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Thursday, April 16, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Small-business & Ag
HAPPENINGS Plan your meal with this takeout guide
Observer staff
Union County Cattlemen put
meetings on hold
UNION COUNTY — The Union
County Cattlemen will not have a meeting
in April.
Pat Larson, secretary for the organiza-
tion, explained in an email the move is due
to Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order for
residents to stay home and follow social
distancing to curtail the spread of COVID-
19. Union County Cattlemen, Larson said,
have canceled all its meetings until further
notice.
Primary nesting season
underway
LA GRANDE — Although most CRP
participants carry out necessary insect
and weed control measures, the Farm Ser-
vice Agency reminds reminds CRP/CREP
participants to be alert to insect and weed
growth on your CRP/CREP acres.
The FSA County Committee is required
to review all CRP/CREP maintenance work
during the primary nesting season, run-
ning March 1 through July 15, according
to the press release from the Farm Service
Agency. Weed control work during this
period will be limited to spot treatment of
the affected areas.
If you wish to perform any activity
during this time, contact the Union County
FSA office to sign and submit the required
request form.
CRP/CREP participants need to comply
with the Oregon Noxious Weed Law and
ensure the control of noxious weeds They
also need to make sure annual weeds,
insects, and rodents do not inhibit the estab-
lished practice during the CRP/CREP con-
tract period.
“We strongly encourage you to take the
necessary steps to keep your CRP/CREP
contract in compliance,” the agency’s press
release stated.
Disaster assistance available to
Oregon private nonprofits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Low-interest
federal disaster loans are available to certain
private nonprofit organizations in Oregon
following President Dona’d Trump’s federal
disaster declaration for public assistance
as a result of severe storms, flooding, land-
slides and mudslides that occurred Feb. 5–9.
According to the press release from the
U.S. Small Business Administration, pri-
vate nonprofits that provide essential ser-
vices of a governmental nature are eligible
for assistance. These low-interest federal
disaster loans are available in Umatilla,
Union and Wallowa counties and on the the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
Private nonprofits should contact the
Oregon Office of Emergency Manage-
ment by calling Julie Slevin at 503-378-
2235 or emailing julie.slevin@mil.state.
or.us; or calling Dan Gwin at 503-378-
3254 or emailing dan.gwin@mil.state.
or.us to obtain information about applicant
briefings, according to Tanya N. Garfield,
director of the SBA’s Disaster Field Opera-
tions Center-West.
Applicants may apply online, receive
additional disaster assistance information
and download applications at https://disas-
terloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may
also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at
800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerser-
vice@sba.gov for more information on SBA
disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf
or hard of hearing may call 800-877-8339.
Completed applications should be mailed to
U.S. Small Business Administration, Pro-
cessing and Disbursement Center, 14925
Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
A primer on ordering
takeout from local
establishments
J
EO Media Group staff
Below is a small sam-
pling of establishments from
La Grande and Baker City
that have takeout or delivery
options.
This is not an exhaus-
tive list. If you don’t see your
favorite restaurant listed, give
them a call to see what they
have available.
Bud Jackson’s Eatery
& Taps
Where: 2209 Adams Ave.,
La Grande
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Contact: Phone (541-962-
7858), online (budjacksons.
com or by searching Bud Jack-
son’s on Facebook), in person
for carry out
What’s available: Full
menu, except for breakfast.
Specials are still running,
including prime rib on Friday.
Normal turnaround time
ranges from roughly 10-20
minutes.
Options: Takeout and
delivery ($3 for delivery). Beer
delivery is also available.
Side A Brewing
Where: 1219 Washington
Ave., La Grande
Hours: noon-8 p.m. seven
days a week
Photo by Phil Wright
Mamacita’s International Grill in downtown La Grande is one of the numerous local establish-
ments offering takeout.
Contact: Phone (541-605-
0163), online (sideabeer.com);
or in person at garage door on
Washington Avenue for carry
out
What’s available: Lim-
ited menu. List of available
options is on the website. Spe-
cials, soups of the day still
being offered. Suggested to
call ahead on soup of the day.
Turnaround time roughly
20-40 minutes.
Options: Takeout and
delivery ($5 for delivery to La
Grande and Island City). Beer
delivery available in 32 oz.
crowler cans.
Inland Cafe
Where: 2715 10th St.,
Baker City
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
seven days a week
Oregon snowpack rebounds
Umatilla, Walla Walla
and Willow basins
measure 143% of normal
J
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
PORTLAND — An erratic
winter for Oregon’s mountain
snowpack appears to be ending
on a high note.
Recent snowstorms have
lifted the state’s overall average
snowpack to 109% of normal
as of April 8, compared to 91%
of normal at the beginning of
March, according to the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
The highest totals are in
Eastern Oregon, with the Uma-
tilla, Walla Walla and Willow
basins measuring 143% of
normal; the Grande Ronde,
Burnt, Powder and Imnaha basins
at 126% of normal; the John Day
Basin at 127% of normal; and the
Owyhee Basin at 113% of normal.
The Willamette Valley —
home of 60% of Oregon’s popula-
tion and nearly half its gross farm
sales — is also above average for
snow, at 110% of normal.
Agriculture relies on snow-
pack to act as a natural reser-
voir heading into the spring and
summer irrigation seasons, grad-
ually replenishing streams and
filling reservoirs for farms and
ranches to water their crops and
livestock.
Snowpack in Oregon got off
to a slow start in November and
December before rebounding sig-
nificantly in January, rising as
much as 64% in the Hood, Sandy
and Lower Deschutes basins. Feb-
ruary and early March brought
another round of warmer and
drier weather, which turned to
snow again by month’s end.
