The future of an agricultural research farm in Powell Butte, Ore., is in limbo as state officials decide what to do with the land.
The 80-acre site, primarily used by Oregon State University to experiment with potato seed, was shut down in 2010 after an unknown potato cyst nematode was discovered. The nematode, later identified as Globodera ellingtonae, can threaten potato crops in high densities, but is not as devastating as other nematodes in the same genus.
“After a number of years of research at Powell Butte, we found it does not impact the yield of potatoes except when you get to unrealistically high densities,” said Russ Ingham, an Oregon State University professor of botany and plant pathology.
Still, the Oregon Department of Agriculture ordered the research center to close. The directive remains in effect, limiting use of the farm.
Dan Edge, associate dean of Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, said Tuesday the site has effectively become a large nematode research center. Soil samples are collected each year, but no other type of work is being done.
“We are in a holding pattern waiting for more data,” Edge said.
The site, an offshoot of the Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Madras, was a major part of the Tri-state Potato Breeding Program, which includes Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Potato research at Oregon State University is still based in Madras, but now the role of the Powell Butte research center has moved to Klamath Falls.
Edge said the university hoped the USDA would provide funding to allow for three potential treatments of the nematode. However, Edge said, the federal agency doesn’t see the nematode as a pest worth controlling. The USDA has to weigh how its actions affect international potato trade, Edge said.
From the USDA’s perspective, there is not enough data that show the nematode reduces potato productivity, said Edge.
The opinion is in contrast with the state department of agriculture, which shut down the Powell Butte center because of the possibility of crop loss.
“There is very little evidence it causes crop loss,” Edge acknowledged.
Edge believes the state is getting close to lifting its directive, but with the caveat that the site will never be used for potato research again.
“We have already moved our potatoes to Klamath Falls, so that is already gone,” Edge said.
If funded, potential treatments at Powell Butte would include fumigating the ground with a proven pesticide, applying 320 tons of mustard meal that kills the nematode, or planting potatoes resistant to the nematode.
Without potato research, Edge said, the university is weighing other options for the Powell Butte site. The property could be used for more forage research or as a new master gardener facility. In addition, Edge said, the university may simply sell the land.
All the possible outcomes for the center were stirred up when Globodera ellingtonae was originally discovered in the soil in 2008. At the time, it was also found in two locations in Teton County, Idaho.
Extensive soil sampling was done after pale cyst nematode was found in Eastern Idaho in 2006.
Pale cyst nematodes, along with gold cyst nematodes, can cause as high as 80 percent yield loss, according to Ingham. Both are much more serious and different than the Globodera ellingtonae nematode found in Powell Butte.
“We found that sometimes it behaved like a gold cyst nematode, sometimes it behaved as a pale cyst nematode, and sometimes it would act completely independently,” Ingham said.
Source: Bend Bulletin