WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
Locally grown foods featured at OSU dinner
Specialty crops grown
in the Columbia Basin
make up creative menu
educate and excite the pub-
lic about what’s growing in
their own community.
“Just look at the diversity
we have here,” said Hamm,
station director for HAREC.
“This is one of the best agri-
cultural production regions
in the world.”
Thursday marked the
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up events across the state,
and the only one to come
to Eastern Oregon. Dinners
have already been held in
Aurora and Astoria, and two
more are slated for Portland
and Medford and Aug. 24
and Sept. 13, respectively.
Modeled after the con-
cept of pop-up restaurants,
the crop-up series is all about
showcasing Oregon-grown
specialty fruits, vegetables
and tree nuts. Oregon ranks
sixth in the nation in special-
ty crop production, accord-
ing to ODA. The dinners are
meant to help farmers get
those products in the hands
of consumers.
In order to cook up some-
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the OSU Food Innovation
Center reaches out to lo-
cal farms to see what crops
are in season and then col-
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
Phil Hamm is never one
to hold back when it comes
to promoting the Colum-
bia Basin as an agricultural
powerhouse.
Farmers throughout the
region grow more than 200
types of crops, Hamm said,
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nation of climate, soils and
clean water. The result is a
bounty of nutritious vege-
tables like potatoes, onions
and carrots to go along with
sweet treats like famous
Hermiston watermelons.
All those and more were
on the menu Thursday
during a special “crop-up”
dinner hosted by Oregon
State University and the
Oregon Department of Ag-
riculture. The dinner, which
was held at OSU’s Hermis-
ton Agricultural Research
and Extension Center, fea-
tured dishes inspired by
local ingredients, meant to
that guests haven’t seen
before, so they will feel
inspired to go out support
their local farms.
“We have such a good
diversity of ingredients,” he
said. “It’s silly to not sup-
port local farms and cook
with local products.”
Outside,
guests
at
HAREC sat at long tables
while vendors set up booths
to showcase just some of
what the region has to offer.
When dinner was served,
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Ball provided a rundown of
each course and the crops
Naomi Sanchez, left, with Finley Fresh Produce hands a bag
they used in each creation.
of vegetables to Anna Rademacher at the crop up dinner
Julia Turner, an interna-
Thursday at HAREC in Hermiston.
tional trade manager with
Ball said they were ex- ODA, said the crop-up se-
laborates with local chefs.
Jason Ball, research chef pecting about 80 guests, and ries is meant to be fun and
with the Food Innovation his team worked behind the educational. It was support-
Center, said they teamed up scenes in a “kitchen” that ed by the federal Specialty
with Walker’s Farm Kitch- was actually a conference Crop Block Grant Program,
en in Hermiston to prepare room at the station. Still, which has invested $2 mil-
each course they served at they pulled together to make lion in funding projects to
boost Oregon’s specialty
it work.
HAREC.
“We’re creating a really crops.
The meal included fer-
“We’re hoping to teach
mented potato bread, baked XQLTXH GLQLQJ H[SHULHQFH
with Yukon Gold potatoes; for people in the area,” Ball people a little something
watermelon from Walchli VDLG³:H¶UHWRWDOO\ÀH[LEOH about specialty crops and
Farms tossed with fresh cu- We can get any ingredients prepare some delicious food
cumber, tomato and mint; and make something we VRWKH\FDQWDVWHWKHP¿UVW-
hand,” Turner said.
a watermelon-infused gaz- think is pretty tasty.”
The event also honored
The goal, Ball said, is to
pacho; and beef tenderloin
serve up something fresh T/7 Ranch, of Haines, as the
served with corn relish.
inaugural Farm to School
Producer of the Year for the
area. The Oregon Farm to
School Program reimburs-
es schools for purchasing
products from local pro-
ducers, and T/7 has been a
major contributor over the
years.
Run by Brent and Jea-
nette Thompson, the ranch
has donated beef and po-
tatoes to the nearby North
Powder Schools, and also
lent their expertise in help-
ing the school of 360 kids
build their own garden,
growing lettuce, carrots,
radish, peppers and more.
