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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 27, 2020
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Opinion
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Carl Sampson
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Our View
Breaking the silence about opioid epidemic
E
very day we get the latest on
the COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic. How many people
tested positive, and how many have
died. The number rolls higher and
higher every day as our political
leaders struggle to find a way to
slow its spread.
But there’s another, more deadly,
epidemic that has swept across the
U.S. over the past decade: opioids.
Call it the Quiet Epidemic.
While newspapers and other media
have reported on its impact on urban
America, reporting on its impact on
rural counterpart has been all but
missing.
Yet between 2008 and 2017,
nearly 274,000 Americans died in the
rural U.S. In the rural Pacific North-
west, 1,347 have died.
Nationwide, a survey found that
3 in every 4 farmers and farmwork-
ers have been directly impacted by
Gado Images/Associated Press
Opioids are pain relievers. If improperly
prescribed or abused, they can lead to a
downward spiral of addiction.
opioid abuse. Even worse, the same
percentage reports that it is easy to
access large amounts of opioids with-
out a prescription — but only one-
third say it is easy to obtain addiction
treatment.
Those are stunning statistics, yet
few are willing to talk about it.
In much of rural America, the
stigma of a “drug overdose” creates a
bubble of silence around the victim,
the family and the community.
To address a problem, we first
need to talk about it.
That was the realization leaders of
the American Farm Bureau Federa-
tion and the National Farmers Union
came to. Those two organizations
rarely find themselves on the same
side of a political issue, but when it
comes to the matter of saving rural
lives from opioids, they speak as one.
Together, they launched “Farm
Town Strong,” a campaign aimed at
breaking the silence. Their website,
farmtownstrong.org, offers help to
families and others who are impacted
by opioids.
The tendency is to think about
opioids in terms of teens and young
adults experimenting with illicit
drugs such as fentanyl, but there’s
more to the story.
It is common for people who do
hard physical labor to be injured.
When that happens, doctors prescribe
pain relievers, many that have an opi-
oid as an ingredient. If the injury per-
sists, so does the prescription, until
the patient is hooked.
From there, the patient can become
trapped in a downward spiral. With-
out help, he, or she, is doomed.
Opioids are not the only drugs
threatening rural America. Metham-
phetamines continue to pose a huge
problem. Other addictive substances,
including alcohol, add to the poten-
tial for rural Americans to become
caught up in a web of problems.
Farmers and ranchers tend to be
independent thinkers. They are also
self-reliant, an asset in the world of
agriculture.
But sometimes a problem arises
that can overwhelm even the most
independent person or family. When
that happens, it’s OK to talk about
it with a neighbor, or a friend, or a
counselor.
It’s OK to seek help.
How farmers can keep geese at bay Farming, coronavirus
By MARIE GADOTTI
Oregon Farm Bureau
I
n recent months, I’ve had sev-
eral inquiries from farmers about
how to obtain a goose depreda-
tion permit from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS).
As many farmers in Oregon’s
Willamette Valley know first-hand,
along with an increasing number
of growers in other parts of the
state, goose depredation on crops
is a very frustrating, and very
expensive, problem.
A few years ago, it was esti-
mated that geese wintering in the
valley caused a minimum of $15
million in crop damage each year,
a number that is doubtlessly much
higher today.
Oregon Farm Bureau mem-
bers and OFB staff have worked
extremely hard on the goose dep-
redation issue for decades. We’ve
traveled to Alaska numerous
times, attended Pacific Flyway
Council meetings in the various
participating states, including last
August in Portland, and attended
four days of meetings in Seattle to
pursue lowering the Cackler Pop-
ulation Target Numbers (without
success).
But we’ve also had some
successes.
These include eliminating
check stations, opening up hunt-
ing for the full 107 days (which
gave us seven days a week of hunt-
ing) allowed by the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act, and getting Oregon
farmers the ability to obtain a kill
GUEST
VIEW
Marie
Gadotti
permit.
The first step is to calculate the
cost to your farm. Only those who
suffer damage from geese and who
have tried nonlethal measures to
prevent or minimize bird damage
are eligible for USFWS goose dep-
redation permits.
The permit application asks for
a description of the impact on your
farm.
To help Farm Bureau members
calculate the full cost of damage,
we created a survey. See the Farm
Bureau Goose Damage Survey at
OregonFB.org/geese.
