FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 19
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Eric Mortenson/Capital Press
When Oregon farm and ranch land
changes hands, the question becomes,
‘Now what?’
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Primary worry
The impact is unclear at this point, but the primary
worry is about ag land being taken out of production. Jim
Johnson, the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s land use
and water planning coordinator, said ag land conversion
Turn to LAND, Page 12
ORE.
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Arlington
Or Jo 84
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Biggs
Wasco
ve
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tions.
The buyer said she had called her husband, who was
aboard their yacht in the Cayman Islands, to share the
news. “Honey,” the woman said she’d told him, “I just
bought the most amazing birthday gift for you.”
And the land, sold by Daggett’s stepmother for what
Daggett fi gures was three times what it could generate as
a cattle ranch, slipped from the family’s grasp. Now it lies
behind a locked gate.
Variations of that story are playing out across Oregon
and other states as farm and ranch land changes hands,
sometimes by thousands of acres at a time. Some buyers
are fellow farmers who are expanding their operations un-
der the mantra of “get big or get out.” But other buyers
include investment fi rms, wind energy developers, con-
servation organizations, companies that fi t the description
of “Big Ag” and wealthy individuals looking to establish
private hunting reserves or vacation retreats.
Area in
detail
D
D
iane Daggett remembers the conversation
with the woman who had just purchased the
Daggett family’s 440-acre cattle ranch in
Northeast Oregon’s Wallowa County, land
that had been in the family for four genera-
The 8,000-acre Murtha Ranch along the
John Day River near Condon, Ore., was
purchased by the Western Rivers Conser-
vancy for $7.9 million. The group sold it for
the same price to the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department, which developed it
into Cottonwood Canyon State Park. As a
nod to traditional uses, hunting and fi shing
are allowed, and state offi cials are devel-
oping a grazing plan that may be put into
effect next spring.
19
r
206
SHERMAN
97
GILLIAM
Cottonwood
Canyon
State Park
206
Condon
N
19
97
5 miles
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Ag groups: Feinstein farmworker bill should be part of larger solution
By TIM HEARDEN
and DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Farm groups are giving general-
ly high marks to a bill co-sponsored
by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein that
would shield many undocumented
farmworkers from deportation.
The United Farm Workers-sup-
ported Agricultural Worker Program
Act would provide “blue cards” to
those who have worked in agricul-
ture for at least 100 days in each of
the last two years. The cards would
enable them to legally stay in the
U.S.
If they maintained blue card sta-
tus for the next three to fi ve years,
depending on total hours they
worked, they would earn a green
card and permanent legal residency.
Feinstein, D-Calif., said the bill
aims to address a worsening labor
shortage in agriculture.
“Workers are scared,” she told
Pickers harvest
strawberries near
Santa Maria, Calif.
Farm groups are
giving generally
high marks to a
bill co-sponsored
by Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif.,
that would enable
farmworkers to
gain legal status.
reporters in a conference call.
“They’re afraid they’re going to get
picked up and deported. Some have
disappeared. … Some (growers)
have talked about developing on
leased land in Mexico, and that’s not
the answer.”
Feinstein and her co-sponsors —
Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of
Vermont, Michael Bennet of Colo-
rado, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and
Turn to BILL, Page 12
Courtesy of California Strawberry Commission
Washington CAFO law attacked from all sides
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The dairy industry and environ-
mental groups have come up with 19
legal challenges to the Washington
Department of Ecology’s new ma-
nure-control law.
The Pollution Control Hearings
Board, the forum for appealing Ecolo-
gy actions, has scheduled a week-long
hearing for Dec. 4-8 in Tumwater on
the state’s Concentrated Animal Feed-
ing Operation permits. The appeals
did not keep the rules from taking ef-
fect in March.
“Ecology developed these permits
with the best available science and
broad stakeholder input,” department
spokeswoman Jessica Payne wrote
Monday in an email. “We believe
they are protective of water quali-
ty and represent best practices for
the facilities the permits will cover.
Ecology stands by these permits.”
CAFO permit terms are a major
battleground for farm groups and en-
vironmental organizations in Wash-
ington. Provisions will dictate for at
least the next fi ve years how dairies
keep manure from polluting ground-
water and surface water.
Previously, the state Department of
Agriculture oversaw how dairies store
and spread manure, and few dairies
had CAFO permits issued by Ecology.
The expanded permit will require
more soil testing, put more limits on
fertilizing with manure and place more
scrutiny on manure lagoons, even ones
built to Natural Resources Conserva-
tion Service standards.
The Washington State Dairy Fed-
eration and Washington Farm Bureau
dispute the science and economics be-
hind the rules.
Turn to CAFO, Page 12