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CapitalPress.com
January 27, 2017
Oregon
‘Right to farm’ law among targets in Oregon Legislature
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Agribusi-
ness groups have cheered the
Trump administration’s vow
to roll back federal regula-
tions but they continue to fear
overreach by the state govern-
ment in Oregon.
With Democrats con-
trolling the Oregon Legisla-
ture and the governor’s of-
fice, farm lobbyists said they
expect new threats to emerge
during the 2017 legislative
session.
Despite optimism at the
national level, the political cli-
mate in Oregon “sucks some
of the air out of the room,”
said Katie Fast, executive di-
rector of the Oregonians for
Food and Shelter agribusiness
group.
Though
Republicans
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
Katie Fast, left, executive director of the Oregonians for Food
and Shelter agribusiness group, speaks with Jenny Dresler of the
Oregon Farm Bureau about the legislative session.
picked up one seat in the state
Senate during last year’s elec-
tion, they’re still a minority
in both legislative chambers
and several moderate-leaning
Democrats have left their po-
sitions, Fast said during the
2017 Ag Summit, organized
by the Dunn Carney law firm.
One proposal to be consid-
ered during the upcoming leg-
islative session, Senate Bill
499, would remove protec-
tions for pesticide usage from
the state’s “Right to Farm and
Forest Law,” which prohibits
lawsuits and local ordinanc-
es against common farming
practices, she said.
“It’s a big attack on the
whole program,” said Fast.
Another piece of legis-
lation — House Bill 2469
— would effectively allow
Josephine County to ban ge-
netically engineered crops,
she said. State law pre-empts
local governments from regu-
lating such crops, but includes
an exception for Jackson
County.
Lawmakers will also be
asked to consider Senate Bill
500, which removes the re-
quirement that people notify
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture before filing law-
suits that allege damage from
pesticides, Fast said.
Though bills have yet to
be introduced, Oregonians for
Food and Shelter also expects
legislation that would impose
new notification requirements
for pesticide spraying as well
as restrictions on neonicoti-
noid insecticides, she said.
Labor advocates succeed-
ed in getting paid sick leave
and minimum wage increases
passed during recent legis-
lative sessions, and will turn
their aim to new policy pro-
posals in 2017, said Jenny
Dresler, state public policy
director for the Oregon Farm
Bureau.
Under House Bill 2193,
for example, large employers
would have to provide “pre-
dictable scheduling” under
which workers would be paid
“penalty wages” if their shifts
change with less than two
weeks’ notice.
While smaller-scale em-
ployers wouldn’t be subject to
the requirement, their workers
would have the right to offer
input on their work schedules
under the bill.
It’s also likely that labor
advocates will propose a 1
percent payroll tax to pay for
a statewide family and medi-
cal leave policy for workers,
Dresler said.
Farms and other busi-
nesses will be pushing for
transportation funding that
would alleviate congestion
and reduce the time their
products get to market, said
Jeff Stone, executive direc-
tor of the Oregon Associa-
tion of Nurseries.
However, there may not
be “enough oxygen” for such
a proposal given the need
to fill the state’s $1.7 billion
budget hole, Stone said. “You
may not be able to get both.”
Wallowa County ranch to adopt new water conservation practices
Flows to benefit
both farm and fish
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
A Wallowa County ranch
figures to save 1 billion gal-
lons of water annually through
a series of conservation proj-
ects, such as adding sprinklers
and forgoing irrigation during
peak summer months.
The Freshwater Trust, an
environmental nonprofit with
offices in Portland, announced
it is working with Wolfe
Ranch to upgrade irrigation
infrastructure, transfer points
of diversion and lease water
rights on the farm to benefit
endangered salmon in the Los-
tine River.
Funding comes from a $1.4
million grant awarded by the
Oregon Water Resources De-
partment. Irrigation upgrades
are also expected to boost crop
yields by 5 to 20 percent on the
ranch.
Courtesy photo by Leon Werdinger
The confluence of the Lostine and Wallowa rivers in Oregon’s Wallowa Valley.
“We’ve formed lasting
relationships with dozens of
farmers and ranchers who un-
derstand conservation isn’t
just about protecting fish,” said
Aaron Maxwell, flow resto-
ration project manager for The
Freshwater Trust, who works
in Enterprise. “It’s about the
longevity of their farms, econ-
omies and entire communi-
ties.”
Nearly 1,100 acres of for-
age and grain crops will be
converted to pivot sprinklers
as opposed to flood irrigation
at the ranch — which Maxwell
compared to the difference
between letting your hose run
into the yard, or watering just
the section that needs it most.
“In the face of present and
future water scarcity, mod-
ernizations like this will only
become more imperative,” he
said.
Ditching flood irrigation
may also have a positive ef-
fect on water quality, Maxwell
said, reducing the amount of
standing water in fields that
can become contaminated
with sediment, bacteria and
toxins before draining back
into streams.
Water saved through the
irrigation upgrades will be
transferred back into the Los-
tine River, which harbors sum-
mer chinook and steelhead
populations. Wolfe Ranch will
also voluntarily abstain from
irrigating in August and Sep-
tember, when the river reaches
critically low water levels.
The changes may allow
Wolfe Ranch, a sixth-gener-
ation family operation, to be-
gin growing more high-value
food crops, which could have
a ripple effect down the entire
Wallowa County agricultural
industry. Local businesses are
already slated to provide ap-
proximately $2 million in con-
struction materials and labor.
“Production and economics
must always be taken into con-
sideration with projects like
these,” Maxwell said. “This
will have positive implications
for the landowner and the local
economy.”
The Freshwater Trust has
been working with farms and
ranches on the Lostine River
for more than a decade, Max-
well said, after chinook runs
were nearly wiped out in the
1990s. The organization was
also awarded $114,265 from
the Water Resources Depart-
ment last year to study wheth-
er irrigation efficiencies could
help protect salmon on upper
Catherine Creek in Union
County.
Woody Wolfe, owner of
Wolfe Ranch, said water scar-
city and quality issues aren’t
going to simply go away.
“Projects like this help
further the responsible use of
our natural resources while
benefiting the environment,”
Wolfe said.
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