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4 CapitalPress.com December 25, 2015 Judge used lawmakers’ statements to show ‘animus’ toward animal activists By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — The argument by opponents of Idaho’s Ag- ricultural Security Act that legislators demonstrated hos- tility, or “animus,” toward undercover animal rights ac- tivists was a major reason a federal judge struck down the law. The law’s supporters said they’re glad the state has ap- pealed that district court de- cision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because if it stands, it could stifl e free and open discussion during the legislative process. “I think the legislative ani- mus issue, if it’s not reversed, would change how we do business in the statehouse and not for the good of Idaho cit- izens,” said Rep. Gayle Batt, R-Wilder, who sponsored the bill in the House. “We need to encourage dialogue and have openness and frankness in the legislature. This would hurt openness and transparency in government.” Plaintiffs, which include a coalition of animal and civil rights groups, used transcripts of legislative proceedings to back their claim that lawmak- ers had an animus or ill will toward them. In his ruling striking down the major parts of the so- called “ag gag” law, Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill agreed with them. “The overwhelming evi- dence gleaned from the leg- islative history indicates that (the statute) was intended to silence animal welfare activ- ists, or other whistleblowers, who seek to publish speech critical of the agricultural pro- duction industry,” Winmill wrote. Winmill also said that “a review of the (statute’s) leg- islative history leads to the inevitable conclusion that the law’s primary purpose is to protect agricultural facil- ity owners by, in effect, sup- pressing speech critical of animal-agriculture practices.” Sen. Jim Patrick, a Repub- lican farmer from Twin Falls whose quotes were used by Winmill to prove his point, said the animus argument is a legislative rights issue. Winmill quoted Patrick’s statements comparing animal rights investigators to maraud- ing invaders and terrorists. He didn’t use Patrick’s quotes describing the dozens of threatening emails received by the owner of the dairy where undercover activists fi lmed cows being abused and which was the incident that resulted in the law being written. Bill supporters claim the Hop production up despite heat, drought By DAN WHEAT MOXEE, Wash. — U.S. hop production jumped by 11 percent this year on top of a 3 percent increase in 2014. Production totaled 78.8 million pounds this year com- pared with 71 million pounds a year ago, according to a Dec. 17 report by the USDA National Agricultural Statis- tics Service. The preliminary value of the crop is $345.4 million, up 33 percent from the revised value of $260.6 million for the 2014 crop, NASS said. Growers received record high prices as more production shifted from alpha varieties to higher-value aroma varieties in response to aroma demand from craft breweries, the re- port said. The average price per pound was $4.38 compared with $3.67 in 2014 and $3.35 in 2013, NASS said. Washington produced 75 percent of the 2015 crop at 59.4 million pounds. The rest came from Oregon and Ida- ho. Oregon grew 10.6 million pounds, Idaho 8.7 million pounds. The three states pro- duce about one-third of the world supply. Oil from hop cones is used for fl avoring and stabilizing beer. Production and acreage increased in all three states. Washington had its highest number of acres harvested on record going back to 1915. Idaho also had its highest pro- duction and acres harvested Northwest, U.S. hop production statistics State/ year Area harvested (acres) Yield Price Value of per acre Production per pound production (pounds) (1,000 lbs.) (dollars) ($1,000) Idaho 2013 2014 2015 3,356 3,743 4,863 1,740 1,847 1,794 5,837.9 6,913.8 8,724.9 $2.62 2.72 3.53 $15,295 18,806 30,799 Oregon 2013 2014 2015 4,835 5,410 6,612 1,764 1,520 1,613 8,530.5 8,221 10,667.8 3.76 4.07 3.24 32,075 33,459 34,564 Washington 2013 27,097 2014 28,858 2015 32,158 2,025 1,936 1,849 54,877.7 55,861.1 59,453.3 3.37 3.73 4.71 184,938 208,362 280,025 U.S. 2013 2014 2015 1,962 1,868 1,807 69,246.1 70,995.9 78,846 3.35 3.67 4.38 232,308 260,627 345,388 35,288 38,011 43,633 Source: USDA NASS Capital Press graphic on record going back to 1944. Extreme heat in Washing- ton early in the growing sea- son during crucial cone de- velopment and drought from a low winter snowpack in the Cascade Range created con- cern about this year’s crop, said Ann George, executive