An Oregon State University scouting program has confirmed onion thrips — tiny, winged insects that spread iris yellow spot virus in onion fields — are reproducing in Western Idaho and Malheur County, Ore., nearly a month early. For more information visit www.capitalpress.com
Vegetable growers mystified by something going wrong with their crops can take the first step toward solving the problem by consulting a website managed by scientists at the Northwest's three land-grant universities.
Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," available at http://bit.ly/BiotechBacklash
In this podcast, editors and reporters talk about how the suicide of a California dairyman has galvanized the dairy industry, look back on the gains from 150 years of the land-grant university system, and discuss the particulars of a Willamette Valley farm that has managed to emerge from bankruptcy.
Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or your favorite RSS reader.
To listen, click here.
My editor, Joe Beach, posts over at the Back Forty:
The Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center will hold a centennial celebration from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 30.
Afternoon activities include kids entertainment, historical exhibits and lab and field tours.
Official presentations will take place from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
A complimentary, family-styled dinner will be served from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The celebration includes live entertainment from 7 to 8 p.m.
The research center is at 2121 South First St. in Hermiston.
Information: oregonstate.edu/dept/hermiston/, or call the center at 541-567-6337.
This week Oregon State University unveiled in Corvallis the winners of its art competition, the Art about Agriculture 2008: The Nick of Time.
I'll write more later, but here's the video so people can see some of the great works of art now on exhibit in Corvallis.
When George Mitchell came out swinging with his 409-page report on performance-enhancing drugs used in professional baseball, he struck out on the most important point that should be made.
He did not recommend punishment for the 85 past and present players named as guilty.
If he's going to name that many players who have ties with teams from coast to coast, and so many past Cy Young and Most Valuable Player winners (15 out of 36 from between 1996 and 2004), then he needed to sternly declare they must be punished.
Instead, he leaves the choice to Commissioner Bud Selig who deserves blame himself for doing so little to clean up baseball in the last few years, even as evidence grew there was a problem.
Sadly, even if something is done it appears players will not be disciplined for their actions prior to Sept. 30, 2002. That was when baseball's management and union drug policy was introduced. Also, Human Growth Hormone wasn't banned until January 2005.
Perhaps the biggest blow to baseball will be what happens to its image among fans and more importantly, the next generation of potential players.
Mitchell's report listed Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettitte and so many others who have been seen as heroes for their accomplishments in batting, pitching and overall performance. Will people, especially kids, become disenchanted with baseball? Or worse, will these young players believe the only way they can compete and become stars some day is by finding ways to cheat in the future?
At a time when committees in Washington, D.C., and the baseball organizations themselves will be going through Mitchell's recommendations and attempting to deal with controversy, Oregon will stand out as a place of hope for others across the country.
Here we have some great examples of what baseball players can accomplish with hard work, solid skills, good sportsmanship, pride and most of all love of the game.
We have the Oregon State University Beavers baseball team which earned back-to-back national championships, with players from all over the state. They didn't do it for multi-million dollar contracts: Anyone watching the games could see these players love baseball and they played as a team supporting each other.
Then there's a brighter example of what Oregon can offer baseball's future: Jacoby Ellsbury of Madras.
Ellsbury, Navajo in ancestry, played with OSU's baseball team and was drafted No. 23 in 2005.
This past season, he became a World Series hero as he played for the Boston Red Sox. He fought with heart, determination and amazing skills as he became only one of three rookies in World Series history to smack four hits in a single game.
Forget Clemens, Bonds and others who have cheated their fans, shamed their teams and hurt the image of baseball forever.
We have heroes among us who will continue to show up on ball diamonds each season and demonstrate to the world why baseball deserves to be one of America's most popular sports - and earn back fans' respect and trust.
