4
CapitalPress.com
November 17, 2017
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Apples are sorted Sept. 6 at the Symms Fruit Ranch processing
facility in Caldwell, Idaho,
Number of Idaho producers
seeking H-2A workers
could rise signifi cantly
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
CALDWELL, Idaho —
As the available labor pool
in Southern Idaho continues
to shrink, a lot more farmers
are turning to the H-2A guest
worker program to fi ll their
employment needs.
The number of agricultural
producers in Idaho who use
H-2A workers could increase
signifi cantly in coming years,
said Jennifer Uranga, who
owns and manages Mountain
West Ag Consulting, which
specializes in H-2A issues.
Total applications from
Idaho agricultural businesses
seeking H-2A workers in-
creased 32 percent from fi scal
year 2015 to 2017, according
to the Idaho Department of
Labor. Most of those appli-
cations were from Southern
Idaho producers.
“I think that number is
going to continue to grow,”
Uranga said. “I think there is
going to be an explosion.”
The only thing stopping
that explosion for the moment
is a lack of housing in the re-
gion, Uranga and farm busi-
ness managers that use H-2A
labor told Capital Press. Busi-
nesses that bring in foreign
workers under the H-2A pro-
gram are required to provide
them housing.
“If we could get the
housing, it would skyrock-
et,” Uranga said. “There are
(farms) that would love to
bring in (a lot more) workers
but there is just not the hous-
ing right now.”
Idaho ranked No. 3 in the
nation with 497 total H-2A ap-
plications in fi scal year 2016,
behind Kentucky (1.125) and
Louisiana (799), according to
the U.S. Department of Labor.
The tight farm labor situ-
ation in southern Idaho was a
major focus during the Idaho
State Horticultural Society’s
annual meeting in Nampa last
week.
“The No. 1 issue for grow-
ers by far is labor,” said Uni-
versity of Idaho fruit research-
er and conference organizer
Essie Fallahi. “Every year it
seems this problem is getting
worse.”
The tight labor pool in
Southern Idaho is the result
of a couple factors, said Chad
Henggeler, fi eld manager for
Henggeler Packing Co., one
of the state’s largest fruit or-
chards.
The state’s unemployment
rate was a historically low 2.8
percent in September and a lot
of labor-intensive farm com-
modities such as wine grapes,
fruit, hops and seed crops are
produced in the region.
“The labor pool in the last
fi ve years has really dried up,”
said Henggeler, who brought
in 100 H-2A workers this year.
“Our only choice is to bring in
workers from a foreign coun-
try on a worker guest visa.”
The pool of available work-
ers has declined at least 10 per-
cent each of the past four years,
said Jamie Mertz, co-owner of
Symms Fruit Ranch.
Like Henggeler, Symms
turned to the H-2A program
two years ago and had about
70 guest workers this year.
“If we didn’t have them,
it would be devastating, quite
honestly,” Mertz said.
During the horticultural
society meeting, farms were
encouraged to explore shar-
ing H-2A contracts to reduce
costs.
“I think one of the focuses
of the future is that we try to
work with other commodities
and other growers to try to
share workers so we can af-
ford to bring them in,” Heng-
geler said.
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers thin Gala apples at Zirkle Fruit Co.’s CRO Orchard near Rock Island, Wash., in July 2016. The num-
ber of H-2A workers nationally continues to increase by about 20 percent a year.
H-2A use up 20 percent nationally
More farms relying
on guestworkers
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
The number of H-2A-vi-
sa foreign guestworkers ap-
proved for U.S. farms contin-
ues to grow by 20 percent a
year, and eventually the need
will accelerate and the sys-
tem will crash, a leading farm
spokesman predicts.
The U.S. Department of
Labor approved 200,049
H-2A-visa foreign guestwork-
ers for U.S. farms in fi scal year
2017, up 20.7 percent from
165,741 in 2016.
“It’s the kind of growth we
expected. It would have been
more. If there hadn’t been a
late frost and hail in South
Carolina and Georgia, it would
have been closer to 205,000 or
210,000,” said Frank Gasper-
ini Jr., executive vice presi-
dent of the National Council
for Agricultural Employers in
Washington, D.C.
