Join us throughout the month of October as we focus
on breast cancer awareness, education and prevention
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 40
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Financial
collapse
ABOVE: Payette,
Idaho, farmer
Bruce Cruickshank
stands in front of
bins owned by
Farmers Grain, a
Nyssa, Ore., grain
brokerage that
recently declared
bankruptcy, in this
Sept. 21 photo.
Cruickshank and
dozens of other
farmers and
ag-related
businesses in
southwestern
Idaho and Eastern
Oregon are owed a
combined millions
of dollars by the
company.
Producers owed millions
after Farmers Grain fi les
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
N
YSSA, Ore. — The collapse
of the Farmers Grain brokerage
was as sudden as it was shock-
ing to many farmers in Eastern
Oregon and southwestern Idaho
who sold their corn and wheat to the company.
The business, which bought, processed and
sold grain, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on
April 18 and had sought to reorganize and re-
main in business.
But in August it was forced into Chapter
7 bankruptcy, meaning its assets will be sold
in an attempt to pay back creditors, which in-
clude dozens of farms in the area.
According to court documents, Farmers
Grain, which opened in January 2013 and is
headquartered in Nyssa, Ore., has $14 million
in assets but as much as $23.8 million in lia-
bilities.
That means some farmers and other ag-re-
lated businesses won’t be paid the full amount
they are owed by Farmers Grain, which had
gross revenues of $31.2 million in 2016 and
$30.6 million in 2015.
The company’s fi nancial struggles came as
startling news to many of its creditors, includ-
ing Payette, Idaho, farmer Bruce Cruick-
shank, who found out about them only after
Photos by Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Corn is harvested for grain Sept. 28 in a fi eld near Nyssa, Ore. The
fi nancial collapse of Farmers Grain, a Nyssa grain brokerage, means that
much of the tens of thousands of acres of corn the company contracted
with growers in the region for this year doesn’t have a home.
Turn to COLLAPSE, Page 12
Upcoming canola study frames negotiations on crop’s future
Oregon State University study examines impacts of crop in Willamette Valley
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A highly anticipated study on the im-
pacts of canola production in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley will soon be released
after three years of research.
The report from Oregon State Uni-
versity is expected to frame negotia-
tions over canola’s future in the valley,
where most cultivation of the crop is
banned until 2019.
Controversy over canola in the re-
gion erupted in 2013, when the Oregon
Department of Agriculture broke with
longstanding precedent and decided
to allow 2,500 acres of the crop to be
grown along the valley’s edges.
Specialty seed producers opposed
the rule change, fearing that canola will
INSIDE
W INTER S ERVICE
& S UPPLIES
disrupt production of related brassica
crops grown for seed.
Farmers who want to grow canola,
on the other hand, see it as a valuable
rotation crop that can be sold on the
commodity market — offering fl exibil-
ity compared to most seed crops, which
are grown under contract.
Turn to CANOLA, Page 12
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Canola is harvested
in Oregon’s Willa-
mette Valley in this
Capital Press fi le
photo. An upcoming
report on canola
production in the
region is expected to
frame negotiations
over the crop’s
future and ability to
coexist with related
brassica species.
Uneven impacts seen in Oregon spotted frog settlement
October 6, 2017
Habitat improvement
in some areas causes
degradation in others
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Winter Service & Supplies
special section
A legal settlement intended to up-
grade conditions for the Oregon spot-
ted frog is having uneven impacts on
the threatened species’ habitat, ac-
cording to federal biologists.
The agreement was struck last
year to resolve a lawsuit between
environmental groups, irrigation
districts and the federal government
over the operation of several dams in
the region.
While conditions for the spotted
frog improved in portions of the ba-
sin during certain seasons, they were
degraded in other locations and times
under the deal, according to a recent
“biological opinion” from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
“We call this the push-down, pop-
up system,” said Bridget Moran, fi eld
supervisor of the agency’s offi ce in
Bend, Ore.
Turn to FROG, Page 12
Our Rebin Program can turn your old
trailer into a new trailer! We will
remove all working mechanical parts,
and replace the bin with a new Stainless
Steel STC Bin on your existing running
gear. All parts deemed reusable are
reinstalled on the new bin. All of this at
the fraction of the cost of a new trailer!
WWW.STCTRAILERS.COM
494 W. Hwy 39
Blackfoot, ID 83321
208-785-1364
40-3/108
EVER WONDERED WHAT TO DO WITH THAT OLD, WORN OUT COMMODITY TRAILER?