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14 CapitalPress.com Cow-calf returns lower, but still positive By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Returns for cow-calf op- erations will be lower this year, after last year’s re- cord-high cattle prices fell back to Earth, but most pro- ducers’ balance sheets will still be sporting black, an agricultural economist says. Returns over the cost of production will be sig- nificantly lower than in 2014 and 2015, when aver- age cow-calf returns were $530 and $300 per head, respectively, said Jessica Sampson, an agricultural economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center. But at an expected aver- age return of $133 per cow this year, it will still be pos- itive, Sampson said. Wheth- er producers still make money depends on their in- puts and how they manage those inputs, Sampson said. They could also have purchased the heifers when prices were extremely high or they might be paying transportation costs to haul in feed, she said. In the big picture, the forecast per cow return is still significantly higher than the average annual re- turn of about $47 per cow between 2009 and 2013, before the run-up in prices, according to LMIC data. Cattle shortages in 2014 and 2015, following a two-year drought and herd liquidation in the South- ern Plains, led to a surge in cattle prices across the complex. Herd expansion in the past two years has also reined in cattle prices. Prices on 700- to 800-pound feeder steers Winning attorneys in Sakuma pay case seek $235,000 Farm’s lawyers says fees too high By DON JENKINS Capital Press Associated Press ie A cow stands watch over her calf in a pasture at the Stephen F. Austin State Walter C. Todd Re- search Farm north of Nacogdoches, Texas, in this ile photo. Drought in 2014 and 2015 forced many producers in Texas and elsewhere to decrease the size of their herds, driving up cattle prices. Now the growing number of cattle is driving prices back down, economists say. in the Southern Plains av- eraged $150 per hundred- weight last week, compared to $222 per hundredweight for the same week last year, she said. But those feeder pric- es are getting closer to the five-year average of $144 per hundredweight between 2010 and 2014, according to LMIC data. Returns are expected to decrease further in 2017 to $123 per cow, she said. The good news for this year is that feed and fuel costs are expected to de- crease, by about 3 percent on a per-cow basis, she said. The current seasonal average price for corn is $3.25 a bushel, compared to $3.55 a year ago. Based on prospective plantings last spring and expected yields, LMIC expects 14.1 billion bushels from this year’s crop, compared to the re- cord 14.2 billion bushels in 2014, Sampson said. Hay prices vary widely by region, but alfalfa prices are expected to be 5 to 10 percent lower than in 2015, and grass hay prices are ex- Farmers Ending Hunger ... pected to be 12 to 15 per- cent lower on good supply. Last year’s mild summer and good pasture followed by a mild winter allowed producers to feed less hay, she said. LMIC’s cow-calf returns data are used as a barome- ter of the industry, as those returns are a key factor in influencing herd expansion or contraction. The rapid drop in returns this year and next year will likely lead to a slowing of the herd expansion that started in 2014, she said. May 20, 2016 Triumphant lawyers who sued a Washington berry grow- er and won piece-rate pickers paid rest breaks are requesting legal fees that the farm’s attor- ney calls unreasonable. The two law irms that rep- resented pickers at Sakuma Brothers Farms iled a motion Monday in U.S. District Court for Western Washington seek- ing $235,000. The fees would compensate them for successfully argu- ing that farmworkers must be paid separately for 10-minute breaks. The 2015 state Supreme Court ruling changed la- bor practices statewide and also netted Sakuma workers $87,160 in back wages for the 2014 picking season. The av- erage payout to workers was $231.20, according to court records. Sakuma’s lawyer, Adam Belzberg, said Tuesday the sum sought by lawyers far exceeds what workers received and what the company spent de- fending itself. “The request for attorney fees has to be reasonable, and the amount they requested is completely unreasonable,” he said. Columbia Legal Services attorney Daniel Ford said the case will have an ongoing ben- eit for many workers, not just for those who picked for Saku- ma in 2014. “This decision will have statewide impact for many years to come,” he said. On behalf of Sakuma work- ers, the nonproit Columbia Legal Services and Seattle irm Terrell Marshall Law Group sued Sakuma in 2013 in federal court, alleging four pay viola- tions. The company and work- ers settled three issues out of court, with 408 workers sharing $500,000, their attorneys re- ceiving $344,000 and two lead plaintiffs getting $3,000 apiece. The settlement left unre- solved whether piece-rate pick- ers would receive separate pay for rest breaks. A federal judge referred the question to the state Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in favor of the workers. Four lawyers, at hourly rates ranging from $275 to $400, prepared for the Supreme Court case and then negotiated back pay based on the ruling, accord- ing to court records. The hourly rates added up to $197,870. The lawyers ar- gue they also merit a bonus of about 19 percent for taking up the cause of low-income workers and overcoming “powerful forces opposing rest break pay for farm work- ers,” according to the motion for attorney fees. “We could have put all of that effort and time in the case after the settlement and received nothing at all,” Ford said. Belzberg has yet to ile a counter motion. He said he will propose the workers’ attorneys receive signiicantly less and not be awarded a bonus. The company already had agreed to an out-of-court set- tlement on the other issues and taking the rest-break question to the Supreme Court involved very little risk, he said. Begins With You! Help End Hunger in Oregon... one acre at a time! Farmers Ending Hunger begins with Oregon farmers and ranchers who raise hundreds of acres of produce, grain and cattle. With a little extra effort, each farmer donates an acre or two to feed the hungry and suddenly our network has thousands of tons of fresh food! Farmers Ending Hunger Needs ... Fresh Vegetables, Potatoes, Wheat, Cattle. • Farmers Ending Hunger donated over SIX MILLION POUNDS of food crops to Oregon Food Bank since 2006! • More than 240,000 people per month eat meals from emergency food boxes. • 33 percent of those who receive emergency food boxes are children. Visit www.farmersendinghunger.com to meet our generous farmers and partners, and find out what crops and services they are donating. Where your donation goes: Donated produce, grain and cattle is processed into canned (and fresh) vegetables, pancake mix and ground beef and donated to the Oregon Food Bank and their network of 20 regional food banks throughout Oregon and Clark County, WA. Please Donate Today: Contact John Burt , Executive Director, Farmers Ending Hunger burtjgb@aol.com 503-931-9232 farmersendinghunger.com Like us on Facebook 21-1/#3