INNOVATIONS
PAGES 7-9
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, February 15, 2019
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Volume 92, Number 7
CapitalPress.com
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“WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO ABSORB THESE INCREASES, AS OUR
CUSTOMERS ARE UNWILLING TO PAY THE PRICES NEEDED TO SUSTAIN
OUR BUSINESS.”
– Tom Fessler, nurseryman and former president of the Oregon Association of Nurseries
George Plaven/Capital Press
Supporters of the cap and trade bill before the Oregon Legislature rally outside the Capitol on Feb. 6.
CAP and TRADE
Oregon lawmakers work to adopt carbon pricing policy
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
HEARINGS ANNOUNCED
S
ALEM — Oregon lawmakers are con-
Senate Republican, Cliff Bentz of Ontario, has said
sidering a new carbon pricing policy
the bill is all but certain to pass, though there is still
during this year’s legislative ses-
time to impact the proposal.
sion aimed at regulating green-
“I think all of us are working on amend-
house gas emissions in an effort
ments to this bill,” Bentz said.
to combat the effects of climate change.
Agricultural groups are lobbying to protect
The legislation, known as cap and trade,
farmers and ranchers from projected hikes in
worries many of the state’s farmers and
fuel and energy prices. Jenny Dresler, of the
ranchers about higher fuel and energy prices
Oregon Farm Bureau, said too few safeguards
at a time when profi t margins are already thin,
are built into the bill for growers who rely on
while others see it as a needed step toward cli-
diesel fuel, gasoline and inputs made from
mate resilience.
natural gas, or who ship their products long
Sen. Cliff
Cap and trade was reintroduced in the Leg-
distances.
Bentz,
islature on Feb. 4, with state Democrats rid- R-Ontario
“That’s a big point for us, that a lot of
ing a wave of momentum after winning a
rural families and farm and ranch families
supermajority of 60 percent in both chambers
See Cap and Trade, Page 12
during the 2018 midterm elections. At least one
The Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction will hold four public
hearings about House Bill 2020. Attendees can ask questions and
voice their opinions about the proposed policy.
Meetings are scheduled for:
Springfi eld: Friday, February 22 – Springfi eld City Hall, Council
Chamber (12-3 pm)
Medford: Saturday, February 23 – City Council Chambers, Med-
ford City Hall (9 am-noon)
Remote: Monday, February 25 – Remote testimony (live video
feed from various rural locations), Oregon State Capitol (TBD)
The Dalles: Friday, March 1 – The Dalles Civic Auditorium, Com-
munity Room (12-3 pm)
Bend: Saturday, March 2 – Central Oregon Community College,
Cascade Hall, Room 246-248 (9 am-noon)
More than 1,600 dairy cows die in Washington blizzard
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
SUNNYSIDE, Wash. —
A day-long blizzard killed
1,677 cows at about 10 dair-
ies in the Sunnyside area
of Washington state last
Saturday.
A snowstorm was accom-
panied by sustained winds
of 30 to 50 mph all day and
gusts up to 80 mph, farmers
said.
Because of desert climate
conditions, many farms in
the area are open lot dairies
with cows outside or under
open-sided shelters. Most of
the dairies with losses were
on an exposed ridge north of
town.
“Cows were huddled
in, pressed up against each
other in corners of pens
and refused to move. Farm-
ers couldn’t get them to
move into milking barns.
Herd instinct,” said Gerald
Baron, executive director
of Save Family Farming, a
farm advocacy group. “Most
cows died from injuries
from each other and some
from cold exposure. They
went down and couldn’t get
up.”
About 28 cows that were
injured are likely to be euth-
anized, farmers said.
“Each cow could be worth
$2,000, so we’re looking at
$3.2 million plus future pro-
duction loss, but right now
the bigger impact is a huge
emotional loss to farmers,”
said Dan Wood, executive
director of Washington State
Dairy Federation.
Dairy farmers already
are struggling to survive
in extremely diffi cult mar-
ket conditions, so the
storm losses are like a dou-
ble-whammy, he said.
“Farmers put up hay
bales for wind barriers and
tried to do what they could.
Farmers were out there in
zero degrees or less with
wind chill, risking their lives
to save cattle,” Wood said.
See Cows, Page 12
Courtesy of Jason Sheehan
Cows rest comfortably at Jason Sheehan’s dairy near
Sunnyside, Wash., on Feb. 11. Blizzard conditions Feb.
9 caused the deaths of more than 1,600 dairy cows in
the area.
Green New Deal calls for ag to be ‘greenhouse gas free’
Sen. Ed
Markey, a
Massachusetts
Democrat,
speaks during
a press
conference
to announce
the “Green
New Deal”
held at the
U.S. Capitol in
Washington,
D.C., on Feb. 7.
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The New Green Deal introduced
last week by Democrats in the U.S.
House and Senate does not pro-
pose banning cow fl atulence, but it
does strike at something that pow-
ers farm production — diesel fuel.
The 14-page resolution calls for
agriculture to be “greenhouse gas
free” as much as “technologically
feasible” in a decade.
Biodiesel could sharply reduce
emissions, especially if it’s manu-
factured with renewable energy, but
it’s far from being ready to supplant
all diesel, said Don Scott, director
of sustainability for the National
Biodiesel Board, a trade association
for biofuels.
“We use a lot of diesel fuel,” he
said. “It would be extreme to say
Associated Press
we’re going to replace all diesel
with biodiesel.”
The resolution, introduced by
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
D-N.Y., and Sen. Edward Mar-
key, D-Mass., outlines a “10-year
national mobilization” to make the
U.S. entirely powered by zero-emis-
sion energy sources.
The resolution is co-sponsored
MORE INSIDE
Reordering farm practices
inspires Green New Deal
See Page 3
aspirations
by 67 House Democrats and 11
Senate Democrats, including Ore-
gon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron
Wyden. Washington Gov. Jay Ins-
lee, a possible presidential can-
didate, endorses the resolution,
according to a spokeswoman.
A fact sheet provided to National
Public Radio by Ocasio-Cortez’s
offi ce acknowledged that there
would still be greenhouse gas emis-
sions in 10 years because “we aren’t
sure that we’ll be able to fully get
See Green, Page 12