Sunday, May 19, 2013
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The hazelnut packing division of Blue Diamond Growers is shutting down operations in Oregon after more than three decades in the industry. The California-based farmers cooperative is primarily devoted to almonds and decided to discontinue the hazelnut sideline, just as it previously ended its inv ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 9:57 AM
SALEM -- In a legislative hearing May 16, specialty seed producers testified in support of a bill establishing a five-year moratorium on canola production in the Willamette Valley. But growers questioned the need for a $1 million, three-year research project that is included in the bill. Others t ...
Thursday, May 16, 2013 5:47 PM
RICHLAND, Wash. -- As cherry clusters hung sparsely in orchards near Pasco, Sundale and Hood River, Pacific Northwest cherry growers met in Richland and estimated this year's crop at 18.2 million boxes. That's down 21 percent from the record 22.9 million of last year. Alternate light bearing afte ...
Thursday, May 16, 2013 9:34 AM
A bipartisan group of Northwest lawmakers has introduced bills to reaffirm the Environmental Protection Agency's policy of not requiring a water discharge permit for runoff from forest roads. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and ...
Thursday, May 16, 2013 2:56 PM
A company that planned to build a biorefinery in eastern Oregon aimed at adding value to grain crops has filed for bankruptcy. Treasury Valley Renewable Resources, which is based in Idaho but planned to build the facility in Oregon's Malheur County, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, ...
Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:55 AM
U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., said specialty crops fared well in the House Agriculture Committee mark-up of the 2013 Farm Bill, but he was disappointed in the committee's cuts to the food stamp, or SNAP, program. "Overall, I was very pleased with our ability to secure increased funding for our ...
Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:35 AM
SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber has declared May 19-25 Invasive Weed Awareness Week, and, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the state needs to be diligent in its war against weeds. But you wouldn't know it by the department's proposed 2013-15 budget. Under a directive to cut $1. ...
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 5:34 PM
A San Francisco private equity firm announced May 15 it has made a significant investment of growth capital in the Washington winery DeLille Cellars and purchased the Oregon winery Panther Creek Cellars. Bacchus Capital Management also announced it has appointed winemaker Tony Rynders as Panther's ...
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 10:44 AM
SALEM -- Oregon may soon have a new Integrated Pest Management coordinating committee to guide how state agencies and universities manage pests. House Bill 3364 creates the committee and stipulates that state agencies will adopt "state-of-the-art science approaches" to manage pests. The bill sti ...
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 10:24 AM
SALEM -- Two veterinarians, a county sheriff, a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association official, a mayor, state legislators and several ranchers spoke out against a bill that would ban "horse tripping" at rodeos in hearings May 8 and May 13 before the House Judiciary Committee. Others said the pr ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 8:30 AM
ROY, Wash. -- The idea that hay cannot be grown well west of the Cascade Mountains is a misconception, an agronomist says. The moderate growing conditions in western Washington state make for more-even production, agronomist Marty Chaney said during a tour of farms in Pierce County, Wash. "We d ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 10:31 AM
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The frosty nights of the first week of May have turned into "perfect strawberry weather," Olympia grower Tim Spooner says. He predicted a harvest date of about June 6 or 7, a week to 10 days earlier than usual. That's a far cry from last year, when an "awfully wet" May and ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:52 PM
Rural Oregon county commissioners on May 14 announced a new organization supporting congressional action on active management of federal forests in Oregon. The Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities organization hopes to educate citizens on current federal policies and describe how the policies nega ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 12:01 PM
SALEM -- A Ways and Means subcommittee has scheduled a public hearing for May 16 on a bill that would ban canola production in the Willamette Valley until 2018. The bill is being heard in Ways and Means, rather than a policy committee, because of a provision in it that requires the state to fun ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:02 PM
SALEM -- Regardless of whether lawmakers pass a bill creating a new business model for the Oregon State Fair, the fair will need state funds to continue operating over the next few years. Backers of Senate Bill 7, which creates an independent public corporation to manage the fair, contend, howe ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:02 PM
SALEM -- The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee has moved a bill to the floor that would change how Oregon sheep growers are assessed on their state check-off program. Under Senate Bill 719, the Oregon Sheep Commission would assess sheep growers based on meat and not wool. The bil ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 10:21 AM
PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) -- A federal agency says one of the nation's largest onion farms will pay $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says a worker at River Point Farms faced verbal abuse from her male supervisor from 20 ...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 9:20 AM
Brenda Kirsch nearly doubled her crimson clover acreage this year and expects the market may prompt her to plant more in the future. Aside from the crop's agronomic benefits, demand for the seed among farmers in the Midwest seems to have a lot of growth potential, she said. "With the decent pric ...
Monday, May 13, 2013 9:29 AM
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Pacific Northwest hay stocks are down 19 percent from 2012, according to the Washington Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. In the Northwest region -- Washington, Oregon and Idaho -- the quantity of hay stored on farms, sold or unsold, on May 1 totaled 98 ...
Monday, May 13, 2013 8:59 AM
GERBER, Calif. - More than $2.7 million in federal funds has been handed to 15 West Coast farms as part of the USDA's Value Added Producer Grant program. Of those, seven grants worth $1.5 million were given to farms in California. The competitive grant program aims to eliminate key barriers i ...
Monday, May 13, 2013 10:49 AM
A Oregon House committee has unanimously moved a bill to the floor to give farmers with on-site farmworker housing an extra 12 hours to pay workers after harvest. The House Business and Labor Committee on May 13 moved Senate Bill 677 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation after hearing suppor ...
Monday, May 13, 2013 10:19 AM
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $1,425 civil penalty to Pendleton Flour Mills for failing to file an annual report by deadline. The report, due Feb. 15, was filed March 26. DEQ requires the annual report under the mill's air contaminant discharge permit. The mill al ...
Monday, May 13, 2013 10:19 AM
The U.S. Forest Service has named a new deputy regional forester for the agency's Oregon and Washington region. Becki Lockett Heath, currently supervisor of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, will be one of two deputy regional foresters assisting Regional Forester Kent Connaughton. "In m ...
Friday, May 10, 2013 9:58 AM
More indications of potential trouble for Oregon farmers and ranchers are coming from the Umpqua River Basin, where snow and rain have been sparse. Officials say irrigators along the South Umpqua River could face restrictions on water supplies as early as this month. Flows in the river are expec ...
Friday, May 10, 2013 2:38 PM
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have asked the USDA to extend emergency grazing of cattle on federal land in drought-stricken southeastern Oregon counties. In a letter dated May 9, the Oregon Democrats wrote that this year's drought has created "disastrous conditions" for southeastern Oregon ...
Thursday, May 09, 2013 2:37 PM
SALEM — Two veterinarians, a county sheriff, a rodeo official, a mayor, state legislators and several ranchers spoke out against a bill that would ban “horse tripping” at rodeos in a hearing May 8 before the House Judiciary Committee. “First of all, what we do is not horse t ...
Wednesday, May 08, 2013 4:46 PM
April precipitation remains below normal for region
New BMCC program focuses on 'precision irrigated agriculture'
Biochar could help farmers boost yields
OSU researcher tracks stripe rust on susceptible wheat
Army Corps wants cattle off its land
Apex Cellars wins best of show at wine festival
Soggy weather sours sugar beet harvest
Mid-Columbia shows its ag strength with peas
Coast Guard rescues teenage girl in surf 100 yards from shore
Case of Russian in Astoria motel shooting and high-speed chase will go to jury Monday
Seaside High School culinary team returns from nationals
Two compete for parks board position
Jewell School candidates address hiring leader, budget priorities
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