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September 7, 2018 CapitalPress.com 3 Judge backs Lost Valley dairy’s wastewater remedies By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — An Or- egon judge has sided with a controversial dairy’s remedies for violating a settlement deal over wastewater management. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Skye agreed on Aug. 30 to a proposal by Lost Valley Farm of Board- man, Ore., to increase storage space in its manure lagoons by recycling its wastewater. The Oregon Department of Agriculture had requested that the facility be required to scrape manure from dairy barns rather than wash it away, which the agency argued would be accomplished more simply and quickly. “We think it’s achievable on a short timeline,” said Nina Englander, an attorney repre- senting Oregon’s farm regula- tors. Elizabeth Howard, the dairy’s attorney, argued that scraping barns would create manure piles with the potential for further water quality prob- lems. “There are a lot of opportu- nities there for incidental dis- charges,” she said. “We don’t want to be going backwards. We don’t want to be having more discharges.” A week earlier, the judge found the dairy’s owner, Greg te Velde, in contempt of court for violating a judgment re- quiring the facility to maintain at least 75 acre-feet of manure storage capacity at the site. However, Skye did not agree to ODA’s request to sanction the dairy by halting Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Lost Valley Farm dairy outside of Boardman. A judge in Port- land Aug. 30 sided with the dairy and rejected the Oregon Depart- ment of Agriculture’s request to halt wastewater production. all wastewater production, ef- fectively putting it out of busi- ness. Aside from allowing the dairy to recycle wastewater, the judge also agreed with its proposal to install multiple flow meters to measure waste- How tariff-mitigation aid would be distributed by state USDA tariff-mitigation plan By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press (Direct payments, millions of dollars) Analysts at the American Farm Bureau Federation made quick work of crunching the numbers on direct payments to farmers in USDA’s tariff-miti- gation strategy announced on Monday. In their latest Market Intel report released on Aug. 28, the analysts broke down assis- tance payments by commodity at the state level. While the $6.1 billion aid package includes funding for government food purchas- es and trade promotion, $4.7 billion is expected to be dis- tributed to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, soybean, sorghum and wheat farmers through the Market Facilitation Program (MFP). The analysts pointed out, however, that payments should be viewed as an up- per limit because eligibility wasn’t factored in. “Given the impact retal- iatory tariffs have had on soybean and pork prices, it should come as no surprise that the top three MFP states are top-producing soybean and hog states,” the analysts said. They estimate Illinois will take the top share of direct payments at $596.67 million, and that Illinois, Iowa, Min- nesota, Indiana and Nebraska are estimated to receive more than $2.1 billion — 45 per- cent. The top 10 states, which include some of the largest wheat and grain sorghum Area Dairy Wheat Corn Cotton Total 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 NOTE: Crop payments are based on USDA August 2018 crop production report. Dairy payments are based on January-June 2018 production. Source: American Farm Bureau Federation Capital Press graphic states, are expected to account for 71 percent of the payments. Broken down by commodi- ty, Illinois will lead the way in soybean payments at $549.61 million and Iowa will top the charts on hog payments at $89.72 million. Texas will be the top re- cipients of cotton payments at 93.89 million, and Kansas will take top sorghum payments at $96.30 million. California will claim the highest dairy payments at $23.83 million, and North Da- kota will lead the way in wheat payments at $22.40 million. “Each commodity on the list has faced tariffs of various severity in different and some- times multiple markets, which has resulted in a wide range of trade and price disruptions,” the analysts said. “USDA’s job of isolating the impact on these commod- ities during a summer of vol- atile prices was far from envi- able,” they said. Payments are based on payment rates per unit of pro- duction covering 50 percent of a farmer’s total actual produc- tion. With USDA authorized Grass Expertise. LET’S TALK! to spend $12 billion to mit- igate the retaliatory tariffs, it is expected that this is the first round of direct payments. USDA said it would make fur- ther payments if warranted. Those could cover the other half of production. Payments