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MARCH 5, 202
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Volume
94, Number
4
CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 5, 2021
$2.00
TELLING THE STORY
Farmers share cautionary tales to promote safety
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
P
inned under an upside down 4-wheeler in a dry
ravine, 64-year-old farmer David Endorf took
inventory. “I was not bleeding. I was sore, but I did
not feel I had broken bones,” he said.
But he was trapped, helpless and alone. He
hadn’t told anyone where he was going, and his wife
wouldn’t expect him home until 7 or 8 that evening.
It had started as a typical summer day
in southeastern Nebraska, sunny and
humid. But Aug. 18, 2018, is one
Endorf will never forget.
“That’s the day I nearly
lost my life, and it’s
etched in my memory,”
he said.
He had been look-
ing forward to the
local cooperative’s
annual appreciation lunch, which would start at noon.
“They bring in some good barbecue beef and chicken,
baked beans and cornbread,” he said.
But he had a chore to do first — take care of the brushy
trees lining the creek that runs through his pasture. At about
9 a.m. he loaded his 4-wheeler and 15-gallon spray tank onto
the pickup and headed to the pasture.
By 11:15 a.m., he had sprayed for about two hours in an
area filled with obstacles, including trees and ravines off the
main branch of the creek.
“I started thinking about this good barbecue meal. It
became a distraction, I wanted to make sure I allowed myself
enough time to get back to the pickup,” he said.
That noon lunch was calling, and it was time to head back.
But then everything took a bad turn.
“The rear wheel of the 4-wheeler went off the side of the
See Safety, Page 12
Safety at work
Leading occupations for fatal injury rate in 2019
(per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers)
Occupation
fatal injury rate
Fishing and hunting workers
145.0
Logging workers
68.9
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
61.8
Roofers
54.0
Construction helpers
40.0
Refuse and recyclable material collectors
35.2
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
26.8
Structural iron and steel workers
26.3
Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers 23.2
Grounds maintenance workers
19.8
Fatal injury rates by industry sector in 2019
(per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers)
Stephanie Leonard
Telling the Story
David Endorf
documents the
account of his farm
accident for the
Telling the Story
Project.
Occupation
fatal injury rate
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction
Transportation and warehousing
Construction
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
23.1
14.6
13.9
9.7
Capital Press graphic
China’s agricultural imports are big but volatile
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Despite a global pandemic
and a slow start, 2020 was a
really good year for U.S. agricul-
tural exports — with a significant
increase in exports to China in the
fourth quarter.
The last three months of 2020
were three of the four best months
in the history of U.S agricultural
exports to China, said Gregg Doud,
the immediate past chief agricul-
tural negotiator with the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative.
More than half of U.S. agricul-
tural exports to China in 2020 took
place in October, November and
December, he said during the Farm
Foundation’s forum on agricultural
trade.
“That’s going to be a really
important thing going forward
here I think, and we did that in the
midst of a pandemic,” he said.
Everyone
understands the
importance of the
Phase One agree-
ment with China.
It increased the
number of U.S.
Gregg Doud companies eligi-
ble to export from
1,500 to well over 4,000, he said.
“This is a very big thing to keep
in mind as we go forward,” he said.
So many more products have
access now, and that’s a major
change, he said.
To be successful going forward,
the U.S. has to be price competi-
tive — not just in China but around
the world, he said.
“So much of our challenge in
the last few years has been a strong
dollar and particularly as we deal
with competition from Brazil,” he
said.
Infrastructure is another chal-
lenge. Since September, the U.S.
infrastructure for bulk agricultural
products and what it can sell has
been maxed out, he said.
“Our window is not going to
expand … so we have to be able to
maximize what we can do in that
window,” he said.
Another thing to keep in mind is
volatility, he said.
“The volatility that we are
going to see going forward as a
See China, Page 12
Hammond family loses grazing permit for third time
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Roughly a month after their
grazing permit was restored, Ore-
gon’s Hammond family has again
lost access to four federal allot-
ments totaling 26,400 acres.
The U.S. Interior Department
has reversed its decision to re-is-
sue the Hammonds’ grazing permit
after several environmental groups
filed a lawsuit challenging the deci-
sion, claiming it violated admin-
istrative, environmental and land
management laws.
The federal government re-au-
thorized the 10-year grazing permit
on Jan. 19, the Trump administra-
tion’s final day in office, after ini-
tially announcing the proposal on
Dec. 31.
However, the Interior Depart-
ment now says that interested par-
ties weren’t notified of the proposed
re-authorization for several days,
which means they didn’t get the
required 15 days to file a protest.
The agency said the rescis-
sion isn’t a “final determination”
Founded in 1945
by Farmers and Ranchers.
We still measure success by the acre.
in the case and has ordered the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management,
which regulates the allotments, to
reconsider the decision.
“On remand, the BLM is encour-
aged to initiate any additional pro-
cesses and opportunities for public
involvement that it may determine
appropriate under applicable law
following a careful and considered
review of protests,” the rescission
notice said.
In previously re-issuing the
See Permit, Page 12
Capital Press File
Hammond Ranches has lost its graz-
ing permit for the third time, shortly
after an environmental lawsuit chal-
lenged its re-authorization.
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