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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