PAGES 7-10
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, January 22, 2021
Volume 94, Number 4
CapitalPress.com
Farmers pan
Gov. Inslee’s
unemployment
fund tax plan
IN THEIR
OWN WORDS
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The
White
House
Getty
Images
FARMERS TELL PRESIDENT BIDEN THEIR HOPES, FEARS
By MATTHEW WEAVER • Capital Press
R
ICE, Wash. — “Pretty worried.” That’s how
Rice, Wash., rancher Scott Nielsen answers
when asked his thoughts on the Joe Biden
presidency.
Nielsen is one of 2 million U.S. farmers
and ranchers who will be watching Biden’s
decisions closely in the next four years. His concerns include
regulations, environmental issues, running cattle on national
forest land and gun control.
The Capital Press asked several farmers and ranchers to
imagine they were sitting across a table from Biden. What
would they tell the new president, if given that chance?
Some were cordial. Others were skeptical. Still others
didn’t respond at all. And a few refrained from writing, say-
ing the words they’d use wouldn’t be appropriate to print in
a newspaper.
Others expressed willingness to work with Biden and his
administration, reminding him that their livelihoods are at
stake.
Here, in their own words, are messages to Biden from
farmers and ranchers.
CATTLE
A
s an independent cattle producer I am asking for help
from the federal government. Independent cattle pro-
ducers are self-reliant folks who seldom ask for help.
As an independent cattle producer I am part of the food
supply that feeds the American people. I produce a safe,
healthy product that is highly sought after by the Ameri-
can consumers. My beef is raised to Ameri-
can standards, American regulations for
American consumers. American-born
and -raised beef is being replaced by
a commingled product from multi-
ple countries that is marketed as an
American product. I believe this is
deceptive to American consumers
and it is being done to bolster the
profits
of multinational meat compa-
Scott Nielsen
nies, not for the benefit of the American
consumers or American ranchers.
American consumers demand a product that is held to a
different standard. As food suppliers we have a responsibil-
ity to meet these demands. As independent cattle produc-
ers we have modified our operations to meet these demands.
Today the federal government allows beef, born and raised
under a different standard, to be marketed in a fashion that
$2.00
makes it appear as our product.
— Scott Nielsen is a Rice, Wash., rancher, president of
the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association and treasurer
of the Cattle Producers of Washington.
WHEAT
F
armers make up the base of American agriculture. To
help keep this base strong, we urge that any major pol-
icy decision made by your administration
have grower input from across the differ-
ent commodities. Additionally, agen-
cies beyond the USDA, like the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
can impact agriculture, so it is essen-
tial that policy and regulations be
based on sound science, interagency
coordination and are not unnecessar-
ily burdensome.
While we understand that poli-
Dave Milligan
tics must play a role, we hope that your
administration will put the grower first.
To us, farming is not a job. It is our passion and livelihood. It
is critical that your team recognizes this as it works to bring
in new guidelines.
Every day, America’s wheat farmers work hard to feed
consumers here and abroad. Wheat is a food grain and is vital
to maintaining a healthy diet. As a result, we believe that
wheat can play a large role in ending food insecurity. Lastly,
a strong trade agenda and agriculture can create jobs as the
economy rebounds from COVID-19. We look forward to
working with you and your team over these next four years.
— Dave Milligan is a Cass City, Mich., wheat farmer and
president of the National Association of Wheat Growers.
DAIRY
T
he dairy industry thanks you for
working with agriculture to
understand our priorities as
you shape your plans for our country.
Like many in agriculture, dairy was
hard-hit by the impacts of COVID
when restaurants and schools closed.
While some recovery has been evi-
John Brubaker
dent and the USDA’s Food Boxes for
Families program was successful and
much-needed, our future focus will be on driv-
ing exports and innovation in the dairy category at large.
See Biden, Page 12
Washington agricultural employ-
ers face triple-digit tax increases to
replenish the state’s unemployment
fund, drained by economy-wide lay-
offs and raided by a Nigerian fraud
ring.
Gov. Jay Inslee also proposes to
increase jobless benefits by about
$200 million this year. To dull the
short-term pain to employers, the gov-
ernor proposes to somewhat restrain
tax hikes in 2021.
In the long run, however, the rates
that farms and other businesses pay
for unemployment insurance would
rise even higher.
Washington Farm Bureau associ-
ate director of government relations
Breanne Elsey said Jan. 14 lawmakers
should shore up the unemployment
fund with state or federal revenues,
until government lockdowns end.
“Many of us believe the fund will
fix itself when the economy reopens,”
she said. “The fund itself is incredibly
resilient.”
The unemployment fund was a
robust $4.86 billion a year ago. It
dwindled to $1.96 billion by late last
year and is projected to decline further
this year as the pandemic continues.
To make matters worse, a Nige-
rian fraud ring scammed $600 million
from the fund as of June 30, according
to the state’s auditor.
Most of the money has been recov-
ered. The Employment Security
Department says losses now stand at
$243 million.
Even employers who didn’t lay
off workers will pay to rebuild the
fund. Unemployment insurance rates
are based partly on a “social tax” that
spreads out the burden of paying job-
less benefits when unemployment
rates rise.
“Really, the hit to agriculture here
is the social cost,” Elsey said.
Elsey said she’s talked to farmers
whose next payments, due April 1, are
increasing by 200% to 600%.
“We’ve had rates basically all over
the map,” she said.
Kittitas County farmer Karen
Poulsen told the Senate Labor and
Commerce Committee on Jan. 13 that
she has paid one $400 unemployment
claim in 28 years, yet faces higher
taxes.
“I have not pulled money out of
the unemployment system,” she said.
“I think the state should tap the fed-
eral funds first and then the general
fund rather than adding the cost, espe-
cially the social costs, onto the back of
employers like myself.”
Based on current formulas, the
average tax employers pay on wages
will rise to 1.88% from 1.03%. Under
the Inslee administration’s proposal,
the average tax would be 1.17% this
year.
See Inslee, Page 12
Spotted owl’s ‘critical habitat’ cut by 3.5 million acres
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The federal government has
removed 17 times more land from the
threatened spotted owl’s “critical hab-
itat” than it had originally proposed,
likely provoking a court challenge.
Environmentalists and the tim-
ber industry expect a legal battle over
the Trump administration’s 3.47 mil-
lion-acre reduction to the owl’s criti-
cal habitat, up from the 205,000-acre
decrease initially proposed last year.
Critical habitat for federally pro-
tected species cannot be adversely
modified, even if it’s unoccupied,
which is seen as a hindrance to logging
on designated acres.
Instead of leaving more than 9 mil-
lion acres in the owl’s critical habit,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
decreased it to about 6 million acres by
excluding federal lands that were pre-
viously allocated for logging.
“It makes sense that would be the
Founded in 1945
by Farmers and Ranchers.
We still measure success by the acre.
focus. It will make forest manage-
ment a lot simpler to administer,” said
Lawson Fite, attorney with the Ameri-
can Forest Resource Council, a timber
group. “It really puts things in a more
manageable and reasonable space.”
Roughly 80% of national forests
are already in reserves where log-
ging is mostly prohibited, whereas the
remaining “matrix” lands are intended
to be available for timber harvest, Fite
said.
However, the earlier 9.5 mil-
lion-acre critical habitat designation
intruded upon those “matrix” lands,
impeding logging projects on that
acreage, he said.
“You have these conflicting and
inconsistent management directives,”
Fite said.
Likewise, the federal government’s
recent critical habitat designation has
excluded Bureau of Land Manage-
ment property that’s required by law
See Owl, Page 12
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