are capped at $125,000 per person or legal entity for combined livestock production and combined crop production, but the cap is sep- arate for livestock and crops. A livestock producer who also has a crop operation could po- tentially receive as much as $250,000 in direct payments. Eligible applicants must have an ownership interest in the commodity, be actively en- gaged in farming and have an average adjusted gross income of less than $900,000 for tax years 2014, 2015 and 2016. They must also comply with the provisions of the Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation regu- lations. To view AFBF’s full re- port, visit www.fb.org. water production. The dairy will also be re- quired to install a weather sta- tion at the site, among other conditions. The judge warned te Velde that the consequences would be harsher if the wastewa- ter recycling doesn’t create enough storage in manure la- goons, results in leaks or caus- es other issues. “If I allow it to do it your way, I’m probably going to be harder on you,” she said. The dairy has until Oct. 5 to switch to recycling wastewater and to have a plan for install- ing flow meters. It must also have at least 75 acre-feet of storage capacity in its lagoons by Nov. 6 or face the possibility of a reduction in its herd size. “We can’t just allow this to go out of compliance all win- ter,” Skye said. The ODA had wanted the dairy to stop producing all wastewater if it doesn’t live up to the remedies, since the agency is “at the end of its rope.” “A big hammer has histori- cally been necessary to get any movement,” said Englander. However, the judge said she preferred to scale down the herd size so the dairy could demonstrate its methods are effective at improving waste- water management. Lost Valley Farm has re- peatedly been cited by ODA for spills and other violations of its “confined animal feed- ing operation” permit since it began operating in April 2017. The agency fined the dairy more than $10,000 and sought a temporary restraining order to shut the facility down, re- sulting in the settlement deal over wastewater in March. The ODA then sought a contempt of court order for te Velde, arguing he had willful- ly disregarded the agreement. WDFW shoots Togo wolfpack male By DON JENKINS Capital Press A wolf that was the sub- ject of a court battle was killed Sept. 1 by the Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife. A marksman in a heli- copter shot the adult male wolf in Ferry County, east of Danville and just south of the U.S.-Canada border, ac- cording to Fish and Wildlife. The wolf was the first killed in the state this year to stop attacks on livestock. It had been wounded in the leg by a rancher who said he shot at the animal in self-defense Aug. 23. A judge Aug. 31 lifted a restraining order issued Aug. 20 that had blocked the department from targeting the wolf, one of two known adults in the Togo pack. Fish and Wildlife attributes six attacks on livestock since November to the pack, in- cluding three in August. The wolf had been trapped and fitted with a GPS collar in June. Fish and Wildlife reported that department employees searched for the wolf on the ground Friday evening and again Saturday, but were un- able to find it. The wolf was found the next morning in the pack’s territory, according to the department. Fish and Wildlife con- firmed the wolf’s left rear leg had been injured. The de- partment says it will perform a necrospy. WDFW A wolf in the Togo pack in Ferry County in northeast Washington was killed Sept. 1 by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. It had been involved in repeated attacks on livestock in the area. The wolf’s death leaves an adult female and pups in the pack. Fish and Wildlife said it will continue to mon- itor the pack and work with the rancher to prevent more attacks on livestock. Fish and Wildlife con- ducted the operation. A fed- eral judge in Tacoma, siding with environmental groups, ruled in 2015 that USDA’s Wildlife Services could not help the state lethally re- move wolves. Two environmental groups, the Center for Bio- logical Diversity and Cas- cadia Wildlands, sought to block Fish and Wildlife from shooting the wolf. They claimed the department’s le- thal-removal policy did not undergo required scientific review. Fish and Wildlife ar- gued that shooting the wolf would not be a blow to establishing wolves in Washington and that the department was following guidance from an advisory group that includes envi- ronmental and animal-wel- fare groups. Thurston County Superi- or Court Judge Carol Mur- phy declined to extend the order, which was issued by a different judge. Over 40 Years Experience DORMANT SEED YOUR PASTURE GRASS IN NOVEMBER. YOU WILL HAVE FAR LESS WEEDS IN THE FALL. 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