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CapitalPress.com
May 1, 2015
Oregon
Questions persist on urban farm tax relief
Lawmakers must
resolve conflict
over urban growth
boundaries
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Legislation
providing tax relief for urban
farmers has progressed in the
Oregon House but concerns
about unintended land use ef-
fects continue to shadow the
proposal.
House Bill 2723, which
allows local governments to
impose lower property taxes
on urban farms, was recent-
ly referred for a vote on the
House floor by a key legisla-
tive committee.
Despite voting 6-1 for a
“do pass” recommendation,
members of the House Com-
mittee on Rural Communi-
ties, Land Use and Water
said questions must still be
resolved about the impact
of “agriculture incentive
zones” on urban growth
boundaries.
Under HB 2723, urban
farmers in these zones would
be subject to lower property
tax rates as long as they use
their properties for agriculture
for five years.
The Oregon Home Build-
ers Association is concerned
that landowners who make
such commitments will effec-
tively exclude their properties
from residential construction
within cities.
The group wants local
governments to consider the
effect of agriculture incentive
zones when deciding whether
to expand their urban growth
boundaries, but the Oregon
Farm Bureau fears this will
put development pressure on
farmland in rural areas.
The bureau also wants
lawmakers to impose a sunset
on the program so that it can
eventually be re-evaluated,
said Katie Fast, OFB’s vice
president of public policy.
“We feel the need to have a
check-back with the legisla-
ture.”
Lawmakers have attempt-
ed to resolve the conflict with
an amendment that specifies
agriculture incentive zones
are a factor in evaluating a
city’s potential for future de-
velopment.
However, state regulators
think the provision may clash
with other language in the bill
that says these zones have no
effect on a city’s inventory of
buildable lands, said Rep. Bri-
an Clem, D-Salem.
Rep. Mike McLane,
R-Powell Butte, said he gave
HB 2723 a “courtesy no” so
that the bill would not appear
to have unanimous support,
thereby signaling to the Sen-
ate that revisions are still nec-
essary.
Submitted photo
Northwest Farm Mom of the Year Shelly Boshart Davis, of Albany,
Ore., with her daughters Kyndall, Ashlynn, Sam and her husband,
Geoff.
Oregonian named
Northwest Farm
Mom of the Year
By JOE BEACH
Capital Press
Jan Jackson/For the Capital Press
Children pet a sheep April 25 at Oregon Ag Fest. The event attracted nearly 18,000 visitors to the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
Volunteers, sponsors make Ag Fest a success
By JAN JACKSON
Online
For the Capital Press
More information:
SALEM — For the 28th
straight year, hundreds of
volunteers joined sponsor-
ing businesses and 4-H and
FFA members to help Ore-
gon Ag Fest educate thou-
sands of children — and
their parents — about agri-
culture.
In addition to the usual
hands-on agricultural expe-
riences such as digging po-
tatoes, planting marigolds
to take home and watching
chicks hatch, this year’s
weekend event included an
expanded petting zoo in the
animal barn, an accredited
llama show and sale and
several new sponsors.
Sherry Kudna, past Ag
Fest chair and executive
assistant to Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture director
Katy Coba, spoke about the
event April 25 at her station
in the Information Booth in
Cascade Hall at the Oregon
State Fairgrounds. Between
fielding questions from
volunteers and the public
and responding to other re-
quests, she had praise for
www.oragfest.com
Jan Jackson/For the Capital Press
Two-year-old Aubrey Morgan, left and her 5-year-old sister Rylee,
learning to use tools in the Home Depot workshop at Ag Fest.
everyone involved.
“We are so grateful to
our sponsors and were
thrilled to add Franz Bread
and Home Depot this year,”
Kudna said. “One of the
&
HWY 730 • IRRIGON, OR
most popular activities was
Home Depot’s kids’ work-
shop program that first taught
the kids about tools and led
them through the process
of building a miniature tool
box.”
But volunteers remain the
foundation of a successful Ag
f
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“The Buttercreek Boys”
will be playing the third Sunday
of each month at the museum.
541-561-2211 | 541-561-2327 | 541-303-3923
18-1/#6
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Fest, she said.
“Among the more than
800 volunteers, we had an
increase in Willamette Valley
4-H and FFA volunteers this
year. They were a big help,
and so professional,” she
said.
Between the good weath-
er and coverage from three
Portland television stations,
she said Ag Fest reached a lot
of families.
First-time Ag Fest visitor
Jessica Morgan and her hus-
band brought their daughters
and made a day of it.
“We are amazed at this
event,” she said. “Our girls
are 2 and 5. We started with
the breakfast and then moved
out to the hands-on activities
and then out to see the ani-
mals. I can see that we are
going to be here all day. It is
definitely the best family val-
ue event around.”
