. Organic rep-
resented nearly 15% of all
produce sold in the U.S.,
nearly doubling market
share in the last 10 years.
Sales of organic dairy
and eggs, the second-largest
organic sector, were $6.5 bil-
lion. Those sales increased
just 0.8% due to slower
dairy sales. Organic egg
sales, however, increased
9.3% to $858 million.
The strongest growth in
the organic nonfood sec-
tor came from fiber, which
accounts for 40 percent of
the organic nonfood market.
Organic fiber sales in 2018
increased 12.5% to $1.8
billion.
The growth in organic
sales is due in large part to
industry collaboration and
activism. In an environ-
ment where government is
not moving fast enough, the
industry is choosing to meet
the consumer rather than get
stalled, Batcha said.
The industry is investing
in itself through OTA’s GRO
Organic program, a volun-
tary check-off like effort to
advance organic research,
promotion and education. It
is also actively engaged in
projects to expand organic
production, help transition-
ing farmers and get the word
out to consumers on the ben-
efits of organic, she said.
OTA also formed a task
force to prevent organic
fraud in the global market,
which resulted in an offi-
cial prevention program, she
said.
The industry is also chal-
lenging USDA in court over
its delay and withdrawal of
the Organic Livestock and
Poultry Practices final rule
— a prime example of gov-
ernment slowing advance-
ment of the organic seal, she
said.
“The organic sector has
come together some 20 times
in the last 10 years to agree
to consensus-based recom-
mendations to strengthen
the organic standards. But
not a single one of these
recommendations had been
acted on to become a final
upgraded requirement,” she
said.
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