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CapitalPress.com
September 8, 2017
Dairy groups anticipate year-round guestworker bill
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Dairymen are eagerly an-
ticipating a House proposal
to replace the H-2A visa pro-
gram for temporary foreign
agricultural workers with one
that would include permanent
workers.
The proposal by House
Judiciary Chairman Bob
Goodlatte, R-Va., would
create a new visa category,
H-2C, and was expected to
be introduced after Labor
Day.
In remarks at a hearing on
agricultural guestworkers in
July, Goodlatte said the H-2A
program is costly, time-con-
suming and flawed and he’s
long supported replacing it
with a more workable pro-
gram.
Enumerating the flaws,
he noted the lengthy, bureau-
cratic certification process
for employers, forced artifi-
Rep. Bob Goodlatte
cially inflated wage rates, the
requirement to provide free
housing and transportation and
exposure to abusive litigation
— all of which his proposal
addresses.
“Agricultural employers
who participate in the H-2A
program do so as a matter of
last resort …,” he said.
For dairy farmers who need
year-round labor, however, the
current program just doesn’t
apply.
“There are several chal-
lenges, the biggest of which
is that it is designed to fill the
workforce needs of farm em-
ployers who require temporary
or seasonal work — and dairy
farming is not seasonal,” said
Chris Galen, senior vice pres-
ident of communications for
the National Milk Producers
Federation.
“So it’s been difficult to try
to retrofit the program to the
employment environment on
dairy farms. Hence the need to
develop a new type of guest-
worker program, which is
what we have been doing with
Rep. Goodlatte,” he said.
NMPF has been working
with Goodlatte during the past
year to develop an immigra-
tion reform bill it can support,
he said.
“Our focus has been on
ensuring that the needs and
concerns of dairy farmers are
adequately addressed in the
legislation he intends to offer,”
he said.
The bill is not yet final, so
NMPF won’t comment on it
until it has the opportunity to
examine it closely, he said.
“That said, we look forward
to supporting this legislation
because it represents a major
improvement over the status
quo and it will help move the
process forward,” he said.
The American Dairy Co-
alition has also been working
with Goodlatte and is call-
ing for united support for the
proposal, circulating a letter
of support and seeking signa-
tures.
“We have waited 20 years
for a realistic solution to our
industry’s labor shortages …
we must make this bill work,”
said Laurie Fischer, the coali-
tion’s CEO.
With important jobs on
dairy operations left vacant,
farmers are contemplating how
they will sustain and grow their
businesses.
Some are considering
downsizing, and others are
wondering how long they can
hang on, she said.
“The consequence of this
will be reduced milk produc-
tion, and the economies of the
entire dairy infrastructure will
be negatively impacted,” she
said.
The dairy industry is cur-
rently excluded from apply-
ing for the H-2A visa due to
its 365-day-a-year need for
labor.
The H-2C visa is the solu-
tion. Goodlatte’s bill provides
the dairy industry with a visa
program that will ensure a vi-
able workforce, she said.
In an email response to
Capital Press, a Republican
House Judiciary Committee
aide verified that Goodlatte
plans to introduce legislation
soon to replace the H-2A pro-
gram.
Small city of firefighters sprouts up overnight on ranch
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
GLIDE, Ore. — The front
acreage of the French Creek
Ranch made a transition al-
most overnight on Aug. 9 and
10.
When lightning strikes
started multiple fires in the
Umpqua National Forest
about 30 miles east of this
small community, officials
were quick to call ranch own-
er Phil Strader about turn-
ing his livestock pasture and
hay ground into the Umpqua
North Fire Complex Fire
Camp.
Strader gave his permis-
sion. The cattle that had been
grazing in the field were
quickly moved to another pas-
ture on the ranch and the next
day personnel began to arrive
to set up a camp that would
provide for a management
team, hundreds of front-line
firefighters, a helicopter base
and its pilots, support staff
and supplies, vehicles and
equipment for all.