Technorati tags: Agriculture
Mitchell
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Jacoby Ellsbury
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Scott Reed, Ed Ray and Thayne Dutson lead the Oregon State University contingency that took part in the Pendleton Round-Up Westward Ho! Parade on Sept. 14. (Photo courtesy of Betsy Hartley/OSU)
If you want to take part in a non-motorized rodeo parade, then you need to be able to ride a horse — as demonstrated by three leaders from Oregon State University who took part in the Pendleton Round-Up Westward Ho! Parade last week.
Scott Reed, the Vice-Provost for Outreach, Engagement and Extension, President Ed Ray, and Thayne Dutson, Dean and Director of the Experiment Stations from the College of Agricultural Sciences led their OSU group that included OSU Alumni, 4-H members on horses, OSU friends and Benny the Beaver.
Technorati tags: Agriculture
There's some tasty North Carolina barbecue grub coming out West, thanks to the Oregon State Beavers' repeat drubbing of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels for the NCAA baseball championship.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley make a friendly wager on the outcome of the championship series late last week.
But, perhaps Kulongoski ought to send the package he wagered anyway. Those folks in Carolina have seen what Oregon has to offer on the baseball diamond in the College World Series for two consecutive years now. Maybe they should also get a taste of the agriculture and food products we have out West too.
Congratulations to my alma mater OSU!
Here's the press release below Gov. Kulongoski's office issued today congratulating Oregon State.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2007
Governor Congratulates Beavers on World Series Repeat, Commends UNC and Governor Easley on a Thrilling Weekend
Governors Kulongoski and Easley had agreed to a gentlemen’s wager on the series
Salem – Today Governor Ted Kulongoski offered his hearty congratulations to the Oregon State Beavers baseball team for their repeat championship in the NCAA College World Series this weekend with a pair of impressive 11-4 and 9-3 victories over the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
“I think I can safely say that for at least one day, all Oregonians – all Beavers, all Ducks, all Vikings, even all Pilots – stand united in saying that we couldn’t be more proud of you,” said Governor Kulongoski. “Pat Casey and every member of the team have done an amazing job, putting the rest of the nation on notice that Beaver baseball is a force to be reckoned with.”
Last week, Kulongoski made a gentleman’s bet with North Carolina Governor Mike Easley on the outcome of the series. Governor Easley wagered one pound of barbecue, one bottle of barbecue sauce and one pint of slaw from both Wilber’s Barbecue of Goldsboro and the Barbecue Center Inc. of Lexington and a case of Cheerwine if the Beavers won. Governor Kulongoski put up a basket of products made in Oregon including a sampling of Pacific seafood, Oregon artisan cheeses, Oregon Brewers Guild craft beer and hazelnuts – perfect snack foods for an afternoon of baseball.
“The beavers showed up too strong in Omaha,” said Governor Easley. “Governor Kulongoski was their strongest supporter and I congratulate him and Oregon State on a great championship. I hope we will get a chance to play again next year. Go Beavers!”
“I appreciate Governor Easley’s kind words and the tasty North Carolina barbecue – a great way to enjoy this victory,” said Governor Kulongoski. “I look forward to next year and, who knows, perhaps another great rematch next season?”
The Beavers defeated the Tar Heels in the championships of the 2006 NCAA World Series. The Beavers are the first back-to-back champions since Louisiana State University in 1996-1997.
When readers of our newspaper or website feel like expressing themselves on what they’ve read, they often let us know in different ways.
They might write a letter to the editor — so it gets published in the newspaper — or they use our website “article comment submission forms” and post online their comments.
One of the changes we made in the past was to add an anti-spam device so people have to type in a code they see. This gets rid of some of those automated spammers out there that frustrate so many other people that have websites or blogsites with unwanted advertisements or other inappropriate content.
If our readers wonder if we read their comments, the answer is yes: we do monitor what is posted.
Thank you to those that let us know if we have something wrong, if there is a date of some news event coming up, or even if they just tell us what their opinion is on a topic. It gives us something to think about on whether we selected a topic that interested people, how we wrote the article, and did we do a good job or perhaps miss some important angle or aspect in the story.