director of Hop Growers of America and the Washington Hop Commission in Moxee. Some aroma varieties yielded poorly because of those factors, but late-season bitter hops were a bright spot with above-average yields, George said. “Considering those chal- lenges and the amount of fi rst-year plants in the ground which have smaller yield, we are pleased with the fi nal count and looking forward to next year,” she said. Acreage is ex- pected to continue growing, she said. Meanwhile, European pro- ducers, relying almost entirely on rainfall rather than irriga- tion, had one of their toughest years in more than a decade due to drought, George said. Production there is 23.8 per- cent lower than a year ago, she said. Germany, which produc- es about one-third of the world crop, is down 26 percent. While some new and pro- prietary varieties are expected to be tight due to increased popularity and limited pro- duction, it appears most of the 2015 world decrease is in high-alpha bittering hops, which have some carryover in storage, she said. The growth of small, craft breweries has driven demand for aroma varieties “to a level that has challenged the indus- try to continue to expand pro- duction at an equivalent rate,” George has said. Craft breweries have pro- jected 20 percent annual growth through 2020, which has resulted in Pacifi c North- west hop growers expanding aroma acreage and converting alpha acreage to aroma. There’s been a 48 percent increase in PNW hop acreage in the past three years, she has said. Claiborne, an attorney for Ida- ho Dairymen’s Association, which crafted the law. Animal rights groups said that if lawmakers pass a bill that is unconstitutional, then their statements should be con- sidered to evaluate their intent. Matthew Liebman, senior attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the lead plain- tiff, said the 14th Amend- ment’s Equal Protection Clause says you have to treat everyone alike unless there is a good reason not to. “The fact that you don’t like a particular group of peo- ple isn’t a good reason to ... make what they do illegal,” he said. Tight supply will support beef prices in 2016, analysts say By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Even though pressure on the global beef supply is eas- ing, fi rm demand will underpin healthy prices in 2016, accord- ing to Rabobank analysts. China and the U.S. will be the main import markets to watch, and Australia, Brazil, India and the U.S. will be the main exporters to watch in the year ahead, the analysts stated in their latest beef quarterly report. Total global beef produc- tion is expected to be up 1 percent, but signifi cant de- clines are forecast for Austra- lia, down 14 percent year over year; New Zealand, down 10 percent; and Canada, down 5 percent. Continuing dry conditions in Australia, combined with reduced herd numbers and fewer breeding females, sug- gests slaughter numbers there will be down 15 percent to 20 percent, the analysts said. “After record production and exports for most of 2015, cattle supplies started to con- tract in October, and a number of processing plants shut early for Christmas break,” Rabo- bank reported. Australia’s cattle slaughter and beef exports to all countries were both down 16 percent year over year for November, with exports to the U.S. dropping 66 percent, the analysts stated. Beef production in New Zealand is also likely to be tight in 2016 after heavy liq- uidation and historically high processing volumes in 2015 — expected to hit 700,000 tons, a 7 percent increase from 2014. The country’s beef exports to the U.S. from January to Sep- tember were up 16 percent year over year and accounted for 52 percent of its total ex- ports, the analysts reported. Canada’s production de- cline is based on severe drought in the western region, which continues to limit herd expansion and has caused ab- normal placements and ship- ments. The growing number of cattle on feed and increased placements into feedlots, how- ever, suggests slaughter and beef production could escalate in the fi rst quarter of 2016, the analysts said. In the U.S., production is expected to increase 5 per- cent to 11.4 million tons, the fi rst production increase since 2010, according to USDA. But “ongoing herd rebuild- ing will maintain the tight supply situation into 2016, with prices expected to remain fi rm,” the analysts stated. In addition, ongoing strength in the U.S. dollar will continue to support imports, even as domestic supplies im- prove, and unbridled volatility in cattle prices should ease, they said. That volatility, combined with heavy carcass weights, an import/export imbalance and high