August 31, 2018
CapitalPress.com
3
Judge rules dairy can stay in operation
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
PORTLAND — A controver-
sial Oregon dairy will not be shut
down despite violating a settlement
agreement with farm regulators over
wastewater management.
Multnomah County Circuit Court
Judge Kelly Skye has asked attor-
neys for the Oregon Department of
Agriculture and Lost Valley Farm to
come up with less drastic remedies
that will get the facility into regula-
tory compliance.
“I’m not inclined to order an im-
mediate shutdown of wastewater,”
Skye said at an Aug. 24 court hearing
in Portland, Ore.
However, the judge did find that
Greg te Velde, the dairy’s owner, had
willfully violated his deal with ODA
to maintain enough wastewater stor-
age capacity.
As a “lifelong dairyman,” te Vel-
de “should know what it takes to get
his dairy into compliance” with reg-
ulations, Skye said.
A follow-up hearing on remedies
for the violation has been scheduled
for Aug. 30.
Oregon farm regulators had asked
a judge to order Lost Valley to stop
generating wastewater, which would
effectively shut down the facility.
During the court hearing, the
former farm manager of Lost Val-
ley Farm testified that he quit on
moral grounds after being asked to
unlawfully spread wastewater on a
field.
Jedediah Aylett said he resigned
his position from Lost Valley Farm
of Boardman, Ore., because he was
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Mike Gamroth, a retired Oregon State University animal science professor,
testifies at the Aug. 24 contempt of court hearing for Greg te Velde, owner of the
controversial Lost Valley Farm in Boardman, Ore.
concerned the facility wasn’t com-
plying with its confined animal feed-
ing operation permit.
The Oregon Department of Ag-
riculture called Aylett as a witness
against te Velde, the dairy’s owner,
who is accused of contempt of court
for violating a settlement deal with
the agency.
“The stuff he was doing wasn’t
legal, wasn’t right,” said Aylett
during the hearing in Portland, Ore.
“I did not want to be involved.”
According to Aylett, te Velde
requested that he apply wastewa-
ter to a center pivot-irrigated field
that was already saturated, risking
contamination of groundwater with
nitrogen.
“He asked me to just pick a cir-
cle and he would take the fall for
that circle if we over-applied,” Aylett
said.
Other witnesses defended the
dairy’s performance and refuted al-
legations by ODA, which wants to
shut the facility down.
A retired Oregon State Univer-
sity animal science professor, Mike
Gamroth, cast doubt on ODA’s
claims of excessive water usage at
the dairy.
(Direct payments, millions of dollars)
Area
Dairy
Wheat
Corn
Cotton
Total
By DON JENKINS
Calif.
Idaho
Wash.
Ore.
$23.83
8.58
3.87
1.45
0.95
6.30
9.52
2.76
0.14
0.24
0.17
0
13.10
NA
NA
NA
38.01
15.11
13.55
4.21
Capital Press
NOTE: Crop payments are based on USDA August 2018 crop production report. Dairy
payments are based on January-June 2018 production.
Capital Press graphic
Farm groups still
want trade, not aid
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Several farm groups said
they appreciate USDA’s an-
nouncement on Monday that
it will provide $6.1 billion in
assistance to farmers hurt by
retaliatory tariffs, but others
said it isn’t enough to offset
their impending losses and
called for an end to the Trump
administration’s trade dis-
putes.
USDA’s
three-pronged
plan includes about $4.7 bil-
lion in direct payments to
farmers, $1.2 billion in gov-
ernment food purchases and
$200 million for trade promo-
tion.
The American Farm Bu-
reau Federation said farm in-
come is at a 12-year low, so
any assistance is appreciated.
“The additional burden of
tariffs on the goods we sell
to China, Canada, Mexico
and the European Union has
been more than many farmers
can bear. Today’s announce-
ment gives us some breathing
room, but it will keep many of
us going only a few months
more,” said Zippy Duvall, the
Farm Bureau president.
The real solution is to take
a tough stance at the negoti-
ating table and quickly find
resolution with U.S. trading
partners, he said.