“We are a farming com-
munity, but not all kids have
the opportunity to have
hands-on learning of where
their food comes from,” said
Erin Thompson, Farm to
School coordinator in North
Powder and daughter-in-law
to Brent and Jeanette. “A
lot of the vegetables will be
used in the school itself as
part of the lunches.”
The Crop-Up Dinner Se-
ries and Market Showcase is
set to continue next year, with
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the state. The locations have
not yet been announced.
Remote-controlled aircraft take flight at first Ag Drone Rodeo Police: Little tips can be big help
in solving crimes, saving lives
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
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ever Ag Drone Rodeo, organizer
Jeff Lorton compared the day’s
events to those in 1903 at Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina, the site of
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The attendees of Thursday’s
events were primarily concerned
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of people from across the state
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demonstrations focused on agri-
culture.
Hosted by the Pendleton Un-
manned Aerial Systems Range and
Oregon Future Farm, drone man-
ufacturers and vendors like RDO,
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UAS. Each company talked about
their drone’s crop imaging capabil-
ities and ease of use while piloting
it on a short mission.
Lorton said unmanned aerial
vehicles would be a regular part of
farming operations within 10 years
and there was one working already
on Hill Ranches near Pendleton.
“This drone thing you’ve heard
so much about is a reality,” he said.
It’s certainly a reality for a
group of students at Yamhill-Carl-
ton High School, who are building
a drone from scratch.
A Yamhill County farmer com-
missioned the drone so he could
use the unmanned aerial vehicle
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er crops, Yamhill-Carlton math
teacher Jordan Slavish said.
The farmer agreed to pay for
half of the cost to build it. A ded-
icated after-school group of 6-7
students now gets a hands-on ex-
perience building their own drone.
Slavish was accompanied by
Jeff Breazile and his son Zach, a
students working on the drone.
one know what they are legally
allowed to do in certain circum-
Local
business
owners stances, or helping angry neigh-
learned about ways they can bors come to a compromise about
help the police — and the police a nuisance, which can prevent the
can, in turn, help them — during situation from escalating into a
a Hermiston Chamber of Com- crime later.
Osborne also shared infor-
merce Business to Business lun-
cheon Tuesday.
mation about a free training the
Sgt. Bill Osborne of Hermiston department offers, called Civil-
Police Department told the group ian Response to Active Shooter
that the biggest way people can Events (or CRASE), which helps
help out the police department is people learn to stay calm and
by helping be their eyes and ears. move away from danger in an
“The best thing you can do to emergency, especially an active
help keep your community safe is shooter situation.
just to tell us,” he said. “If you see
“This is simply a tool that saves
something, report it.”
lives,” he said.
Osborne said a lot of times
Osborne said the average po-
people will notice something out lice response time in the Unit-
of place or have a gut feeling ed States is three minutes. The
something is wrong, but then end CRASE training teaches people
up telling themselves they’re be- to act in ways that can help buy
ing silly and they should just ig- them three minutes of safety until
nore it. But he gave an example of police arrive.
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He gave the example of a crim-
they had seen a suspicious person inal entering a building and open-
behind a business, and when the LQJ ¿UH RQ WKRVH LQVLGH 3HRSOHV¶
RI¿FHUZHQWWRORRNKHGLVFRYHUHG instinct when they hear gunshots
several pounds of meth stashed in is to run, but often they automati-
a garbage can.
cally run to the place they entered
“We have solved all sorts of the building — straight toward the
crimes from those little tips,” he shooter, in many cases. Training
said.
yourself to note where all of the
If there seems to be any imme- exits are when you enter a build-
diate danger, he said, call 9-1-1 ing or room can help you move
and report it to a dispatcher. But away from danger instead of to-
if the problem is a chronic one or ward it, Osborne said.
someone is just looking for infor-
He said the department holds
mation they call the front lobby at classes from time to time for
541-567-5519, email one of the groups of individual citizens
staff listed on the website or stop who have expressed an interest.
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Employers can also contact the
Osborne said the department department about scheduling a
does a lot of “preventative main- CRASE training at their work-
tenance” in the community by just SODFHRUSHRSOHFDQUHTXHVWLWIRU
talking to people. Letting some- their church or other group.