The mission of the fire
camp is to contain the com-
plex of fires that had reached
almost 32,000 acres as of
Tuesday, Sept. 5.
There’s close to 100 acres
in the two-level pasture camp
that is the temporary home of
about 1,000 people, most of
them firefighters with the rest
being management and sup-
port staff.
Setting up a fire camp
on the ranch is nothing new.
Strader said in the last 15
years, this is the eighth or
ninth time a fire camp has
been set up on the ranch that
has been in his family for 95
years.
The ground is leased to the
U.S. Forest Service so there is
reimbursement for the ranch,
but Strader said he also gives
permission for the fire camp
because it benefits many of
his neighbors and their busi-
nesses in nearby Glide.
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Phil Strader, owner of the French Creek Ranch on the east side of Glide, Ore., stands on the upper
level of a pasture that overlooks a fire camp that was established on the ranch to manage the
Umpqua North Fire Complex that was started by lighting almost a month ago. Strader said the ranch
has been used as a fire camp on several other occasions in the past 15 years.
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Colorful pop-up tents that belong to firefighters and fire manage-
ment staff dot the pastures of the French Creek Ranch on the east
side of Glide, Ore.
“If they were to set up the
camp farther up into the for-
est, there would be no eco-
nomic benefit for this small
community,” Strader said.
“They’re spending a good
deal of money fighting these
fires so I’d like to see a bene-
fit for the community. It’s just
a guess, but the local restau-
rants, stores, gas stations may
do more like a month’s worth
of business in just a week
with the influx of personnel.”
On the camp’s lower level,
there are large tents for sleep-
ing and smaller tents, each
with a different purpose, in-
cluding operations, planning,
logistics, human resources,
air operations, finance, and
medical and safety. There is
also a kitchen that runs the
inside length of a semi trail-
er, a large portable barbecue,
a dining area, three or four
trailers that offer wash basins
and soap to clean up, a cou-
ple trailers that offer show-
ers, a laundry service, port-a-
potties and stacks of supplies
such as bottled water, energy
drinks, fire retardant pants
and shirts, and numerous oth-
er items.
The upper level is a heli-
copter base.
Spread out under the oak
trees on both levels are a cou-
ple hundred colorful popup
tents that provide individual
private resting places.
“It’s right alongside a
road (Highway 138), it’s
near a community, it’s close
to a (Forest Service) dis-
trict office,” Cheryl Caplan,
a spokeswoman for the
Umpqua National Forest, said
of the benefits of the ranch as
a fire camp. “The amenities
are really great with electric-
ity and the internet available.
Having the two fields allows
us to put a type 1 heli base
next to a type 1 incident man-
agement team and the fire-
fighters. It’s unusual to find
all that packaged together so
close to a national forest.”
Kyle Reed, a public in-
formation officer with the
Douglas Forest Protective As-
sociation in Roseburg, said it
is of great benefit to know in
advance that a landowner will
be cooperative and give per-
mission to use his land when
a fire camp needs to be estab-
lished.
“Everything you would
need is there or close by and
it is easily accessible,” Reed
said of the ranch.
Strader said fire manage-
ment officials have expressed
their appreciation of his co-
operation. He said before
any changes have been made
to the camp that impacts
the ground, officials have
checked with him first.
He explained that with ve-
hicles, heavy equipment and
hundreds of people using the
camp, the ground is impacted.
“Generally they are good
about reimbursing the cost
for rehabbing the fields,”
Strader said of the disking
and reseeding that must be
done after the camp is taken
down. Typically, it gets done
and there is grass there the
next spring.”
The ranch is home to 400
mother cows. The ranch’s
latest crop of calves has been
shipped.
While smoke from the
fires is hanging low over the
area, Strader said he hasn’t
seen any negative effects on
the ranch’s cows that are in
early gestation of their preg-
nancies.
“This is probably going
to continue until some sea-
son ending rain storms in late
September or early October,”
said Strader.
Until those rains, part of
his ranch is a fire camp that
has the look of a mini city.
