Mitch Lies

3 days ago | wcngg.com | Mitch Lies

In fall 1986, one month after Shawn Mehlenbacher started as the hazelnut breeder at Oregon State University (OSU), eastern filbert blight (EFB) was found in a Clackamas County hazelnut orchard, marking its first discovery in the heart of Oregon’s hazelnut production area. Over the next three decades, Mehlenbacher released 28 cultivars, including 22 that used the Gasaway gene to provide resistance to EFB, helping the industry survive the disease’s devastating impact on tree health.

5 days ago | wcngg.com | Mitch Lies

Researchers have now determined there are at least three strains of the Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) fungus now threatening hazelnut trees in Pacific Northwest orchards, including at least two mutations of the region’s original EFB fungus. “Based on genetic testing, the Silverton strain is actually different than the Woodburn strain, and it’s different from the original strain,” said Oregon State University (OSU) plant pathologist Jay W.

3 weeks ago | farmprogress.com | Mitch Lies

Feeling frustrated with the regulations surrounding organic seed certification is not unusual among organic seed growers, and, according to a representative of the organic certification community, is often understandable. But meeting the recordkeeping and paperwork requirements of organic seed certification is needed to protect the integrity of the USDA National Organic Program seal, said Connie Karr of the Accredited Certifiers Association.

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Mitch Lies

In the late 1960s, when the Oregon wine industry started, there were no organic standards or organic certification. “There was a movement about organic gardening,” said Louisa Ponzi of Ponzi Vineyards in Sherwood, Ore. “And a lot of what we did in viticulture grew out of this kind of passion for organic gardening and kind of extended to vineyards.”Growing gardens without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, however, is far different than producing wine grapes.

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Mitch Lies

For nearly the first two decades of this century, Mitchell Paschall of Murray, Ky., was averaging 180-bushel corn, typically the median amount for Calloway County. In dry years, his yields dropped because he farmed on fragipan soils, a concrete-like layer two feet or so beneath the surface that reduces yields on 50 million acres of farmland in the Southeast and Midwest.