Business
AgLife
B
Thursday, December 23, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
In the market for dirt
Even though some
farmers have benefited,
critics say financialization
of farmland is moving
high-value soil out of ag
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
S
ALEM — Madeleine
Fairbairn, a University
of California-Santa
Cruz professor and
author of the 2020
book, “Fields of Gold:
Financing the Global Land
Rush,” recalls attending a con-
ference in a “stately hotel” with
men in suits at tables shrouded
in white tablecloths under a
crystal chandelier discussing
investment opportunities.
“The subject being dis-
cussed among all this fi nery
was not the future of interna-
tional banking or the latest in
high-frequency trading,” writes
Fairbairn. “It was farming.
These well-heeled men were in
the market for dirt.”
In recent years, more and
more domestic investors have
set their sights on farmland.
Some have been high-net-
worth individuals like Warren
Buff ett and Bill Gates. Corpo-
rations, as well as institutional
investors — including univer-
sity endowments, private foun-
dations and pension funds —
are also increasingly adding
farmland to their investment
portfolios.
Oregon, known for its high-
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Lyle Spiesschaert looks at a development — a neighborhood and school —
where he used to farm wheat.
value cropland, has been a hot
commodity.
Some farmers have bene-
fi ted, but critics say the fi nan-
cialization of farmland is
moving high-value soil out
of agriculture, raising land
prices and de-localizing rural
communities.
So, who is buying farmland
in Oregon?
Researchers have identifi ed
several actors: family-based
farm operations scaling up,
wealthy individuals, institu-
tions, corporations and real
estate developers and “amenity
owners” who buy farmland
to live in the country and per-
haps run a hobby farm but not
a commercial operation.
Urban growth
Historically, experts say,
the majority of outside invest-
ment in farmland came from
developers.
According to the American
Farmland Trust, between 1992
and 2012, 62% of development
occurred on farmland. Nation-
wide, almost 31 million acres
of agricultural land was lost.
This is the story for Lyle
Spiesschaert, 74, a fourth-gen-
eration Forest Grove farmer.
On a recent December
morning, Spiesschaert climbed
out of his UTV on a hillside
and looked down on the valley.
Straight ahead lay cropland
that had been farmed by his
family for more than 100 years.
To the southeast, bordering
his property, stands Forest
Grove High School and scores
of homes surrounding it.
“When I was a kid in FFA,
I used to grow wheat right
there,” said Spiesschaert.
Spiesschaert’s family lost
20 acres under imminent
domain to a school construc-
tion project. It was too diffi cult
to farm next to the school, so
the family sold the surrounding
47 acres to a developer and
retained about 300 farm acres.
In 2014, House Bill 4078,
dubbed a land-use “grand bar-
gain,” expanded urban growth
boundaries in Washington
County, pulling Spiesschaert’s
property into Forst Grove’s
UGB. The developable label
raised his land value about
20 times higher per acre:
unaff ordable for beginning
farmers, and a disappointment
to Spiesschaert since he had
hoped to pass on the land.
Locals say the region is now
crawling with developers and
speculators.
Spiesschaert, whose farm
is under intense development
pressure, said he’s searching
for a way to preserve as
much land as possible, such
as through a conservation
easement.
“Urban growth isn’t bad.
Change will happen,” said
Spiesschaert. “The question is:
Where’s the balance? Oregon
has generally good laws that
protect farmland, but at what
point do we say: ‘Stop. We
have our carrying capacity of
people in an area and shouldn’t
grab more farmland’?”
Conversion of farmland into
housing developments isn’t the
only kind of investment.
Investment ‘comes of age’
According to Fairbairn,
the UC researcher, farmland
investment has slowly been
building since the 1980s, but
the sector really “came of age”
in 2008.
