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Friday, January 22, 2021 CapitalPress.com 3 Grazing permit Biden’s immigration plan would have big impact on agricultural workers restored to the Hammond family Dairy, nursery and By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press The federal government has authorized livestock grazing on 26,400 acres of public allotments in Ore- gon for the Hammond fam- ily, which most recently lost its permit in 2019. Controversies over the family’s use of the graz- ing allotments stem from the arson convictions of Dwight and Steven Ham- mond, a father and son who were later pardoned by President Donald Trump for setting fire to rangelands. “It’s great news they’ve issued the final decision and issued the grazing permit to the Hammond family,” said Alan Schroeder, the fami- ly’s attorney. “The fact it’s been restored will certainly stabilize this livestock oper- ation that’s been around for 50 years.” Not being allowed to graze livestock on public lands in previous years had a “material” impact on the Hammond family, which owns a ranch amid the allot- ments in Diamond, Ore., he said. “They were forced to go other places to put their livestock,” which involved significant expenses for hay, leases and transportation, Schroeder said. The Western Watersheds Project, an environmen- tal group opposed to the grazing authorization, isn’t surprised by the decision because the Trump adminis- tration has “bent over back- wards” to accommodate the Hammond family, said Erik Molvar, its executive director. “This is a totally political decision,” Molvar said. The ranchers were orig- inally indicted for setting fires to government prop- erty in 2010 and convicted in a federal jury trial two years later. Dwight Hammond was originally sentenced to three months in prison for one count of arson and Ste- ven Hammond sentenced to one year in prison for two counts of arson. However, the father and son were ordered to return to prison in 2016 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled they were subject to mandatory 5-year prison terms. Protests against the decision culminated in an armed standoff at the Mal- heur National Wildlife Ref- uge that gained national attention. Trump fully pardoned the Hammonds in 2018 before they were finished serving the entire manda- tory minimum sentences. While the criminal pro- ceedings played out in fed- eral court, in 2014 the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage- ment also refused to renew the Hammonds’ 10-year grazing permit for sur- rounding public lands. The U.S. Interior Depart- ment, which oversees the BLM, ended up renewing the Hammonds’ grazing permits in early 2019, citing the pardons as a new cir- cumstance, but U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ruled that decision was unlawful and overturned it later that same year. The BLM opened up the four allotments to competi- tion last year, with the Ham- monds vying against two other applicants for per- mits to graze the combined 26,400 acres. The agency has now issued a new 10-year per- mit to the Hammonds after determining that five of the eight regulatory factors con- sidered “generally weigh in favor” of the family, includ- ing its historic use and prox- imity to the allotments. USDA updates CFAP: new money for turfgrass, contract poultry, livestock By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN Capital Press USDA on Friday announced $2.3 billion in additional assistance for farmers through the Corona- virus Food Assistance Pro- gram, or CFAP, which was part of last year’s CARES Act. The new assistance makes contract poultry and livestock producers, along with pullet and turfgrass sod producers, now eli- gible for coronavirus aid. These groups were not pre- viously eligible for CFAP aid. The update also pro- vides additional support — called “top-up payments” — for swine producers who already received some money last year. USDA estimates that combined, contract poultry, contract hog inventory pay- ments will total almost $2.1 billion. This new assistance was made possible by the recently passed coronavirus relief package, which allo- cated $13 billion to the agri- cultural sector. Producers have until Feb. 26 to submit new appli- cations or change existing applications. Under the original CFAP plan, farmers who raised animals under a contract for another entity weren’t eligible for aid. Poultry, for example, was left out of the original aid package because most poultry farms work on a contract basis. But poultry groups told the Capital Press and USDA that supply chain disrup- tions early in the pandemic significantly reduced pro- ducers’ incomes and said they needed financial help. In response to these requests, USDA Friday announced that contract producers of broilers, tur- keys, chicken eggs, laying hens and hogs who suffered a revenue drop in 2020 due to the pandemic are now eli- gible for assistance. USDA announced that producers of pullets and turfgrass sod, also previ- ously ineligible for aid, are now also able to apply for CFAP payments. The pay- ment structure, according to USDA, will be similar to sales commodities and the payment rate will vary based on their overall sales. In addition to the newly eligible categories, swine producers who partici- pated in the first CFAP pay- ments last year will receive an automatic “top-up” pay- ment of $17 per head, which will increase the total pay- ment to $34 per head includ- ing last year’s payment. hop leaders react to potential changes By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN Capital Press President Joe Biden was expected to propose a sweeping immigration bill after his inauguration that would provide a pathway to citizenship for about 11 mil- lion people living in the U.S. without legal status. Policy experts say because the plan is radical, Congress is unlikely to pass it without significant amend- ments. But farm leaders say the plan, if passed, could dramatically impact agricul- tural labor — especially in the nursery, dairy and hop industries. “I’m greatly heartened by the new administration making this one of their first acts,” said Jeff Stone, exec- utive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. In