One of the articles that recently got a few people talking online was our editorial on China titled: “Pressure China on Food Safety,” published April 27. (See Capital Press editorial)
So far, we’ve received five comments on it. While we don’t know where they readers live, they did share one thing in common: each of them had concerns about importing food products from China and wanted to hold it to higher standards.
“The US was quick enough to ban beef products from UK and Canada when there was a fear of Mad Cow disease. The Chinese should certify all food products meet with FDA standards. Failure to do so should result in a complete ban on ALL Chinese food imports, essentially starting immediately. Also all Japanese and European countries should also join the ban. It is time enough for China to come in line with the rest of the world's industrialized countries,” wrote Ken Howton.
“We should only be able to buy products from other export companies if they can be tested and held as accountable as our own US producers. If they don't pass the same rigorous testing as American producers then we don't accept their products or foods. This is just common sense, of which there seems to be very little of these days. How can America compete when the bar is constantly shifting in favor of foreign suppliers, wrote Shari Cox.
John Bannan commented: “First, we should not import from China. If we do, everything should be inspected at the expense of the exporter in China, including their factories and fields, the same way that we inspect products made in the USA.
Let's start catering to jobs in America, not in Jobs in Mexico, China, Iraq, Brazil, India, etc. Also, some heads should roll when the FDA doesn't do proper inspections.”
And Joy Benemann said “I enjoyed this article. I myself am very worried about food quality.I would like to see a law that will force county of origin to be stated for all ingredients in food products so I can avoid Chinese food.”
Thank you, everyone, for writing.
When we receive compliments on articles, we do like to pass on the comments to those who wrote the stories or opinion pieces.
For example, on April 27, Oregon State University student Jamie Jaberg had a thoughtful opinion piece published in Capital Press titled “Budget levels threaten ag programs” (See opinion piece) The articulate senior, who has been studying in the Rangeland Ecology and Management Department at OSU, shared what the university has meant to her but also what her concerns are about the future of the university she will leave this spring.
She concluded with “Initially, I was thankful that I was graduating this spring so I wouldn't have to deal with the gutting of vital programs and sharp tuition increases that are the inevitable fall out from these higher education budget cuts. Then I began to think about the future. I plan to raise a family in Oregon and I'm beginning to doubt that at this rate my kids will have the same opportunities that I had as a student at OSU.
“If these budget cuts pass, my children will be more apt to choose a school out of state in order for them to receive the quality college education. Education is the most important gift we can give our children. With this in mind, I urge you to write, call, or meet your legislator and let them know that agriculturists support higher education.”
Michael Borman read her piece online and decided to post a comment.
“This is a very articulate, well-thoughtout article written by a senior at OSU. Hopefully the legislature is paying attention. We need more like her and without adequate funding we will miss some of them.”
His comments have been passed on to her.
We’d like to encourage other people to share their views with us, and thank again all those who took the time to write.
Also, don’t forget we now have another option: you can phone and leave a recorded message at any time at 1-800-285-6005.
Michael Roth, left and Kathy Moreland, far right, accept on behalf of Roth's Markets the Oregon Ag Star award on April 28, 2007 in Salem. Sherry Kudna, Ag Fest chair, and emcee John Burt present the award. Burt also received an Ag Star award. The awards are for an individual, business or organization who has made significant contributions to the agricultural industry.
SALEM, Ore. — While the number of people gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary banquet of Oregon Ag Fest in Salem on April 28 was modest, there was a lot to celebrate last weekend: by the time the sunshine-filled two-day event was over, the total attendance was 17,250.
That was up from a year before. It also showed remarkable growth since it first began. According to emcee John Burt, the executive director of the Farmers Ending Hunger organization, the beginning of Ag Fest involved pitching a tent in Riverfront Park in Salem, with “a half dozen displays and a couple pieces of machinery.”