Included are sections on hazing
costs, extra fertilizer and pesticide
expenses caused by geese damage,
and yield loss.
By using the survey, farm-
ers can get permits that not only
only authorize the killing of a lim-
ited number of geese, which helps
growers move the birds off their
crops, but also provide the author-
ities an idea of just how much
damage geese inflict on Oregon
farmers.
Currently, the federal goose
depredation permits give farmers
who qualify the authority to kill
20 geese. If a farmer reaches the
limit, they can ask for an increase
in the 20-goose cap.
There is no statewide cap for
take of resident geese. Wintering
geese kills are capped at 500 per
year in Oregon.
The cost to obtain a permit is
$100 and can be used for both
migratory and resident geese, pro-
vided the applicant requests that
provision in the permit application.
Depredation permits for winter-
ing and resident geese can be used
only on non-hunting days.
One permit covers all land in
production by a farmer.
Permittees do not need to
take geese they kill to an Ore-
gon Department of Fish and Wild-
life check station. However, there
are instructions about burying the
geese. Please refer to the permit
for details.
It is still illegal to kill Cana-
dian dusky geese — and the pop-
ulations of duskies are closely
monitored.
Find the USFWS Migratory
Bird Depredation Form 3-200-13
— and helpful tips for filling it out
— at OregonFB.org/geese.
USFWS applications must also
include a Form 37 from USDA
Wildlife Services in Oregon before
becoming eligible for the depreda-
tion permit. Contact Wildlife Ser-
vices at 503-326-2346 to start that
process.
For more information about the
goose depredation issue and how
to apply for a permit, please call
me at 503-543-6573.
Marie Gadotti chairs the Oregon
Farm Bureau’s Goose Depreda-
tion Committee and is president of
Columbia County Farm Bureau.
READERS’ VIEW
Coronavirus
and Trump
It is despicable that
the coronavirus outbreak
is being weaponized and
politicized against Pres-
ident Trump. Trump
responded quickly to
stop people from China
and other countries from
coming into the U.S.
The corona outbreak
began at Wuhan, China.
Trump loves America
and is not a globalist.
He is hated by China,
Democrats, global-
ists, most mainstream
media, never Trumpers
and Establishment Deep
State people.
The virus is not a
mass killer, but is much
like influenza, which
also kills people with
respiratory and weak
immune system prob-
lems. The average age
of death is 80. Corona
does not seriously affect
children and young
people.
On the other hand,
Influenza kills on the
average 30,000 people
per year or 2,500 per
month. It does seriously
affect children.
Corona is being used
to cause unrealistic fear
and panic with the assis-
tance of the mainstream
media. Also, they are
trying to destroy the U.S
economy.
Why are so many
people supporting
Socialist Bernie Sand-
ers and other Democrat
candidates? It is because
our education sys-
tem including Common
Core teaches socialist
propaganda. The false
philosophies of Dewey,
Marx, Darwin, Freud
and Keynes are largely
taught in schools.
Socialism destroys
a country by distribut-
ing and controlling our
wealth and stealing pri-
vate property and kill-
ing those opposed. Cas-
tro, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler
and Mao have killed
millions after the people
were disarmed.
Daily, we see Saul
Alinsky’s “Rules for
Radicals,” being pro-
moted by liberal social-
ists and much of the
mainstream media. Hil-
lary Clinton wrote
her thesis on Alinsky.
Obama quoted him.
Alinsky’s main rules
are: polarization to
divide people; demoni-
zation of those opposed
to the socialists agenda
and; deception by fake
news and lies. The end
justifies the means!
We must stop teach-
ing socialism to our stu-
dents and return to our
Judeo/Christian, Consti-
tutional Republic heri-
tage to preserve individ-
ual liberty and freedom.
A concerned citizen,
Adrian Arp, Ph.D.
Filer, Idaho
Governor’s
dam stance
would damage
E. Oregon
Why is our governor
so bent on destroying
the economy of the rural
part of Oregon?
The article on the
front page of the East
Oregonian newspa-
per says on the right
hand side that she wants
to help flood victims,
which she should.
On the left hand
side she wants to help
destroy the economy
of Eastern Oregon by
endorsing the breach-
ing of the lower Snake
River dams.
