A8
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Breeding heat-resistant hops
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
CORVALLIS, Ore. —
After this summer’s heat
waves scorched Northwest
hop yards, reducing yields,
many growers are asking for
more heat- and drought-re-
silient hop varieties — and
researchers, relying on new
funding, are answering the
call.
“I’m sure growers at the
January (American Hop
Convention in Florida) will
demand more hops that can
stand up better against wild-
fi re smoke, heat and drought,”
said Peter Weathers, a grower
in Salem whose hop fi elds this
year saw heat losses.
On the private indus-
try side, growers are pushing
breeders of proprietary hop
varieties to develop more cli-
mate-resilient hop plants.
On the public side, USDA
and university researchers are
using new federal and pri-
vate funds to improve public
hop varieties and develop new
ones.
John Henning, a hop
geneticist at USDA who has
an appointment at Oregon
State University, is one of the
nation’s lead researchers in
this area.
Henning’s hop breed-
ing program, spanning Wash-
ington, Oregon and Idaho,
involves about 100 diff erent
plant family lines.
The summer’s heat, Hen-
ning said, helped reveal which
varieties and genetic lines are
strongest.
“This was a good year to
fi nd out which (hops) are most
susceptible to heat and which
ones are not,” said Henning.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
The Mosaic hop variety about to be harvested.
Through
his
initial
research,
Henning
noticed three
major trends.
First,
John Henning
Henning
found that triploid hop cul-
tivars — hops with three
rather than two sets of chro-
mosomes — tend to be more
drought-resistant.
Second, he found that lat-
er-establishing varieties per-
formed worse because the
young hops didn’t make it far
up the trellis before the heat
hit.
Finally, he said hop plants
with longer or more fi brous
root systems seemed to fare
better.
Although Henning didn’t
specify which varieties are
most and least resilient by
name — he’s not permitted to
do so as a USDA researcher
— others in the industry have
been more candid.
Several growers, along
with Michelle Palacios,
administrator of the Oregon
Hop Commission, told the
Capital Press that Citra and
Centennial were among the
varieties most impacted by the
heat, especially Citra because
the plants were young when
the heat hit.
Citra is highly sought-after
by brewers for its citrusy fl a-
vor and aroma.
Weathers, the Salem
farmer, said growers walk a
fi ne line between growing
what holds up well under heat
while producing what brewers
want.
Palacios of the commission
agreed.
“You can breed the per-
fect hop — it’s got disease
resistance, can handle water
stress and heat — but if people
don’t want to buy it, what’s the
point?” she said.
Another grower, who
spoke on condition of ano-
nymity, said many popular
hop varieties are not the most
sustainable.
“Some of the popular vari-
eties like Citra and Simco
require more spraying or more
water,” the grower said. “The
brewers and end-consumers
are not always sophisticated
enough to know that the hops
they like best might have a
bigger carbon footprint.”
Henning of USDA said
researchers will work to
improve popular varieties
through breeding and man-
agement strategies, while also
developing new varieties.
2021 is an interesting time
for hop research, Henning
said, because new money from
Congress, research at state uni-
versities and new USDA hop
research positions are making
progress possible at a rate he’s
never seen before.
“It’s an exciting time, to be
honest,” he said.
Shell to expand Oregon biogas plant
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Downstream Bovarius at the
Bettencourt Dairies in Wen-
dell, Idaho.
Together, the two RNG
facilities will produce approx-
imately 900,000 million Btu a
year of renewable natural gas.
The company does not
disclose the specifi cs of the
arrangements, including how
much the dairies are paid and
the relationships with the
dairy farmers.
The byproduct of its
manure-based biogas pro-
duction depends on the facil-
ity and the needs of the dairy
operations, according to the
company. For the Junction
City operation, the byproduct
is fertilizer.
The RNG produced at
the Shell facilities enters the
pipeline and is commingled
with the natural gas supply.
In the case of Junction
City, Shell is selling the natu-
ral gas to the Northwest Nat-
ural gas utility.
Shell wouldn’t comment
on future plans for additional
manure-based biogas facil-
ities or partnerships with
dairies.