National Farmers Union
said the aid will begin to help
many who are suffering the
brunt of retaliation, but farm-
ers need strong markets and
long-term certainty.
“This trade war has al-
ready caused irreparable,
long-term harm to what were
strong trade relationships for
American family farmers and
ranchers,” said Rob Larew,
NFU senior vice president of
public policy and communi-
cations.
NFU wants the administra-
tion to pursue fair trade agree-
ments, transition from an ad
hoc emergency aid strategy
and work with Congress to
develop a legislative solution
to low farm prices, he said.
The National Associa-
tion of Wheat Growers said
USDA’s proposal poorly re-
said.
A variation of just one inch in la-
goon levels equates to 160,000 gal-
lons of water, he said.
“I don’t have confidence in those
measurements, basically,” he said.
Gamroth said he has probably
visited every dairy in Oregon and
does not believe Lost Valley Farm’s
water usage is abnormally large.
“I don’t see any difference for a
dairy of that size,” he said.
Similar conditions exist at other
dairies, for which they haven’t been
cited, Gamroth said.
“I think it’s a fairly clean dairy.
Compliance issues are quite minor
in most cases,” he said.
Overflow problems have been
“minor,” wastewater storage is no
longer a problem and the facility
poses no greater environmental risk
than other dairies, Gamroth said.
During cross-examination by the
state’s attorney, Lisa DeFever, Gam-
roth acknowledged that he submitted
a declaration in Lost Valley’s bank-
ruptcy proceedings in May stating
that the facility used nearly an acre-
foot of water per day, or roughly
320,000 gallons.
DeFever said the dairy hasn’t
properly tested the nitrogen content
of wastewater applied to fields, po-
tentially causing groundwater con-
tamination.
She also said the facility’s ma-
nure storage problems will likely
resume once summer is over, which
will “come back and bite us” when
the rainy season begins.
“We will end up with them in
the winter full and overflowing,”
DeFever said.
Elk raid farm, eat nearly 100,000 pounds of blueberries
USDA tariff-mitigation plan
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
Since starting operations in 2017,
the second-largest dairy in Oregon
has been cited repeatedly for waste-
water problems by ODA, which led
to the lawsuit.
Under the settlement deal Lost
Valley reached with ODA in March,
the facility must limit its water usage
to 65,000 gallons per day.
The agency now alleges that te
Velde has committed contempt of
court by exceeding the agreed-upon
amount by up to 375,000 gallons per
day, thereby contributing to waste-
water management problems at the
site.
To sanction the dairy, ODA is
requesting that a judge order the
facility to stop generating wastewa-
ter, which would effectively shut it
down.
During the court hearing, Gam-
roth — who has extensive experi-
ence in the dairy industry — said he
doubted ODA’s estimates of water
usage.
Gamroth testified that he doesn’t
see how hundreds of thousands of
additional gallons could be used
without a glaringly obvious “Olym-
pic size swimming pool” of excess
water at the facility.
“I can’t find where that water
goes, I really can’t,” Gamroth said.
One factor that could figure into
ODA’s estimate is an inaccurate wa-
ter meter that varies in its flow rate
and total usage data, he said.
“It’s simply not realistic, and it’s
got to relate to that meter,” he said.
State officials also based their
estimate on the changing levels of
water in manure lagoons, which
are difficult to measure, Gamroth
flects the reality that all farm-
ers are being harmed by tar-
iffs.
“Farm income is down,
and rural America is endur-
ing a prolonged economic
downturn. This relief package
shows that the administration
isn’t grasping the tough con-
ditions being faced by farm-
ers,” Jimmie Musick, NAWG
president, said.
The long-term solution is
to end the trade war, he said.
National Pork Producers
said the aid package demon-
strates Trump’s commitment
to American farmers and will
bring some relief from retalia-
tory tariffs.
“While we’re grateful and
commend the administration
for its action to help us, what
pork producers really want is
to export more pork — and
that means ending these trade
disputes soon,” Jim Heimerl,
NPPC president, said.
