Fairgrounds showcases Ag event
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:59 AM PST
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| The annual Treasure Valley Ag Show
attracted a large crowd (right) this year at the Malheur County Fairgrounds. The event began Friday and
ended Saturday. |
ONTARIO - Area farmers, agriculture industry representatives and local residents braved the cold Friday and Saturday to attend the Treasure Valley Ag Show at the Malheur County Fairgrounds to see some of the latest products available to producers and to hear speakers discuss critical issues and trends.
Dale Jefferies, KSRV Radio and show manager, said the event has been going on for more than 25 years and draws people from all over the region.
“We’ve got vendors from Salem, northern Idaho and Twin Falls,” he said.
Co-sponsoring the show this year with KSRV was Les Schwab Tires.
While the show has moved around to different locations, it was back in the Commercial Building this weekend.
“It feels like an ag show,” Jefferies said, about being back on a concrete floor. “We’re pushing at the seams here, already. We get treated real well here.”
Among the highlights of the show are the speakers who address different aspects of agriculture. This year Malheur County Extension Agent Lynn Jensen talked about onions; John Nalivka, Sterling Marketing, focused on livestock; Stan Siewert, Idaho Ethanol, talked about ethanol and its benefits on the farm and Rick Haines, Independent Ag News Network, delivered an overview about the status of agriculture.
In his remarks, Jensen said about 85 percent of the onions produced in Idaho and southeast Oregon are yellow onions, but there is more of a demand for red onions, especially in the food service industry.
“It’s all a visual thing with the red onions,” Jensen said. “Onions are a worldwide crop. Onions are traded worldwide. You have to know what is happening around the world.”
Turning to the cost of production, Jensen touched on the rising minimum wage, costs of labor, labor supply and the rising price of fuel and fertilizer.
Because of the tightening of immigration regulations, the labor supply is drying up, he said.
“There is a shortage of labor,’’ he said.
Becoming more mechanized is an answer some packers are using, but that is very expensive and available only to the largest packers, Jensen said. Small packers may be forced out of business, he said.
Noting the prices on corn and wheat are high, Jensen said, that could have an effect on higher-risk crops such as onions and potatoes, because farmers will steer toward the higher priced, less risky crops.
