Keegan Jones, wheat farmer of Jones & Jones Ranch, talks Nov. 29, 2023, about earning his pesticide certification credits and the significance of learning from other farmers at the 50th annual Hermiston Farm Fair at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center.

HERMISTON — Attendees gathered at the Eastern Ore;gon Trade and Event Center for the Hermiston Farm Fair, a forum and trade show for agricultural workers and companies in the region.

The event, hosted by Oregon State University, offers educational sessions as well as opportunities for farmers and ranchers to network with each other and with local and regional vendors.

The event was held Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 29 and 30, and marked the 50th annual Hermiston Farm Fair.

Ira Thompson, a biological science research technician at OSU Extension in Hermiston, said the 50-year milestone is significant.

“I think it’s really important to be able to share the information that we’re doing in the scientific end of it and the university,” he said. “We can share that information we generate with the growers wand provide them with some tools to help them do as good of a job as they can.”

Thompson works in the university’s potato breeding program. “We have the best growers here,” he said. “They like to keep up on everything.”

Providing classroom educationHe attended the potato sessions all day Nov. 29.

“There’s a lot of good information to learn here,” Thompson said.

The classroom seminars this year covered vegetables, general agriculture, best management practices and cereal in addition to potatoes. Additionally, attendees could earn Certified Crop Adviser and Oregon Department of Agriculture pesticide certification credits.

The pesticide certification credits indicate a person is qualified in and knowledgeable about applying pesticides. A pesticide license is required in a variety of different situations beyond farming and ranching, though those are major industries that often need the license.

One wheat farmer from Pendleton, Keegan Jones of Jones & Jones Ranch, said the main thing that brought him to the Farm Fair was to earn pesticide credits.

Jones also said he thinks the Farm Fair is a good opportunity to “see what’s new and exciting in the industry.”

It’s nice to connect with others, he said.

“We’re all kind of battling things together, and so it’s good to get together and talk about that stuff,” Jones said. “A lot of today is about the irrigated stuff, and I don’t have some of the issues that these guys have, but it’s all kind of related.”

Promoting best practicesSome of the booths had interactive components. The Oregon Water Resources Department booth, for example, had a demonstration of the way water flows underground through the layers of rock in the region.

Shaun Finn, well inspector for the department, staffed the booth, inserting colored dyes to show what happens to water under different

conditions.

The water in this region is hundreds of years old, Finn said, since it takes so long for water to travel underground from the Blue Mountains, which serve as the water source for North-Central Oregon.

Finn’s goal with the presentation was to show attendees how water moves through the system — how changes in one part of the system can affect other parts.

If wells aren’t working precisely how they are supposed to, he said, it can mean disaster for others in the same system.

Additionally, he hoped to highlight the department’s backflow preventers, which help to limit nitrate contaminants from animal manure, commercial fertilizer and human sewage in well water systems.

High nitrate levels are a continual issue in Morrow County, especially in Boardman, and can be harmful to people and animals.

The preventers stop water flowing back into the well if pressure changes would otherwise cause that to happen. Preventers are supposed to be installed in irrigation fields, Finn said, but the public isn’t always aware of that.

So, he said, it’s an education mission as well as a warning bell that regulations may be coming.

“We have to educate them first and then they can do what’s right,” Finn said. “Water, which is a natural resource that is necessary for farming or general use, has to be protected.”

Presenting new innovationsSuppliers see the Farm Fair as a good opportunity too. Suva Shakya, an engineer at IRZ Consulting, hoped to connect with farmers throughout the day.

“It’s very exciting to see people around,” Shakya said, “and that’s what brings us here, to get some exposure.”

Shakya was promoting IRZ’s new fiberglass pipe, an emerging technology that his company supplies and installs in the region.

Historically, people use PVC pipes made of strong, durable plastic. But fiberglass pipe materials, a combination of thin glass fibers and plastic, are cheaper while still being durable, Shakya said.

IRZ has been coming to the Farm Fair for decades now, Shakya said, adding that he believes it’s an important opportunity to remind people that they are around and available to assist with engineering, monitoring and consulting needs.

“It’s kind of slow for the Farm Fair,” Shakya said. “This is the first year it’s happened after COVID, but I think there’s a lot going on in the talks. We saw lots of people come in and rush out.”