The American Soybean
Association said the payments
to farmers will partially offset
the impact of China’s tariffs
on U.S. soybeans and increas-
ing funding for market devel-
opment is even more crucial,
given the need to find new ex-
port markets.
“While this assistance
package will definitely help
our farmers get through the
bad patch we’re currently fac-
ing, we must remain focused
on market opportunities in the
long term,” ASA president
John Heisdorffer said.
The National Corn Grow-
ers Association said the aid
to farmers won’t begin to ad-
dress the serious damage done
to the corn market because of
the administration’s actions.
“While most members
prefer trade over aid, they
support relief if it helps some
farmers provide assurance to
their local bankers and get
through another planting sea-
son. Unfortunately, this plan
provides virtually no relief
to corn farmers,” said Kevin
Skunes, NCGA president.
The National Milk Produc-
ers Federation said the plan
falls far short of addressing
the losses dairy producers are
experiencing.
Elk ate an estimated 90,000 to
100,000 pounds of blueberries this sea-
son at a large farm in northwest Wash-
ington, according to farm managers.
The elk damaged about 40 acres of
the 650-acre Golden Eagle Farms on
Cockerham Island, according to farm
official Michele Cherchi. Fencing off
the fields would be impractical, he said.
“It’s a large area,” Cherchi said
Thursday.
Elk in the North Cascades herd,
also known as the Nooksack herd, have
moved onto agricultural land in east-
ern Skagit County over the past sever-
al years. The Department of Fish and
Wildlife says it’s working to reduce
agricultural damage by building fences,
increasing hunting and issuing permits
to shoot elk on farmland.
Farmers, however, report their losses
are continuing. The county assessor’s
office is conducting a yearlong assess-
ment of elk damage to agriculture. The
assessor estimates damages could total
$1.4 million annually. A Fish and Wild-
life commissioner said recently the “sit-
uation was out of hand.”
Cherchi said the elk also damaged
plants, though they can be saved by
pruning. The farm has not estimated its
dollar losses, he said. The USDA report-
ed that Washington grown blueberries
fetched an average of 98 cents a pound.
Elk last year ate shoots on 10 acres of
blueberries about to come into produc-
tion, according to Golden Eagle.
Farm site manager Wilhelm Gutier-
rez said elk come into fields nearest a
forest. Farmworkers saw one group of
about 25 elk and another group of about
40 elk on a recent morning, he said.
Workers on four-wheelers chase the
elk away, but the animals return the next
day, Gutierrez said.
The farm recently inquired for the
first time about obtaining a permit from
Fish and Wildlife to shoot one elk to dis-
courage the herd from coming back. The
Don Jenkins/Capital Press File
Elk have eaten upward of 100,000 pounds of blueberries at a Skagit County, Wash.,
farm. Elk pose a problem for many farmers and ranchers in the area.
Courtesy of Randy Good
Blueberry plants at Golden Eagle Farms in Skagit County, Wash., show signs of elk
damage. Farm managers estimate elk ate 90,000 to 100,000 pounds of blueberries this
season.
permit was still being arranged, Cherchi
said.
The farm has installed cameras to
learn more about where the elk are com-
ing from, but Cherchi said the farm has
no way to keep them out. “Right now,
we don’t know what to do.”
Golden Eagle Farm is owned by the
Aquilini Investment Group, based in
Vancouver, British Columbia.
Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with
nine Native American tribes, enlarged
the herd over the past two decades by
limiting hunting and transporting elk
from the Mount St. Helens area. The de-
partment is due to report to lawmakers
in September on its efforts to minimize
elk on farmland.
Weekly fieldwork report
Ore.
Item/description (Source: USDA, NASS; NOAA)
• Days suitable for fieldwork (As of Aug. 28)
7
• Topsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Topsoil moisture, percent short
91%
• Subsoil moisture, surplus
0
• Subsoil moisture, percent short
90%
• Precipitation probability
33-40% Below
(6-10 day outlook as of Aug. 28)
Wash.
Idaho
Calif.
6.6
0
59%
0
46%
7
0
69%
0
63%
7
0
70%
0
70%
33-40% Below
Normal
33-40% Below