an interview with Uni- vision, a Spanish-language television network, Vice President Kamala Harris said the proposal will reduce the wait time for citizenship from 13 to eight years. The pathway to citi- zenship would be further streamlined for recipients of Courtesy of Tami Kerr/Oregon Dairy Farmers Association Dairy farmers say foreign-born labor is critical to the industry and are in favor of policies that promote stron- ger legal labor force options. Deferred Action for Child- hood Arrivals, or so-called Dreamers, agricultural workers and people under temporary protective status, who could be eligible for green cards immediately. This would impact farm- workers nationwide. Last April, USDA’s Economic Research Service estimated half of hired crop farmwork- ers lack legal immigration status. Some labor contrac- tors estimate it’s closer to 75%. Farmworker advocacy groups say bringing farm- workers out of the shadows by giving them legal sta- tus could help prevent them from being exploited or underpaid. Tami Kerr, executive director of Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, said she welcomes Biden’s plan. “We’re always support- ive of paths to citizenship for more workers,” said Kerr. As dairies have grown larger, Kerr said for- eign-born labor has become critical. The National Milk Producers Federation last year found more than 50% of U.S. dairy workers were foreign-born. The nursery industry, too, stands to benefit. But Stone of the nursery association said in order for Biden’s plan to work, there would need to be something like a grace period during which undocumented work- ers could safely come for- ward to seek legal status without penalties for them or their employers. Kerr and Stone both said they hope farmwork- ers’ household family mem- bers will also have a path to citizenship. Some farmers encour- age a less radical option — namely, giving farmwork- ers permanent legal status instead of citizenship. This, they say, is also likelier to pass in Congress. Sources familiar with Biden’s plan told The Asso- ciated Press the bill will not create any guestworker or other visa programs. “This disappoints me,” said Stone. Many nurseries rely on temporary H-2A visa work- ers. Stone said he would like to see a visa program with a longer stay period between renewals than H-2A’s. Michelle Palacios, administrator of the Oregon Hop Commission, said she would prefer to see the H-2A program itself reformed. Palacios said hop growers are not advocating a partic- ular policy but are support- ive of “whatever provides an available, legal workforce.” Chemeketa receives $200,000 donation for Ag Hub By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN Capital Press SALEM — Chemeketa Community College has received a $200,000 gift from Northwest Farm Credit Services to build a green- house in the college’s new Agricultural Hub, which is slated to open in Salem this month. “This gift is huge. We’re so grateful,” said Holly Nel- son, executive dean of the school. Brent Fetch, Oregon pres- ident of Northwest Farm Credit Services, the area’s top agricultural lender and crop insurance provider, explained in a statement why his organization is investing. “We are pleased to sup- port Chemeketa Community College’s Agricultural Hub because we believe this pro- gram will yield the next gen- eration of Oregon’s agricul- tural talent, which is vital to the industry’s long-term suc- cess,” he said. The new hub is modeled after Oregon State Universi- ty’s Extension Service, offer- ing classes, workshops and other agricultural resources to college students and the community. The college has been planning the Agricultural Hub for years, but high con- struction costs the past year meant the school was about $2 million short on fund- ing and had to cut several pieces from its plan, includ- Courtesy of Chemeketa Community College Chemeketa Community College’s Agricultural Hub, also known as the Ag Complex, is under construction. ing hoop houses, a conserva- tory, learning gardens and a greenhouse. School administrators say the cuts — especially the greenhouse — were a huge disappointment. Nelson, the executive dean, said a greenhouse is sorely needed because Chemeketa’s existing green- house is old and dilapi- dated, requiring regular maintenance. A new greenhouse, she said, will support the school’s horticulture pro- gram, which includes horti- culture certificates, two-year degrees and a transfer degree option. She said a new green- house will also help the school provide continu- ing professional develop- ment and workshops, called “workforce training,” to local nursery businesses and farms. After the school made cuts in the face of rising con- struction costs, administra- tors decided to fundraise. When leaders at North- west Farm Credit Services heard of the college’s deci- sion to scrap its greenhouse plans, they surprised college officials with their gift. “When Northwest Farm Credit Services told us they’d be donating money, we had no idea how much. We thought maybe $10,000 or $20,000. Then we had a Zoom meeting and they told us it was $200,000. I think we all about fell out of our chairs,” said Marie Hulett, executive director of insti- tutional advancement at the college. The gift, college officials say, will cover about half the cost of the new greenhouse, including installation fees and electrical wiring. Nel- son said the school plans to keep fundraising for the remainder. The new Agricultural Hub, officials say, will serve the local agricultural com- munity and industry with garden and farm demonstra- tion fields, classroom and community meeting space, a beneficial insectary and woody ornament lab. It will train college students in agri- cultural business, technol- ogy, science and logistics. And it will provide support to high schoolers in FFA. “We cannot thank North- west Farm Credit Services enough for their trust in Chemeketa, and we look for- ward to serving the agricul- tural industry with greater workforce training opportu- nities, a gathering place for the agricultural community, and robust opportunities for students for years to come,” college president Jessica Howard said in a statement. 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