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ORCHARDS, NUTS & VINES SPECIAL SECTION | INSIDE EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER Friday, April 9, 2021 Volume 94, Number 15 CapitalPress.com $2.00 Easterday pleads guilty to fraud, faces civil charges, too By DON JENKINS AND GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Washington ranch co-owner Cody Easterday defrauded Tyson Foods of $233 million and another company of $11 million by selling more than 200,000 head of cat- tle that only existed on invoices, according to a plea agreement unsealed April 1. Easterday, former manager of the Easterday Ranches feedlot in Pasco, pleaded guilty March 31 to one count of felony wire fraud and faces up to 20 Cody years in prison. Easterday He also faces civil charges fi led March 31 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly reporting false or mis- leading information to the Chi- cago Mercantile Exchange. Easterday, 49, entered the plea to the criminal charge in U.S. Dis- trict Court for Eastern Washing- ton. Federal Judge Stanley Bas- tian in Yakima accepted the plea and set sentencing for Aug. 4. According to the plea deal, pros- ecutors agreed not to bring addi- tional charges. “For years Cody Easterday perpetrated a fraud scheme on a massive scale, increasing the cost of producing food for American families,” Acting Assistant Attor- ney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department Crimi- nal Division said in a statement. Eff orts to reach Cody East- erday or his attorney, Carl Ore- skovich, were unsuccessful by deadline. CFTC allegations The CFTC alleges Cody East- erday violated the Commodity Exchange Act by reporting false or misleading information about the ranch’s cattle inventory, pur- chases and sales to the CME, the world’s largest fi nancial deriva- tives exchange. The false statements were See Easterday, Page 11 LIVING IN FARM COUNTRY Rural developments a challenge for newcomers, and farmers Area in detail By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press VALLEY ADAMS IDAHO IDAHO HO WASHINGTON HINGTON 95 PAYETTE TTE GEM O t rio i Onterio 52 BOISE 21 Ore. Ore. B Boise Boise Na a Nampa 95 Canyon County 84 78 a k e v R i See Rural, Page 11 Ada County 84 er Brad Carlson/Capital Press Greg and Colleen Agresta 55 Sn and both of them got to experience the sights and sounds of harvest time. “I couldn’t be happier with our home,” he said. The Agrestas are among a growing num- ber of Americans who are moving to the coun- try. Whether they are retiring or escaping high taxes in states such as California, the COVID- 19 pandemic or just looking for a change of scenery, hundreds of thousands of Americans are choosing a rural lifestyle on a handful of acres in farm country. Nationwide, the American Farmland Trust estimates that nearly 7 million acres of Idaho S oon after moving to a small acre- age near Caldwell, Idaho, last Sep- tember, Colleen Agresta noticed a parade of trucks on the highway that bisects the area. Each truck was piled high with sugar beets. “There were lots and lots of them,” she said. “And there was a lot of dust and dirt.” She knew she wasn’t in California anymore. Colleen and her husband, Greg, had been looking for a home in the country and had scouted several parts of southwest Idaho before buying outside Caldwell. After they arrived they absorbed the farm and ranch activities around them. Greg cap- tured a video of cattle in a neighboring pasture 95 N 20 miles miles s 20 ELMORE Grand d View OWYHEE Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Brad Carlson/Capital Press Development on former farmland in southeast Meridian, Idaho. Proposed ban on large Oregon dairies sparks debate By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Despite being dead on arrival, a proposal to ban new Oregon dairies with more than 2,500 cows has sparked a fi erce debate in the state legislature. State regulators would be pro- hibited from authorizing the con- struction or expansion of such “industrial” dairies under Senate Bill 583, which was killed by a legislative deadline last month. Although the bill can’t move for- ward this session, it’s nonetheless concerning for the agriculture com- munity — especially in light of a similar bill that would prohibit mink farms, said Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of public policy for the Ore- gon Farm Bureau. The implication is that if a law- maker dislikes a certain sector of the farm industry, the Legislature is will- ing to consider banning it, she said. “That should be very scary for any- one in agriculture.” While SB 583 has died in this ses- sion, the basic concept could still be incorporated through an amendment to viable legislation, she said. Apart from this practical concern, the proposal is worrisome from a communications perspective because such ideas have recurred in several recent legislative sessions, Cooper said. Meanwhile, proponents remain undeterred and appear to have become more aggressive. “We’re very concerned about the level of misinformation and rhetoric that’s still out there,” she said. During an April 1 hearing, sup- porters and critics of HB 583 laid out their arguments before the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. “Mega-dairies are not farms. They are industrial polluters,” said Emma See Dairies, Page 11 Nial Bradshaw, James Gardner and Jed Myers Founded in 1945 Experienced Lenders with a focus on by Farmers and Ranchers. Agriculture and Commercial Loans Who saw a need for Rural Lending. and Operating Lines of Credit. ARLINGTON BOARDMAN CONDON FOSSIL HERMISTON IRRIGON LA GRANDE MORO PENDLETON ATHENA BURNS ENTERPRISE HEPPNER IONE JOHN DAY MADRAS ONTARIO PRAIRIE CITY ONTARIO 541-889-4464 / 435 SW 24TH ST. S228547-1 Member FDIC