Scott Oviatt, snow survey
supervisor for NRCS Oregon,
said snowpack typically peaks in
April and May across the state.
“The key,” he said, “is going to be
how quickly or rapidly that snow-
melt runs off.”
“We don’t want it to come out
in a sudden flush, with warm tem-
peratures or rain on snow,” Oviatt
said.
That sudden flush was felt
especially hard earlier this year,
when warmer weather and rain-
on-snow contributed to mas-
sive flooding on the Umatilla
and Walla Walla rivers in north-
east Oregon and southeast Wash-
ington, damaging farms and
homes.
With so much snow at higher
elevations in the region, Oviatt
said local water managers are
undoubtedly keeping a close eye
on the situation. Conversely, if the
snowmelt happens more slowly
See, Snow/Page 3B
Contact: Phone in (541-
523-9041), or drive up.
What’s available: Full
menu (which is available by
searching Inland Cafe online).
Also available is a family style
4 for $35 special, and prime rib
dinner Friday and Saturday.
Turnaround time is about
15-20 minutes.
See, Takeout/Page 3B
Resurgence of mint
Northwest mint farmers endure deadly
fungi and foreign competition
J
By Sierra Dawn McClain
EO Media Group
JUNCTION CITY
— John Reerslev, 65, a
second-generation mint
farmer, bent and plucked a
young mint sprig from the
soil. He rubbed it between
leathery fingertips and
held it to his nose. A
breeze rippled his graying
hair.
“When harvest comes,
everything smells like
peppermint,” he said. “It
fills the air.”
Reerslev and his
family grow mint and dis-
till mint oil in the Willa-
mette Valley, heartland of
America’s mint industry.
The Reerslev farm near
Junction City is part of a
colossal domestic industry
impacting how millions
of Americans brush their
teeth, chew gum, suck
cough drops, swallow
medications, inhale essen-
tial oils and flavor their ice
cream.
The Reerslevs run one
of just three remaining
mint distilleries in the
valley in a time when,
despite continued con-
Photo by John Reerslev
Mint oil during the distilla-
tion process.
sumer demand for mint,
Northwest growers
grapple with deadly fungi
and foreign competition.
The Reerslevs grow a
variety of crops on 2,000
acres. In 2005, the farm
grew about 600 acres of
mint that yielded 60,000
pounds of mint oil. This
year, the farm will grow
just 150 acres of mint and
produce about 15,000
pounds of oil.
The farm is scaling
See, Mint/Page 2B
Western water data coming to new online platform
New project
encompasses 17
Western states
J
By Sierra Dawn McClain
EO Media Group
SALEM — Water data
has historically been lim-
ited in scope and expen-
sive to access. A new
project seeks to change that
pattern.
Researchers from
NASA, the Desert Research
Institute and the Environ-
mental Defense Fund, with
support from Google Earth
Engine technology, are
working to create an online
platform with free, acces-
sible, satellite-based water
data open to anyone.
Farmers have expressed
both excitement and con-
cern about the prospect.
Industry leaders and water
experts say the project will
have a profound impact on
water management in the
West.
“The implications are
tremendous,” said Andrew
McElrone, professor and
research plant physiologist
at the University of Cal-
ifornia-Davis. “This will
impact growing decisions,
water usage, water rights
and trading.”
The project, called
OpenET, will launch in
2021.
OpenET’s leaders say
its purpose is to improve
“sustainable water man-
agement” for communities,
rivers, wildlife and agricul-
ture. It is funded by chari-
table foundations, NASA,
agricultural companies
and irrigation management
districts.
OpenET is so named
because it measures evapo-
transpiration, or ET, the
process by which water
moves from ground to
atmosphere through both
evaporation from the land
and transpiration from
plants.
Project aims to
bridge data gap
Forrest Melton, a senior
research scientist with the
Cooperative for Research
in Earth Science and Tech-
nology at NASA Ames
Research Center, said con-
sistent information on
evapotranspiration “is prob-
ably the biggest data gap for
water management.”
ET technology isn’t new.
According to Maurice Hall,
who leads EDF’s Western
Water program, universities
and other groups have used
ET data for years, but the
existing approach is “piece-
meal at best.”
“Given the importance
of water, it’s surprising
how archaic many of our
tools are for actually man-
aging water resources,”
said Buzz Thompson, a
natural resources law pro-
fessor and faculty director
for Stanford University’s
Water in the West pro-
gram. “OpenET could be
revolutionary.”
Draw a line from North
Dakota to Texas, and those
17 states to the west will
be included in the initial
project. The model may
spread to remaining states
and other countries.
OpenET will not
make private data public,
according to Melton of
NASA. Instead, OpenET
will choreograph fragments
of already-public informa-
tion, such as weather data
sets and field boundaries,
into one coherent platform.
“Water management
agencies and others already
have access to this type of
information,” said Melton.
“But because in the past
it’s often been limited and
expensive, not everyone
who needs the data has had
access to it. I think having
equal access to informa-
tion can lead to better deci-
sions, especially for water
management.”
New tool could
bring pros, cons
Some farmers are enthu-
siastic about greater data
access.
Don Parrish, senior
director of regulatory rela-
tions at the American Farm
Bureau, said he predicts
OpenET will cut farmers’
costs while increasing pro-
ductivity and efficiency.
But other farmers said
they fear the data could be
used against them.
“With the data going
open and public, are
growers going to have envi-
ronmental groups sue their
pants off for perceived
overuse of water?” said a
Washington state viticul-
turist who did not wish to
be identified.
The data may also be
used to enforce water rights
and enable water trading.
According to Thompson
of Water in the West, ET
data has been used for at
least a decade in regulatory
and legal conflicts.
“This kind of data
will help police and
enforce water rights,” said
Thompson.