According to USDA econo-
mists, between 2006 and 2008,
crop prices were high, foreign
demand for U.S. agricultural
products was on the rise and
food security was a growing
concern, factors making farm-
See, Dirt/Page B8
The view from a hill overlooking Lyle Spiesschaert’s
farm, which has been in his family for more than a
century, shows the eff ects of urban growth.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Oregon
among last
states to
join opioid
agreement
By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon, one of the
last holdout states in joining a $26
billion settlement with the three
largest distributors of opioids and
drugmaker Johnson & Johnson,
is on the verge of signing on,
the state’s attorney general said
Monday, Dec. 20.
The state had argued with
cities and counties over disburse-
ment of Oregon’s expected $329
million share and how much
should go to attorneys fees. But
agreement is now “imminent,”
said Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum.
The national settlement, which
would be the second-biggest
in U.S. history, would address
damage wrought by opioids.
As of just over one week ago,
at least 45 states had signed onto
the settlement or signaled their
intent to, and at least 4,012 coun-
ties and cities had confi rmed par-
ticipation, according to plaintiff s’
attorneys.
The three drug distributors —
AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal
Health and McKesson — and
Johnson & Johnson agreed in July
to pay the combined $26 billion
to resolve thousands of state and
local government lawsuits. But if
the defendants feel there’s a lack
of participation by states and local
jurisdictions, it could cause them
to back away from the landmark
agreement, or eventually reduce
the settlement amount.
Plaintiff s’ lawyers, who have
been working the settlement on
the national level and urging
cities, counties and states to sign
on, applauded the breakthrough in
Oregon.
“As more communities join
in from each state, the greater
the funds these communities
will receive,” lawyer Joe Rice
said. “This national settlement
is the most effi cient way to bring
urgently needed resources into
communities, with funds being
delivered as early as April 2022.”
In exchange for the payout,
participating states, counties and
cities would have to drop any law-
suits against the defendants and
agree not to sue them in the future
for the opioid epidemic.
But some feel the settlement
isn’t enough and doesn’t cover the
damage caused by opioids, which
were overprescribed in massive
See, Opioid/Page B2
Oregon adopts ‘Climate Protection Program’ to limit emissions
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon’s Environ-
mental Quality Commission, or
EQC, a governor-appointed panel,
voted 3-to-1 Thursday, Dec. 16, to
approve the “Climate Protection
Program,” a sweeping plan aimed
at cutting greenhouse gas emis-
sions by regulating fuel-related
pollution.
The move is controversial and
sparked more than 7,600 com-
ments from Oregonians during the
public comment period, according
to Department of Environmental
Quality staff .
Climate activists say the new
rules are long overdue and may
not be extensive enough. Critics
say the program has the poten-
tial to signifi cantly increase fuel
prices, impacting all Oregonians
and disproportionately hurting
sectors that rely on transportation,
including agriculture.
The plan, which will be phased
in starting Jan. 1, will require
fuel suppliers in Oregon to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from
Farm Supply/Contributed Photo
A semi-truck and trailers fi lled with grain prepare to move out. Farm Supply, of Enterprise, hauls farm commodities all over the
Northwest — and beyond.
the products they sell 50% by
2035 and 90% by 2050.
DEQ will issue free compli-
ance credits to fuel suppliers cov-
ering each metric ton of carbon
dioxide emitted from burning the
fuel they sell.
The allowable emission cap
will become smaller each year,
forcing suppliers to substitute
“cleaner” options for fossil fuels,
raise prices to lessen demand or
purchase alternative credits.
The plan was developed by
DEQ after Republican walkouts
in 2019 and 2020 killed eff orts
to pass economy-wide “cap and
trade” legislation.
After the walkouts, Gov.
Kate Brown outfl anked Repub-
licans with a far-reaching use of
her executive powers to achieve
the same general goals. March
of 2020, she signed an executive
order directing agencies to craft a
plan to regulate emissions.
A year and nine months later,
commissioners voted to approve
the new rules.
“I’m proud that today, Oregon
is taking the historic step to put
tools in place to dramatically
reduce greenhouse gas emis-
sions,” Brown said in a statement.
In a press conference, Richard
Whitman, director of DEQ, said
Oregon’s move to “get off fossil
fuels” sets a positive example for
See, Climate/Page B2