First, it slaps our
neighbors to the north in
the face by killing their
local economy. Next,
she helps nullify all the
work the ports in Uma-
tilla and Morrow coun-
ties have done to get
our products to market.
She even damages the
Port of Portland. The
grain shipped from there
comes from as far away
as the Dakotas.
I just don’t think the
knee-jerk things she
proposes are very well
thought out.
Dennis Culp
Hermiston, Ore.
and herd health
By BEN LACROSS
American Farm Bureau
T
he NCAA just banned
fans from attending
any men’s or wom-
en’s college basketball tour-
nament. Good.
The American Farm
Bureau recently canceled its
Young Farmers & Ranchers
Conference. Good.
Universities across the
country are going to all-on-
line learning for the rest of
the semester. Good.
It is our responsibil-
ity, as citizens of the United
States, to take precautions
in the face of a global pan-
demic. The preceding three
examples of events being
canceled or limited show
responsible behavior that can
help mitigate the effects of
the coronavirus.
Why does a farmer know
this? Herd health.
Although I’m a fruit
farmer, not a livestock pro-
ducer, I know how my
friends care for animals on
their cattle ranches and hog
farms and in their chicken
barns. Those farmers, and
the veterinarians they work
with, are the experts on ani-
mal care and herd health. I
trust them more than anyone
else on this issue.
Livestock farmers are
well equipped with knowl-
edge and medicine, under
the direction of a veteri-
narian, to be able to treat a
few of their animals. When
a small percentage of their
herd is sick, farmers can
care for the sick animals in
between their regular chores
and the rest of their busy
day. Farmers take a very
proactive approach to over-
all herd health management.
They routinely follow vet-
erinarian-approved and pre-
scribed vaccination proto-
cols. They also take the issue
of biosecurity very seriously,
restricting access to their
facilities to minimize the risk
of disease transmission.
But, God forbid, if a
major percentage of his/
her herd got sick all at once,
the farmer would be over-
whelmed with the care of all
of those sick animals. Some
may die. More might get
sicker. It could be a disaster.
That’s what our health
care system is up against
in facing the coronavirus
pandemic.
All Americans are part of
the collective herd of “citi-
zen-livestock” in our coun-
try. Yes, we have the free-
dom to live how we want
to live, but we also have a
responsibility to the citizen
herd health of the country.
If, in a month or two, the
coronavirus outbreak is con-
tained and people scream,
GUEST
VIEW
Ben
LaCross
“See, it was a media hyste-
ria,” good. It means we did
our job and limited a poten-
tial catastrophe.
But if we don’t take some
pretty responsible precautions
to help inoculate the collective
human herd from COVID-19,
that’s on us. All of us.
Farmers are busy right
now, prepping their plant-
ers, selecting their seeds
and watching the ground
dry out from a soggy win-
ter. Yes, watching ground
dry is sometimes very pro-
ductive work on a farm.
These farmers need
to get their grain in the
ground in the next 60 days
or so. If American ports,
shipping and logistics are
impacted, will these farm-
ers have enough fuel, seed
and fertilizer to grow the
bread that the breadbasket
of America is famous for?
As I write this, the Food
and Drug Administration
announced the suspension
of all inspections of foreign
food facilities until April.
How will that impact your
grocery store? Eat local may
have just taken on a whole
new meaning.
What happens to our
meat and dairy suppliers if
processing plant employ-
ees are ill because we didn’t
take enough early precau-
tions? Heard of the impossi-
ble burger? That’s when it’s
impossible to get a burger
anywhere, anytime.
Our modern food system
is a miracle, though, co-op-
erated by farmers, ranchers,
harvesters, truckers, proces-
sors and grocers. I’m con-
fident that farmers will find
a way to grow an abundant
crop this year.
I urge everyone to con-
sider the “herd health”
approach to this virus.
Immediate precautions now
and in the next month will
assist health professionals in
containing the spread.
Meanwhile … farmers
taking herd health precau-
tions with their livestock
remains an important part
of the sturdy bedrock of our
nation’s food supply chain.
Ben LaCross, a fruit
farmer and Farm Bureau
leader in Michigan, is a for-
mer chair of the American
Farm Bureau Federation’s
Young Farmers & Ranch-
ers Committee. Visit his per-
sonal website at www.benla-
crossbooks.com. His column
appears courtesy the Ameri-
can Farm Bureau.