Interim director of Oregon Aglink has ag family roots
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Current staff member
Mallory Phelan has been
appointed interim executive
director of Oregon Aglink,
the nonprofit organization
that attempts to help ur-
ban
Oregonians
better
LEGAL
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
GRANT COUNTY NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY ADVISOR
Grant County is seeking a consultant to monitor natural resource
issues of importance to the County and to keep the County Court
advised of the issues, their context and assist the County in
developing appropriate policy positions. The duties of the
County’s Natural Resources Policy Advisor will include, but not
necessarily be limited to:
1. Coordinating with citizens and public and private agencies
on natural resource policy matters;
2. Providing technical and policy support on natural resource
policy matters;
3. Preparing policy documents and drafting recommended
response alternatives for Court analysis;
4. Reviewing and advising the Court on proposed federal and
state legislative and administrative actions that may affect
County policies on natural resources;
5. Preparing and recommending policy and technical
responses;
6. Develop and present briefing papers;
7. Act as a liaison to federal and state agencies regarding
policy development opportunities and assist Court
members as they serve in the primary role of policy-
implementation with federal and state agencies.
All inquiries should be in written form and directed to Grant
County Judge Scott W. Myers myerssw@grantcounty-or.gov. To be
considered, proposals must adhere to the Minimum Proposal
Requirements described in the RFP packet and be received by the
Grant County Court office, 201 S. Humbolt Street, No. 280,
Canyon City OR 97820 no later than 5 pm Wednesday, September
20, 2017. No faxes or electronic transmissions will be accepted. A
complete RFP packet may be requested at 541-575-0059 or
wrightl@grantcounty-or.gov.
Legal-36-2-2/102
understand agriculture.
Phelan, who turns 30 in
September, confirmed she
has applied to replace Geoff
Horning, who left to become
CEO of Oregon Hazelnut
Industries. Phelan, who has
worked for Oregon Aglink
four years, is vice president of
operations.
The stated mission of Or-
egon Aglink is to bridge the
LEGAL
PUBLIC LIEN SALE
U-STORE SELF STORAGE
Salem, Oregon
Sun., September 10, 2017
10AM
1501 Hawthorne Ave NE
Keyla Almestica Looney, 2C54;
Jose Anaya, 1H06; Perla Anaid
Cabello-Herrera, 1G16; Jillian Kay
Collins, 2B21: Danielle Debusk,
2B31; Carmen Rocio Duran
Ramirez, RJ14; Steven Fernandez,
2B09; Juan Flores, 2C03; Stacy
Ford, 2A10; Cecelia Fuqua, 2C46;
Kristina Gonzalez, 2B08; SheaAnn
Greaves, 2A50; Austin Greene,
1C40; Cali Guthrie, Y223; Charles
D Harris, 1G09; Randall Jordan,
2A77; Vernita M Knell, 2B69;
Dustin Leja, Y1-7; Christina
Leskowsky, 2A71;
Maria de
Martinez
Hernandez,
1E21;
Andrew Meyer, RC07; Nichole
Morris, 1F35; Kimberly Munz,
Y217; Siplus Ruba, 1G03; Barry A
Sindlinger, 2D06; Linda Snook,
2C31;
legal-34-3-1/T1D
gap between urban and rural
Oregonians by helping people
better understand where their
food and fiber come from.
The organization’s activ-
ities include placing road-
side crop identification signs,
which it does in partnership
with Oregon Women for Ag-
riculture. Phelan said she is
especially proud of Oregon
Aglink’s “Adopt a Farmer”
program, in which schools
link up with producers for
field trips and presentations.
The program has grown from
18 schools and farms a few
years ago to 50 this fall.
Phelan grew up working on
her family’s grass seed farm
between Albany and Lebanon
in the mid-Willamette Valley.