About 400 people showed up at the first event, which eventually changed its focus to attracting children and moved to occupy several buildings on the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
But there are a lot of reasons to celebrate this event and its growing success, beyond the number of adults and kids that attend each year.
There are an incredible number of volunteers, from farmers to farm organizations, and all types of agri-businesses. They come from all over the state to teach kids how to pet, feed, grow and even count: they promote agriculture, but more importantly teach the next generation why they should care.
As Burt pointed out, the event is held in April so people in agriculture can be there: “You’re across the table from 10,000 kids” and they get to talk to growers.
That is the most important lesson of all: in a time when agriculture is under such scrutiny, farmers and ranchers need someone to explain, encourage and celebrate what they do. As farmers prepare for vegetables to be planted, fruit to be harvested, calves to be weaned and other crops to be cut, they deserve more understanding as well as respect for all that they nurture.
Kids, especially from urban areas, can’t always visit the farm so other learning experiences have been developed. Oregon’s Agriculture in the Classroom program reached 48,500 students last year, often by visiting classrooms throughout the state and encouraging teachers to use the Get Oregonized resource guide.
The Ag Fest experience takes the learning experience another step, and creates a chance for people to see vegetables, seeds, animals and fowl first hand; pet animals ranging from llamas to rabbits; take a plant home to watch it grow; and learn enough facts to fill a text book.
Oregon Ag Fest also presents awards to those who have made significant contributions to the agriculture industry: nominations include individuals, businesses or organizations.
This year, Roth’s Markets received an award, as did John Burt.
The first Roth’s store first opened in 1962 in Silverton, Ore., and since then the supermarket chain has gained a reputation for using local and regional products and community involvement. Roth’s has helped encourage children to learn about agriculture in such places as Oregon Garden.
Since the beginning, the family-owned Roth’s has helped with Ag Fest and “been extremely generous with the time their staff,” said Burt.
Meanwhile, Burt has received several awards already from the agricultural community for his contributions. From being involved in extension services at Oregon State University, to being on the boards of various food banks and now his involvement with the Farmers Ending Hunger organization, Burt has shown his dedication to supporting farmers and been recognized for his efforts.
But he became teary eyed and speechless for a few moments when he was surprised with the Ag Star award this year. He has watched this event grow, and it was obvious how much he believes in its goal of providing an educational experience for families.
“This is an incredible, incredible event,” he said “Of all the things I’ve ever did in my career … this is one of the best things I’ve ever did, and best things I’ve ever been involved with,” Burt said. “ All the work that goes into letting the public know what agriculture is all about and engaging them in a positive, educational way there’s nothing like Ag Fest, it’s the most incredible thing.”
Looking out at the current Ag Fest organizers identifiable by their red shirts, he honored them.
“Twenty years later, you’ve got still the best event I’ve seen anywhere,” he told them, emotion evident in his voice.
From those who gathered, there was a unanimous roar of agreement and warm applause, even from those whose voices were hoarse from talking to hundreds of children who visited their booths earlier.
Sherry Kudna presents John Burt with an Oregon Ag Star award recognizing his contributions to Ag Fest for the last 20 years.
Technorati tags: Agriculture
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CORVALLIS, Ore. — As the last couple of people drifted away from last night’s opening reception for the Art about Agriculture exhibit at Oregon State University’s Memorial Union building on campus, the cleaning woman leaned against her cart.
“Were you here for the reception?” she asked.
“Were you one of the artists?” she added, smiling, motioning towards the recently installed exhibit or paintings, pictures and sculpture behind glass along the hallway.
For a few hours earlier, the Memorial Union Concourse Gallery and Memorial Union Lounge had been filled with conversation and laughter, familiar greetings, soft murmurs as well as hearty congratulations.
After two rounds of judging, 50 artists and their 60 works of art had emerged to become part of this year’s Art about Agriculture tour themed By Land and By Sea. A dozen of the pieces received various awards and honors, some to become part of the university’s impressive permanent collection of art.