Labor shortage
“We have a continuing la-
bor shortage and at some point
it will reach a steeper incline
because workers are getting
older and H-2A is the only re-
placement,” Gasperini said.
“We are not raising up new
domestic workers in agricul-
ture, construction, hospitals
or hotels. We will have fewer
people doing that type of work
and with our borders tighter
than ever, foreign guestwork-
ers are the only relief valve,”
he said.
Top 10 H-2A employers nationwide, 2017
Rank
Employer
1. North Carolina Growers
Association, Inc.
2.
WAFLA (formerly WA
Farm Labor Association)
3.
Fresh Harvest, Inc.
(Heber, Calif.)
4.
Zirkle Fruit Company
(Selah, Wash)
5. Elkhorn Packing Co. LLC
(Salinas, Calif.)
6. Stemilt Ag Services LLC
(Wenatchee, Wash.)
7.
R&R Harvesting, Inc.
(LaBelle, Fla.)
8.
Foothill Packing, Inc.
(Salinas, Calif.)
9. Peri & Sons Farms, Inc.
(Yerington, Nev.)
10.
Virginia Agricultural
Growers Assoc., Inc.
Workers
11,947
7,134
4,623
2,970
2,653
Top H-2A states
2,082
1,999
(As of Sept. 30)
1,854
1,739
1,602
At some point the system
will crash because government
agencies are not equipped to
handle the increased volume,
he said. Agencies are staffed
for year-round work, not sea-
sonal peaks, he said.
Mechanization isn’t the
total answer because the U.S.
grows and exports more food
every year, Gasperini said.
That will cause, even with
increased mechanization, de-
mand for labor to go up, he
said.
Agency limitations
“As Congress looks at
H-2C (to replace H-2A), man-
datory E-verify (electronic
employment eligibility) and
possibly other initiatives,
they need to be aware of this
growth and make sure govern-
ment departments responsible
for administering these visa
become actual workers, Gas-
perini said.
H-2A workers are about 10
percent of the nation’s more
than 2 million seasonal agri-
cultural workers, he said.
That’s more than doubled
in the last fi ve years, he said.
Year-round or permanent
ag worker are about another
500,000, he said.
Source: U.S.
Dept. of Labor
Alan Kenaga/
Capital Press
programs are ready for the
growth. They barely keep up
now,” said Kerry Scott, pro-
gram manager of masLabor,
Lovingston, Va., the largest
provider of temporary H-2A
agricultural and H-2B nonag-
ricultural workers in the na-
tion.
200,049 visas
The 200,049 H-2A visas
authorized by DOL in 2017
was 6,107 fewer than the
number requested, according
to DOL.
The number of authorized
H-2A visas has been increas-
ing by 18 to 20 percent for
several years.
There were 139,832 H-2A
visas approved in 2015,
116,689 in 2014 and 98,821 in
2013, according to DOL.
Generally, about 90 per-
cent of those authorizations
The latest DOL numbers
show Florida leading in 2017
H-2A workers at 25,303, up
12.6 percent. Georgia is sec-
ond at 23,421, up 11.7 per-
cent. North Carolina is third at
20,713, up 10.4 percent.
Washington is fourth at
18,535, up 9.3 percent. Cali-
fornia is fi fth at 15,232, up 7.6
percent. After that, Louisiana,
Kentucky, New York, Michi-
gan and Arizona round out the
top 10 states.
“Florida, Washington and
Michigan see higher growth
because whole crops are start-
ing to shift in a big way to
H-2A because of lesser migrant
movement,” Gasperini said.
Top H-2A crops
A breakdown of 2017
H-2A workers by crops or oc-
cupation shows berries No. 1
at 21,946 workers, up 11 per-
cent. Apples is No. 2 at 12,697,
up 6.3 percent. Tobacco is
third at 12,534, also up 6.3
percent. Fruits and vegetables
fourth at 12,465, up 6.2 per-
cent and general farmworkers
at 12,037, up 6 percent.
That is followed by mel-
ons, corn, peppers, sweet pota-
toes and hay and straw.
