Stuart Reitz, Malheur County extension agent, surveys a field of shallots for heat damage last week. (ANGELINA KATSANIS/The Enterprise) VALE – If you are an onion plant, the Treasure Valley is usually a good place to grow. That’s because during a typical growing season, the temperature remains warm and stable[Read More…]

Fewer winter storms and meager run off means area farmers will face a new challenge through the planting season. (The Enterprise/File). NYSSA – Mother Nature wasn’t as generous this year as in the past with snowpack levels and her fickle nature will impact Malheur County’s agriculture industry. Area water managers[Read More…]

Tiffany Cruickshank, transportation and sales manager for Snake River Produce, looks over a stack of onions on a truck ready to ship last week in Nyssa. The local onion harvest began recently across the valley. (The Enterprise/Pat Caldwell). NYSSA – Five months ago, Shay Myers, owner of Owyhee Produce, eyed[Read More…]

Agricultural producers and workers took a huge hit financially due to state-issued Covid restrictions, but only one farm in Malheur County so far has applied for assistance created to help ease the financial pain. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration in April announced a set of temporary rules for[Read More…]

Local onion producers hope a new rail reload center near Nyssa mean more markets and higher profits. (The Enterprise/Pat Caldwell) ONTARIO – Local onion producers may be able to ship onions to more places around the country and generate higher profits if the right operator is picked to manage a[Read More…]

A new bill introduced by a member of Idaho’s congressional delegation could provide undocumented agricultural workers with a path to legal status — and open up new workforce options for desperate Idaho dairy farmers. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and five other House members introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, H.R. 4916, on[Read More…]

Mother Nature dealt local onion producers a wet and rainy hand during the past few weeks creating a delay in the local harvest. (The Enterprise/Pat Caldwell) VALE – Area onion producers and packers are nearing the finish line on a 2019 harvest noteworthy for its delays caused by cold and[Read More…]

SAIF, the state’s workers’ compensation insurer, will offer its annual farm safety seminars at the end of the month. The free sessions will kick off Monday, Oct. 28, in La Grande followed by a session at the Clarion Inn in Ontario Tuesday, Oct. 29. The trainings run from 9:30 a.m.[Read More…]

ONTARIO – Theodore Trevor Frahm, 42, died Tuesday night after getting pulled into an onion harvester at King Avenue in rural farmland north of Nyssa, according to the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office.  The department received a call at 10:35 p.m. Tuesday night. Frahm died at the scene. Officials said Frahm was working[Read More…]