For some people, like Roy “Brizz” Meddings, who received a Capital Press award for his digital photograph entitled “Red Barn,” this was the first time he has entered the competition. The self-described carpenter from Noti, Ore. who enjoys taking photos during his spare time and weekends, especially of landscapes, shared how he came across this barn in Eastern Oregon, near John Day. He set up his tripod and took seven shots. One of them became a prize winner.
He had another picture — “Canola Wedge” — also chosen for the tour, and was already planning what pictures he would like to enter into next year’s competition. More of his work — as well as the two images chosen for the tour — can be seen at brizz.smugmug.com.
For other artists, such as Tallmadge Doyle, the competition is a familiar one and she is well-known to the university.
Originally from New York City, she lives now in Eugene. As it was announced that Doyle’s etching entitled “Giant Pacific Octopus II” had won several prestigious awards, including the OSU President’s and 2007 Juror’s Purchase awards and become part of the university’s permanent collection, it was noted she already has three other pieces that have been purchased for the same collection.
Her accomplishments go beyond the Art about Agriculture competition. As her website (www.tallmadgedoyle.com) states, “Her work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Portland Art Museum’s Gilkey Print Collection, the Oregon State University Art About Agriculture Collection, the City of Seattle Portable Works Collection, and the Cleveland Art Association Collection.”
Her work has also been in galleries and national juried exhibitions across the country, for the Northwest to Washington, D.C., and New York City.
The opening reception drew a mix of people, from art lovers to university officials, artists to sponsors. Many of the artists brought their spouses or friends to celebrate their accomplishment.
Sitting during the award ceremony in a mix of overly comfortable sofas and chairs in the lounge with dark brown, ornately carved, high-beamed ceilings, the audience listened as Jan Auyong, Assistant Director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, and Master of Ceremonies Michael Burke, Associate Dean Emeritus of OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, made introductions, explaining the history of the competition and OSU’s involvement in Art about Agriculture for the last 25 years.
Burke made interesting observations about the ties of art to agriculture going back to the earliest examples of art: from cavemen to other ancient civilizations that later emerged and wanted to capture in wall paintings, stone carvings or pottery etchings images of agriculture.
His comments made people think more about the links between agriculture and art and their influence on each other.
The artwork may have helped teach others how to work with domesticated animals, or how to grow crops, but they also helped preserve a record for archeologists to understand more about the production practices, and challenges, that people faced in agriculture.
Perhaps it’s only fitting that it’s a university that for the last quarter century that has worked to preserve art about agriculture in the modern world in so many examples of media.
In this year’s competition, artists who will participate in the tour used digital photography, oil or acrylic on canvas, watercolor, platinum/palladium print, mixed media, charcoal, etching, gelatin silver photography, oil on linen, ultrachrome print, forget steel, ink, plate lithograph, selenium toned gelatin silver photograph, lino-cut reduction print, acrylic and sand on canvas, pastel, cyanotype photograph, handcolored photograph, charcoal, monotype and dry pastel.
These artists were from all over Oregon, as well as from Idaho and Washington state. There were entries from other states in earlier rounds of the competition.
As people later walked through the hallway and gazed at the artwork, people stressed what they liked best in subject matter, boldness, color, originality or even the memory the art evoked from visits perhaps to the coast.
There were images of those who fished on ocean waves, sought crabs on beaches, or played with families on a sunny shore. Harbor scenes of boats and bridges and sun-dappled beaches balanced the artwork that showed more of the land part of the theme: barns, irrigations, elevators, hayfields and cattle.
There was something for everyone.
“Want to know which one I like best?” asked the cleaning woman, eyes twinkling. “I’ll show you,” she said, leading the way. “If you don’t mind,” she apologized, but eagerly nodded approval when she saw she had a captive audience following her.
Along the way, she said how blessed she felt to be able to work each day in this building, in this area especially when the Art about Agriculture exhibit was on display. She loved the paintings, and being able to gaze at them as she went about her duties.
