FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 3
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
TRUMP
THE
B UMP
Environmental
organizations cash in
on uncertainty caused
by new administration
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
T
he money began rolling in to the
environmental groups immediately
after Donald Trump won the presi-
dential election last November.
Though they wouldn’t divulge
specifi c amounts, environmental ac-
tivists say building their war chests has never been
so easy, as a growing support base looks to them
to take on Trump and
his Cabinet picks they
say are linked to “ex-
tractive” industries.
Pictures of oil
pipelines and indus-
trial
smokestacks
spewing dark clouds
social
accompany
media warnings al-
“The fear is you leging that the new
would have an Republican president
GOP-controlled
unfounded lawsuit and
Congress will run
fi led, and then roughshod over the envi-
the (agricultural) ronment.
time to turn shock
business is still and “It’s
outrage into action,”
responsible for the Natural Resources
funding a defense Defense Council encourag-
es would-be donors in a so-
of themselves ...” cial media campaign. “NRDC
Rick Naerebout, director is gearing up to fi ght the Trump
of operations at the Idaho administration’s disastrous
anti-environmental agen-
Dairymen’s Association
da at every turn — in the
courtroom, in Washington
and on the global stage.”
Experts who track nonprofi t organizations expect
environmental activists to use their donation windfall —
they call it the Trump Bump — to step up litigation. They
also predict environmentalists, who may fi nd themselves
stonewalled at the federal level, will shift their focus to
Turn to BUMP, Page 12
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The precipitous drop in
farm machinery sales seen in
recent years will likely begin
leveling off in 2017 but the
President can scale back
monument designations,
public land experts say
Sales of combines, large tractors drop by more than half since 2013
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
industry’s outlook remains
glum, experts say.
“I see nothing in 2017
that would lead me to be-
lieve there would be an up-
tick in machinery sales,”
said Michael Langemeier,
an agricultural economist at
Purdue University who has
studied the industry.
About 70 percent of the
farmers surveyed for Purdue
University’s “Ag Economy
Barometer” believe it’s not a
good time to invest in farm
machinery, he said.
Manufacturers aren’t ex-
pected to see sales rebound
until 2018 or 2019, when
crop prices are projected to
strengthen, Langemeier said.
“Eventually, people will
The Trump administration
could sharply revise contro-
versial national monument
designations made by its pre-
decessor, though it’s unclear
such changes would be a high
priority, experts say.
Pro-monument environ-
mental groups would also
likely seek to counteract such
moves, testing largely un-
charted legal waters.
While the Trump admin-
istration could not entirely
revoke earlier national mon-
ument designations, their size
and land use restrictions with-
in their boundaries could be
modifi ed, said Karen Budd-
Falen, an attorney who rep-
resents ranchers in public land
disputes.
have to buy machinery, but
2017 isn’t the year they will
do that,” he said.
Unit sales of large trac-
tors and combines have de-
creased by more half since
2013, the most recent peak,
according to the Association
of Equipment Manufactur-
ers.
In 2016, farmers bought
26 percent fewer combines,
26 percent fewer four-wheel-
drive tractors and 22 percent
fewer two-wheel-drive trac-
tors over 100 horsepower
compared to the previous
year, according to AEM.
The steep decline in com-
modity crop prices has stabi-
lized, so the deterioration of
demand for farm machinery
probably won’t be as brutal
in 2017, said Eli Lustgar-
ten, an industry analyst with
Longbow Securities.
Even so, sales of large
equipment will likely fall
another 5-10 percent, he
said. “It’s a weak market.”
The Association
of
Equipment Manufacturers
doesn’t expect positive sales
news in the coming year, but
the group hopes that 2017
will at least mark an end to
double-digit declines, said
Charlie O’Brien, the orga-
nization’s senior vice presi-
dent.
Even when sales do start
rising again, manufacturers
Turn to SALES, Page 12
Capital Press
“All that stuff is fair game
for the Trump administration,”
she said. “It’s pretty clear they
have maneuvering room.”
Theoretically, Trump could
go beyond recent designations
— such as the expansion of
the Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument in Oregon — and
amend monuments created
by presidents before Obama,
Budd-Falen said.
“There’s not a statute of
limitations or a time frame on
these things,” she said.
Ranchers fear that grazing
will be increasingly restricted
within the 49,000 acres recent-
ly added to the Cascade-Siski-
you National Monument.
Under an opinion issued in
1938, the U.S. Attorney Gen-
eral said Congress delegated
Turn to LAND, Page 12
3-7/#13
Farm machinery sales expected
to level off after 4-year drop