She earned a business admin-
istration degree at the Univer-
sity of Portland and at first
LEGAL
PUBLIC LIEN SALE
U-STORE SELF STORAGE
Albany, Oregon
Sun, September 10, 2017 1PM
1668 Industrial Way SW
Barry Hovelsrud, J039; Jennifer
James, H022; James Kimble, F008;
Allyson, E014; Harold Miller, J042;
Elizabeh Meyers, J031;
Alan Price, H015
legal-34-3-1/T1D
Mallory Phelan
had “no intention of working
in agriculture,” as she put it.
She taught English in Peru for
eight months before returning
to the U.S. and taking what
initially was intended as a
six-month position at Oregon
Aglink.
“It was kind of like coming
home,” she said. “I didn’t re-
alize what I was missing.”
Phelan said she most en-
joys working with producers
and helping them tell their
stories
U.S. Wheat on
Trump threat:
Leaving
NAFTA
would be
‘disastrous’
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The U.S. resumed efforts
to renegotiate a trade deal
with Canada and Mexico on
Sept. 1, as President Donald
Trump has again hinted that
he may pull out of the deal.
Trump on Aug. 27 said
on his Twitter account that
both countries were being
“very difficult” while rene-
gotiating the North American
Free Trade Agreement and
he “may have to terminate?”
In the same tweet, he called
NAFTA the “worst trade
deal” ever made.
Terminating the deal
would be “disastrous” for ag-
riculture and the wheat indus-
try, said Ben Conner, director
of policy for U.S. Wheat As-
sociates.
“If the president were to
withdraw from NAFTA, I
think that would cause a lot
of problems in farm country,”
Conner said. “The president
has a lot more negotiating
experience than I do, but if
they’re trying to make coun-
terparts in Canada and Mex-
ico concerned, it also has us
alarmed.”
In April, it also looked like
Trump might pull out of the
deal, Conner said. Agricul-
ture Secretary Sonny Perdue
and others helped “reverse
course” at the time, he said.
“The dynamics that kept
that in place, I think, are still
the same,” he said. “We’re
still negotiating and the agree-
ment’s still extremely import-
ant to a lot of U.S. industry,
including farm states and a lot
of the president’s base.”
The three countries’ ne-
gotiators first met in Wash-
ington, D.C., early in August.
They “were not totally on the
same page yet,” Conner said.
Conner said the U.S. has
not attempted to restart an
entire trade agreement before.
“That’s effectively what
we’re talking about with
NAFTA,” he said. “I guess
(it) will be an experiment to
see how that changes the ne-
gotiating dynamic and the
outcome of the agreement.”
A lot is at stake for U.S.
wheat farmers. Mexico is the
crop’s largest market, Con-
ner said. NAFTA eliminated
market inconsistency and
trade barriers, and increased
exports into Mexico by 400
percent.
“Without NAFTA, under
(World Trade Organization)
rules, Mexico can impose tar-
iffs up to 67 percent on wheat,
and right now it’s duty-free,”
Conner said. “We’re exposed
if there’s a change in policy
in Mexico that we don’t have
locked in like we do with
NAFTA now.”
NAFTA has room for im-
provement, including a com-
mitment from Canada to treat
U.S. wheat farmers equally
when delivering across the
border to a Canadian elevator,
according to U.S. Wheat.
“It’s 23 years old, there’s
a lot that can be modern-
ized,” Conner said. “The dig-
ital economy and all sorts of
things that were not in trade
agreements back then are part
of negotiations now.”
The agriculture industry
has emphasized a need to “do
no harm,” in renegotiating the
deal.
Other than the localized
problem in Canada, “there’s
not a lot of improvements
that can really be made in
the North American market,”
Conner said. “So for us, it’s
mostly downside risk. We’re
hoping for that little bit of up-
side.”
Conner would prefer more
focus be put on negotiating
trade deals with countries in
the growing Asia-Pacific re-
gion. Trump withdrew from
the Trans-Pacific Partnership
trade deal with 11 other coun-
tries in January.
The European Union has
reached a tentative agreement
with Japan, and other coun-
tries are busy negotiating
their own trade deals, Conner
said.