Much better than some of the other more dreary areas of campus, she laughed.
Down the hall she walked, turned to the right, then stopped in front of a large pastel named “Home Is Where The Hay Is” by Judy Phipps of Rickreall, Ore.
Admitting she had dabbled with pastels herself in the past, the woman brushed some of her hair away from her face, leaned forward, and pointed out the fine detail on the swaths of hay. Such a masterpiece, so hard to believe it was done in pastel, she explained.
The artists, the sponsors, the university faculty and deans were gone for the night.
The students started to again walk quietly through the hallway and settle into the soft sofas to study or sleep for the night.
The cleaning woman smiled, thanked her guests, and as they descended the stairs to leave the building, she happily returned to her nightly chores, as she still soaked in the creative, colorful exhibits around her capturing land and sea beyond campus walls.
Technorati tags: Agriculture
The face of the man walking into the Capital Press lobby was familiar. I stopped for a second, not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not. But sure enough, the man walking in the front door was indeed familiar.
The last time I saw him was in the lobby of another newspaper office in another Oregon city. That time, more than a dozen years ago, was in Coos Bay.
Ed Fournier and I went to college together at Oregon State. We were fraternity brothers. In fact I was his Big Brother in our house, Pi Kappa Phi.
I haven't been such a good Big Brother in the years since and Ed and I have lost touch, much as I have lost touch with my Big Brother, another Ed — Ed Redmond.
Ed was here on business to talk to our general manager, Mike O'Brien, and he had a business associate with him, so we didn't get a great deal of time to talk. But we had enough time to swap business cards and get caught up a little on the years that have passed in between our last meeting.
The one thing I have always loved about working in newspapers, is you never can predict what each day will bring. The news of the day can change your plans and your routine. I will definitely chalk today up as a "good news day" due to an unplanned meeting of an old friend in the front lobby.
Thanks for stopping by, Ed ,and taking some time out of your busy day to say hello.
In my last post, I mentioned a meeting Managing Editor Carl Sampson and I had with three deans from Oregon State University. If you would like to hear portions of that interview for yourself, excerpts are now available online.
Hear what Thayne R. Dutson, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, A. Scott Reed, dean of OSU Extension Service, and Stephen D. Hobbs, executive associate dean of the College of Forestry had to say on by clicking here.
The Capital Press Editorial Board met today with three deans from Oregon State University to discuss various issues, but mostly funding for the university's Extension Service, Agricultural Experiment Station and Forest Research Laboratory.
Managing Editor Carl Sampson and I talked with Thayne R. Dutson, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, A. Scott Reed, dean of OSU Extension Service, and Stephen D. Hobbs, executive associate dean of the College of Forestry. The deans shared a great deal of information over the course of our two-hour meeting about where their funding goes and the world-class research and programs the natural resources-based departments offer.
In our ongoing foray into multimedia use, we recorded the session to share with our executive editor, Elaine Shein, and reporter Mitch Lies, who weren't able to attend the meeting today.
Obviously, I need to go back to school if I'm going to have any hope of learning the multimedia aspects of information gathering and distribution. While I've used our digital audio recorder to capture sound for our podcasts, I'm certainly no audio engineer. It took me a half hour to figure out how to set up the recorder to use two microphones (previously I've only used one). And I must have had something set wrong.
As I write this post I'm still trying to convert one of the audio files from our discussion into a smaller file format for Elaine and Mitch, because I'm pretty sure they don't want the 1.26 gigabyte files that the recorder ended up with. It took a more than a half hour just to copy the files from the recorder to my computer. Now it's taking another 20-plus minutes to convert the monster file down to a more economical file size.
Dealing with the complexity of funding for a major land-grant university and stereo digital audio recording on a Friday afternoon may be too much to take. My mental hard drive is full up. I can't absorb another gigabyte. Not today anyway.