“Portfolio shaping is an
ongoing process within Shell
businesses to ensure we have
the right mix of assets to
deliver maximum value to
our shareholders and deliver
on our business strategy,” the
company said.
179 COVID cases
traced to Round-Up
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Uma-
tilla County health offi -
cials have traced nearly
180 COVID-19 cases to
events that occurred during
the week of the Pendleton
Round-Up.
But the initial spike in
cases that followed the week-
long rodeo seem to be on a
slight decline, said Umatilla
County Public Health Direc-
tor Joe Fiumara.
“I’m hoping we’ve gotten
past the initial bump,” Fiu-
mara said after reporting the
179 cases. “Time will tell. It
will be important for people
who are sick to stay home.”
County offi cials were
expecting to report a record-
high COVID-19 case count
last week, but as the week
wore on, case counts began
to lower. Last week’s total
amounted to 487 cases, mak-
ing it the county’s third most
infectious week since the
pandemic started.
It’s a positive sign after
an alarming initial bump
in cases, Fiumara said, but
infection rates remain far
higher than they were before
the delta variant surge began
in mid-July.
“It’s hard to be happy
with cases dropping to 50 or
60 each day,” Fiumara said.
The decrease, Fiumara
said, also doesn’t mean
increased COVID-19 hospi-
talizations and deaths won’t
follow, as they have after
S259432-1
JUNCTION CITY —
Shell Oil Products U.S. is
expanding its New Ener-
gies facility in Junction City
to produce renewable natu-
ral gas.
The
company
also
announced plans for two
more facilities at dairies in
Idaho and Kansas.
The facility in Oregon
uses cow manure and straw
to produce 736,000 million
Btu a year of renewable nat-
ural gas.
The expansion added six
anaerobic digesters, chang-
ing the feedstock from food
waste to manure and straw
and replacing the biogas-fi red
electrical generator with a gas
upgrading system.
The new RNG produc-
tion facilities are the Shell
Downstream Galloway at the
High Plains Ponderosa Dairy
in Plains, Kan., and Shell
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Andrew Whiteman rides Dusty Dan into the fi nal horse exchange
on Sept. 16 during the Indian Relay Race at the Pendleton Round-
Up.
S261690-1
previous pandemic surges.
“Both of our hospitals
have seen cases and hospital-
izations go up a little,” Fiu-
mara said of Good Shepherd
Medical Center, Hermiston,
and CHI St. Anthony Hospi-
tal, Pendleton.
Harry Geller, St. Antho-
ny’s president, said in an
email that the hospital has
seen a “signifi cant increase”
in patients admitted to their
emergency department over
the past two weeks. Staff are
treating between 45 to 55
patients per day.
“During normal times, we
average 32 patients per day,”
Geller said.
As of Monday, Oct. 4, 10
out of the hospital’s 18 in
patients had COVID-19
“With 25 inpatient beds
set up and staff ed, we have
not yet gone over capacity,”
Geller said. “We’ve come
close on many occasions, but
so far, so good.”
Unvaccinated account for
85% of cases from Round-Up
Data provided by the
county health department
late last week showed 85%
of COVID-19 cases traced
to the week-long rodeo were
among unvaccinated people.
Health offi cials have said
some of the cases came from
people who had COVID-19
symptoms prior to Round-Up
but still chose to come.
The Round-Up required
no proof of vaccination or
negative COVID-19 to enter
the grounds. Had there been
a requirement, Fiumara said
some of the infection could
have been avoided. He
pointed to college football
games in Oregon that have
those requirements and have
yet to see an outbreak.
There is no state rule that
says organizers must require
a proof of COVID-19 vac-
cination or negative test to
hold an event.
Pendleton
Round-Up
General Manager Erika Pat-
ton did not return a call seek-
ing comment prior to press
time.
Cases stemming from the
week-long rodeo have so far
been reported in Oregon,
Washington and Montana, as
well as Umatilla, Jeff erson,
Morrow, Wallowa and Union
counties, according to Mike
Stensrud, an epidemiologist
with Umatilla County Public
Health. The vast majority of
cases have been reported in
Umatilla County — 166.
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