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Viticulture
SPECIAL SECTION
INSIDE
Friday, September 13, 2019
Volume 92, Number 37
CapitalPress.com
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THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Young farmers say hardest part is finding land
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
J
osh
Norris,
making his
his dream
dream
of farming
a reality,
and
that controlling
seems to his
be expenses
a good and
way doing
to try
and
Josh
Norris, 31,
31, is
is making
of farming
a reality,
gradually custom
building work,
his land
base,
custom
cash-flow
my out
operation,”
the work,
Caldwell,
Idaho,
gradually
building
land
base, income.
controlling
expenses
farming
on the
side to his
bring
in added
“This his
year,
I made it a priority
to seek
more custom
and that
seems farmer
to be a said.
good
“That
helps
me me
grow
— —
and
required to
and to
doing
custom
farming
on the side
to bring Idaho,
in added
way
try and
cash-flow
my operation,”
the Caldwell,
farmer said.
“That
helps
grow
and pay
pay for
for the
the equipment
equipment required
start
up.” “This year, I made it a priority to seek out more to start up.”
income.
Providing other farmers with services such as planting, discing, roller-harrowing and
plowing works for Norris because the 235 leased acres he farms are spread across six
smaller parcels he must drive to anyway — and it helps him scout for land he can add
to his operation.
“The land that comes up for lease for a beginning farmer is not the most
high-quality ground,” he said. “I have given up lower-quality fields to pick
up better ground, and that is just a constant process each year.”
No. 1 issue
Land access is the No. 1 challenge facing farm-
ers and ranchers younger than 40, accord-
ing to a national survey. Participants in the
National Young Farmers Coalition survey
pegged it as the top issue regardless of
location or whether they grew up on
a farm or ranch. Land, and access
to it, outranked all other concerns,
including financial.
Holly
“And land access is the num- Rippon-
ber-one reason farmers are quit- Butler
ting agriculture, and the num-
ber-one reason preventing farmers from
getting started,” said Holly Rippon-But-
ler, the coalition’s land-access pro-
gram director.
See Challenge, Page 11
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
Josh Norris with his tractor. He takes on
custom work to bring in more income.
WSDA: Don’t put CBD from hemp in food
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington’s licensed food
processors could lose points off
inspection scores if caught add-
ing cannabidiol to their products,
state regulators say, adding that
hemp’s hottest product has not
been approved as an ingredient by
the Food and Drug Administration.
The ban on making CBD-in-
fused food and beverages likely
“WE UNDERSTAND THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG.
HOWEVER, PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S LEGAL.
WE NEED TO CLARIFY THAT FOR PEOPLE.”
Steve Fuller, Department of Agriculture’s assistant director for food safety
will affect only a handful of the
couple thousand food processors
inspected by the state Department
of Agriculture’s food-safety divi-
sion, officials said Monday.
CBD is ostensibly regulated by
the FDA, even though demand for
CBD candy, honey, beverages and
other edibles is helping drive the
hemp boom. The department does
not plan to raid stores.
“We understand the cat’s out
of the bag,” said Steve Fuller, the
department’s assistant director
for food safety. “However, peo-
ple want to know what’s legal. We
need to clarify that for people.”
The
department’s
policy
also prohibits food warehouses
licensed by the agriculture depart-
ment from distributing CBD-in-
fused food and drink to in-state
retailers. The products can be sent
out-of-state.
“We’re not regulating interstate
commerce, but we are regulating
See CBD, Page 11
Alleged marijuana damage to grapes ruled plausible
Racketeering lawsuit filed by vineyard to move forward
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A federal judge has
ruled that an Oregon vine-
yard has plausibly alleged
harm from a neighboring mar-
ijuana operation and may pro-
ceed with a racketeering law-
suit against it.
U.S. Senior District Judge
Anna Brown has denied the
marijuana-growing
neigh-
bor’s motion to dismiss the
complaint, finding that Mom-
tazi Vineyard has legal stand-
ing under the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Orga-
nization Act to pursue the
case.
The vineyard has plausi-
bly claimed under RICO that
it’s suffered a “concrete finan-
cial loss” because a customer
canceled an order over fears
the grapes were contaminated
with the smell of marijuana,
the judge said.
“The customer’s concerns,
whether valid or invalid, arose
directly from the proximity of
defendants’ marijuana-grow
operation,” Brown wrote in
the 20-page opinion.
The defendants — Mary
and Steven Wagner, along
with their son Richard — had
argued that Momtazi’s alle-
gations of lost grape sales,
reduced grape marketability
and reduced property rental
See Damage, Page 11
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