retail beef prices, have put pressure on the U.S. mar- ket, with cattle and wholesale beef prices suffering a 25 per- cent to 35 percent decline in 2015, the analysts reported. Questions loom over paid leave for piece-rate farmworkers By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press 52-2/#7 Capital Press videotape was used to try to damage the dairy, although the owner had no knowledge of the abuse and fi red fi ve people when he found out about it. “Everything I said I can back up with ... documents,” Patrick said. “During the leg- islature, I discussed the ha- rassing letters (the dairy own- er) received. That was pure harassment and threats. The judge didn’t use those ones.” The court took statements of individual legislators and “tried to decide what those people’s motives were. I think that’s pretty disturbing and really (detrimental) to the leg- islative process,” said David Many farmers in Oregon will have to provide employ- ees with paid sick leave be- ginning on Jan. 1, but farm ad- vocates say the new rules are too vague. Farmers face uncertainty in determining how much to pay piece-rate workers, such as fruit pickers, who are com- pensated based on the amount they harvest, according to the Oregon Farm Bureau. “We didn’t get the clar- ity we needed,” said Jenny Dresler, director of state public policy for OFB. Oregon lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year requir- ing employers with 10 or more workers to provide paid sick leave and the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries recently completed regulations imple- menting the statute. The rules say that piece- rate workers on leave must be compensated at the “regular rate of pay” previously estab- lished with the employer, or the minimum wage if no such rate was set. The problem is that the reg- ulations don’t specify how this “regular rate of pay” must be calculated, Dresler said. For example, is it based on the weekly average of the employee’s piece-rate earn- ings before going on leave? Or the piece rate earned by other workers who are harvesting crops while the employee is sick? “We needed a clarifi cation and we didn’t get it,” Dresler said. “We just don’t know.” Each member of a rules ad- visory committee that helped BOLI interpret the statute had a different opinion of how the “regular rate of pay” should be set, she said. It’s also ambiguous when such a rate has not been estab- lished, allowing farmers to pay workers the minimum wage when on leave, Dresler said. While BOLI has said it will postpone penalizing employ- ers as it educates them about the new rules, that won’t stop individual workers from fi ling lawsuits against their employ- ers as permitted by the statute, she said. Tim Bernasek, an attor- ney specializing in agricul- tural and labor issues, said he doesn’t “have a very good answer about how to practi- cally implement this rule” but expects BOLI will help teach farmers how to achieve com- pliance. Hopefully, legal aid orga- January 9 th , 2016 South Puget Sound Community College OLYMPIA, WA LEGAL Register Today! www. CascadiaGrains .com 52-1/#6 Presented by Washington State University in partnership with Oregon State University 52-4/#4x nizations who have attorneys devoted to farmworker protec- tion will also act reasonably as the rules come into effect, Ber- nasek said. His best advice to growers is simply to try following the rules in good faith, Bernasek said. Aside from the confusion over piece-rate workers, Or- egon Farm Bureau is disap- pointed that BOLI considers farmers and labor contractors “joint employers” under the law. That means farmers and contractors will need to inde- pendently track the accumu- lation of workers’ sick leave hours, which OFB believes is redundant and complicated, since pickers often travel from farm to farm. Also, the contractors’ workers will count toward a farmers’ employee count, so many growers who normally have fewer than 10 workers would have to comply with the paid sick leave regulations. BOLI spokesman Burr said the joint liability provi- sions are guided by federal labor law. The Oregon Farm Bureau hopes to ask lawmakers to fi x the provisions during the 2016 legislative session, Dresler said. “We think the legislative intent did not come across in the rules.” 52-1/#24 PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 819 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 12/28/2015. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by A1 CLASSIC TOWING 1870 BEACH AVE NE, SALEM, OR 2009 MERCEDES VIN = WDDGF81X49F229255 Amount due on lien $4,345.00 Reputed owner(s) Cheyenne Prentice Rivermark Comm CU Legal-51-2-2/#4