LEGAL
CASE NO.: 17CV29151
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
SUMMONS FOR
PUBLICATION
To:
ALL OTHER UNKNOWN
PARTIES CLAIMING ANY
RIGHT, TITLE, LIEN OR
INTEREST IN THE REAL
PROPERTY COMMONLY
KNOWN AS 7990 HERON
STREET, SALEM, OR 97305
Legal-44-4-3/999
USDA is again holding off
on putting in place organic
livestock and poultry practices,
delaying the Nov. 14 effective
date.
The controversial rule was
fi nalized in the waning days of
the Obama administration, but
has been on rocky ground with
the new administration.
LEGAL
ZIEVE BRODNAX & STEELE, LLP
By: /s/ Amy F. Harrington
AMY F. HARRINGON, OR Bar 123363
Attorneys for Plaintiff
WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND
SOCIETY, FSB, DOING BUSINESS AS
CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT IN ITS
INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT
SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR BRONZE
CREEK TITLE TRUST 2014-NPL1, A
DELAWARE TRUST
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 98
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 11/21/17.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
PARKING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
1768 13TH ST. SE SALEM, OR
2008 CHRYSLER 300 4D
VIN =2C3KA43R28H126931
Amount due on lien $2912.00
Reputed owner(s) ROLANDO &
ROGELIO BAROCIO
SELCO COMM CU
Legal-45-2-3/999
LEGAL
CHERRY AVENUE STORAGE
2680 Cherry Ave. NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 399-7454
AUCTION
SAT., DEC. 2 ND • 10 A.M.
• Unit AS-34 Kyle Blackman
• Unit #33 Jamie Meza
and Judie Durham
• Unit #46 Altheria Rabb
• Unit #72 Marilen Pineda
• Unit #73 Mirian Flores
• Unit #179 John Codner
• Unit #186 - #193
Juanita Thompson
• Unit #222 Shante
and Ranae Stroud
• Unit #C-1 Summer Richey
Cherry Avenue Storage
reserves the right to
refuse any and all bids
It adds new provisions for
livestock handling and trans-
portation for slaughter and avi-
an living conditions in organic
production. It also expands
existing requirements for live-
stock care and production prac-
tices and mammalian living
conditions.
The Organic Trade Associa-
tion says the rule represents 14
years of work to improve and
clarify organic animal regula-
tions and has universal support
among the organic community,
animal welfare advocates and
consumers.
But conventional livestock
groups oppose the rule on
several fronts, saying the pro-
posed practices aren’t based
on science but aimed at con-
sumer perception and threaten
LEGAL
both animal and human public
health.
Initially proposed in April
2016, the rule was set to go in
place March 20 of this year.
President Trump’s executive
order putting a freeze on all
pending regulations for 60 days
delayed implementation un-
til May 19. But USDA again
delayed implementation until
Nov. 14, citing signifi cant pol-
icy and legal issues warranting
further review. Anticipating
yet another delay, OTA fi led
suit against USDA in Septem-
ber, seeking judicial review of
the administration’s delay. The
lawsuit is pending.
In a statement on Thursday,
OTA said it will “continue to
fi ght to uphold organic stan-
dards that this administration
continues to willfully ignore
by repeatedly delaying this
fully vetted and fi nal voluntary
organic standard. We will see
the department in court and are
confi dent that we will prevail
on this important issue for the
organic sector.”
Michael Conaway, chair-
man of the House Agriculture
Committee, released a state-
ment in support of the delay.
“The organic livestock rule
goes far beyond the scope of
the National Organic Program,
threatening animal health and
food safety, and jeopardizing
the livelihoods of numerous
farmers and ranchers,” he said.
“I am hopeful the Trump ad-
ministration’s commitment to
regulatory reform will result in
the continued roll-back of bur-
densome regulations like this
one,” he said.
USDA stated a material er-
ror in the record was discovered
during the course of reviewing
the rule, in addition to a ques-
tion about the scope of the stat-
utory authority.
“USDA is delaying the rule
so that important questions,
such as the likely costs and ben-
efi ts, can be more fully assessed
through the notice and com-
ment process prior to making
a fi nal decision on the direction
of the rule,” the agency stated.