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Farmer Forrest Frantz of Hood River gives a close inspection to the
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Breazile, an engineer at Intel,
said his employer is covering the
expenses of the trip to Eastern
Oregon, which the contingent is
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software they need to compile ag-
ricultural data.
Although many in the agricul-
tural industry see drones as a part
of the future of farming, some
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integrated.
Todd Thorne, a member of the
Pendleton Airport Commission
and a former wheat farmer, said
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ing used now to help growers of
high-value crops like potatoes and
tree fruits. But the current cost of
investing in a UAS might be too
cost prohibitive for a lower-value
crop like dryland wheat.
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now be bought for well under
$100, the price tag for many of the
professional-grade drones being
demonstrated were in the thou-
sands of dollars.
Don Wysocki, a soil scientist
with the Umatilla County Oregon
State University Extension Ser-
vice, concurred with Thorne. He
said he saw drone operators leas-
ing out UAS services to farmers
rather than growers buying drones
of their own.
Phil Hamm, the station director
of OSU’s Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Extension Center,
said there’s a great deal of potential
for farmers.
Hamm said UAS can pinpoint
the spots where pests are destroy-
ing a crop, allowing the farmer to
target that spot rather than blanket
a large area with expensive, unnec-
essary pesticide.
Hamm also thought leasing
drone services would proba-
bly be the most immediate way
UAVs would be integrated into
farming.
While he did note that farmers
in the Columbia Basin are progres-
sive in their ability to adapt to new
technologies, Hamm said drone
companies will have to appeal to
growers’ business sense.
“You have to prove to them that
they can save money,” he said.
IN BRIEF
Flowers • Candles
Jewelry • Plants
Balloons & More!
Put a smile on the heart with
th
the power of flowers.
s.
HWY 395, HERMISTON
541-567-4305
Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am
www.cottagefl owersonline.com
Infant dies in
Stanfield
at 11:09 a.m. for a unre-
sponsive infant on the 400
block of East Ball Avenue.
Fire District 1 battal-
A month-old Stanfield
infant died Thursday, ion chief Corey Gorham
said the crew worked to
Aug. 18.
Medics from Umatil- resuscitate the child and
la County Fire District called the emergency de-
1, Hermiston, and the partment at Good Shep-
6WDQ¿HOG TXLFN UHVSRQVH herd Medical Center for
team responded to a call more direction.
The doctor, though,
Gorham said, told the
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nothing they could do. The
child died at the scene.
“You don’t want to go
out on those calls,” Gor-
ham said.
He said he did not
know what caused the
death.
ROADTRIP
Trip
programs.
There is a limit of one
test drive for each program
per household.
The football team will
scrimmage on Saturday,
Aug. 27, from 9-11 a.m.
at the Kennison Field and
a soccer game between
Hermiston and Umatilla
will be held at 6 p.m.
land
Road
Two local auto deal-
erships are teaming up to
help Hermiston sports pro-
grams.
Tom Denchel Ford is
bringing the Ford Motor
Company’s Drive 4 UR
School event to Hermiston.
Tom Denchel Ford will do-
nate $20 for every person
who test drives a Ford ve-
hicle at Hermiston High
School on Saturday, Aug.
27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Hermiston boys’
soccer and football pro-
grams have the potential to
raise up to $6,000 for each
program.
The soccer program
could receive an addi-
tional $2,000 for eligible
test drives on a 2017 Ford
Escape, meaning the soc-
cer team could raise up to
$8,000 on Saturday.
Also
on
Saturday,
Hermiston Chrysler Dodge
Jeep RAM is will be doing
the Gridiron Challenge,
with the potential to raise
up to $5,000 for the foot-
ball program.
Drivers can test a Dodge
RAM truck and Hermiston
Chrysler Dodge will donate
$20 per test drive in support
of the football program.
In order to do a test
drive, a person must be
18 years of age or older
and have a valid driver’s
license. Eligible drivers
can test both a Ford and
Dodge to help both sports
#Ric
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Dealerships team up
for Hermiston sports
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