Many of the nearly 18,000
people who attended Ag Fest
got their first introduction to
agriculture, Kudna said. The
event is aimed at educating
children but many of the par-
ents learn, too.
Shelly Boshart Davis,
whose family operates a farm
and trucking business in Alba-
ny, Ore., has been named the
2015 Northwest Farm Mom
of the Year by Monsanto and
the American Agri-Women.
Davis, 35, began working
on her family’s farm when she
was 14 and is actively involved
in the operation’s management.
The third-generation operation
grows grass seed, wheat and
hazelnuts on 1,100 acres in the
Willamette Valley. It also oper-
ates a grass straw baling, truck-
ing and export business.
The contest recognizes the
contributions of women in agri-
culture. She will now compete
with four other regional win-
ners for the national title.
Davis is involved with a va-
riety of farm organizations, is
active in lobbying for industry
interests in Salem, and was in
the forefront in drawing atten-
tion to the impacts of the West
Coast port slowdowns on Ore-
gon farmers.
She hopes to use the plat-
form afforded by the award to
further her work in bridging
the gap between rural commu-
nities and urban markets.
“We need to do a better job
in telling our story,” she said.
“I don’t want to lose that bat-
tle.”
Davis is a graduate of Ore-
gon State University. She is ac-
tive with the Oregon Agri-Busi-
ness Council, a member of
Oregon Women for Agriculture
and is on the board of direc-
tors of United Way of Linn
County.
The farm was started by her
grandfather, Merrill Boshart.
She helps her parents, Stan
and Lori Boshart, manage the
business.
Online
Votes for regional winners to
be named National Farm Mom
of the Year can be cast until
May 5 at:
http: //www.americasfarmers.
com/recognition-programs/
farm-mom-nominees-2015/
Her husband, Geoff, is gen-
eral manager of his family’s
business, Davis Glass, in Al-
bany.
“He keeps busy with that,”
she said. “I’m the farmer of the
family.”
They have three daughters
— Kyndall, Ashlynn and Sam.
Davis said she keeps them en-
gaged in activities on the farm,
and informed about the larger
issues facing agriculture.
“They just love it, absolute-
ly love it,” she said. “They want
to drive equipment. They’re
starting to ask questions about
what’s being planted in the
valley.”
Davis, along with region-
al winners from the Midwest,
Northeast, Southwest and
Southeast, were chosen by
the American Agri-Women
based on 300-word essays
written on their behalf. The
essays were judged on how
they demonstrated the nomi-
nee’s support for her family,
her community, her farm and
of agriculture.
Davis said she was un-
aware of the recognition pro-
gram until she was nominat-
ed. And while she is active
in Oregon farming circles,
it was friends and associates
outside agriculture who made
the nomination.
“That means others are
listening to what those of
us in agriculture are dealing
with,” she said. “That means
we’re reaching a larger audi-
ence.”
House committee approves
$2 million pesticide measure
Some lawmakers
warn against
changes to bill
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Farm regu-
lators would receive an ad-
ditional $2 million for regu-
lating pesticides in Oregon
under legislation passed by a
key legislative committee.
The House Committee on
Agriculture and Natural Re-
sources approved House Bill
3434, which funds increased
pesticide rule enforcement,
despite concerns by some
lawmakers over how the mon-
ey will be spent.
Numerous pesticide bills
were considered by the com-
mittee this year, including
bans on neonicotinoids and
aerial spraying, before a work
group narrowed down several
concepts, including:
• Initiating a review of no-
spray buffers by the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
• Establishing standard op-
erating procedures for inves-
tigating pesticide complaints
by the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
• Increasing the maximum
civil penalties for pesticide vi-
olations by two-fold.
During an April 21 work
session, Committee Chair
Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said
these concepts would by tak-
en up in a new bill before the
House Rules Committee.
However, the funding
component — House Bill
3434 — remained before the
House Committee on Agricul-
ture and Natural Resources.
Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove,
said he was uncomfortable with
approving $2 million in funding
for pesticide programs that may
be changed by the House Rules
Committee.
“They can take your ideas
and chose to do whatever they
want to do,” he said.
Rep.
Gail
Whitsett,
R-Klamath Falls, said she
also planned to vote against
HB 3434 for the same reason.
“I don’t know what might
happen down there,” she said.
Witt said he was assured
the upcoming bill before the
Rules Committee would re-
flect the one agreed upon by
committee members and the
pesticide work group.
Rep. Wayne Krieger,
R-Gold Beach, and Rep. Sal
Esquivel, R-Medford, said
they would give HB 3434
“courtesy votes” but may
change their positions de-
pending on what happens
with the remaining pesticide
legislation.
The committee voted 6-2
to refer the bill to the Joint
Committee on Ways and
Means with a “do pass” rec-
ommendation.