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 819
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 12/7/17.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
WILTSE’S TOWING
3120 CHERRY AVE SE SALEM, OR
2017 HONDA HRV
VIN =3CZRU6H30HG700616
Amount due on lien $905.00
Reputed owner(s) ARLENE WEBB
HONDA LEASE TRUST
The USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS)
announces a meeting for the
Washington State Technical
Advisory Committee (STAC)
on Tuesday, December 5, 2017
from 9:30am - 3:00pm at 316
W. Boone Ave., Suite 450,
Spokane, WA. Remote access
is also available. For more
information, contact Nick
Vira, (360) 704-7758.
46-3/999
LEGAL
LEGAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 98
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 11/28/17.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
PARKING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
1768 13TH ST. SE SALEM, OR
2008 TOYOTA CAMRY 4D
VIN =4T1BB46K78U049859
Amount due on lien $3106.00
Reputed owner(s)
CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 11/22/17.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
MCCOY FREIGHTLINER
4060 INTERSTATE PL. NE BROOKS, OR
2004 FREIGHTLINER COLUMBIA
VIN = 1FUJA6CKX4LM43478
Amount due on lien $5630.00
Reputed owner(s) DOROTHY COLEMAN
ALLSTATE FINANCE
Legal-45-2-3/999
THE STATE OF OREGON TO THE
DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT(S) ABOVE NAMED:
You are hereby directed and required to appear in, and defend
against, this legal action within 30 days after the first date of
publication of summons, which is the 3rd day of November, 2017,
and defend the above entitled action in the above entitled court,
and answer the complaint of the plaintiff WILMINGTON SAVINGS
FUND SOCIETY, FSB, DOING BUSINESS AS CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT IN
ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR BRONZE
CREEK TITLE TRUST 2014-NPL1, A DELAWARE TRUST and serve a
copy of your answer upon the undersigned attorneys for plaintiff,
ZIEVE BRODNAX & STEELE, LLP, at their office below stated; and in
case of your failure so to do, judgment will be rendered against you
according to the demand of the complaint, which has been filed
with the clerk of said court. This is a Complaint for Judicial
Foreclosure of Deed of Trust.
You must “appear” in this case or the other side will win
automatically. To “appear” you must file with the court a legal
paper called a “motion” or “answer.” The “motion” or “answer”
must be given to the court clerk or administrator within 30 days
along with the required filing fee. It must be in proper form and
have proof of service on the plaintiff’s attorney or, if the plaintiff
does not have an attorney, proof of service on the plaintiff.
If you have any questions, you should see an attorney
immediately. If you need help in finding an attorney, you may
contact the Oregon State Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service online at
www.oregonstatebar.org or by calling (503) 684-3763 in the Portland
metropolitan area.
DATED: October 26, 2017
USDA again delays organic livestock rule
legal-46-2-1/999
WILMINGTON SAVINGS
FUND SOCIETY, FSB, DOING
BUSINESS AS CHRISTIANA
TRUST, NOT IN ITS
INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT
SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR
BRONZE CREEK TITLE TRUST
2014-NPL1, A Delaware Trust,
Plaintiff,
vs.
BRIAN D. GIBSON, an
individual; TAMI K. GIBSON,
an individual; OREGON
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE;
and ALL OTHER UNKNOWN
PARTIES CLAIMING ANY
RIGHT, TITLE, LIEN OR
INTEREST IN THE REAL
PROPERTY COMMONLY
KNOWN AS 7990 HERON
STREET, SALEM, OR 97305.
Defendants.
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 98
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold, for cash
to the highest bidder, on 11/27/17.
The sale will be held at 10:00am by
TRS OREGON INC.
1210 22ND ST SE, SALEM, OR
2001 BMW 330i
VIN = WBAAV534X1FJ65860
Amount due on lien $3744.00
Reputed owner(s) OCEANA
MONTANEZCRUZ, ANGELA LINDLOW
Legal-46-2-1/999
LEGAL
Legal-46-2-1/999
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON
FOR THE COUNTY OF MARION
Legal-45-2-3/999