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Volume 94, Number 16
TOM VILSACK
Secretary of Agriculture talks about issues
facing farmers and his plans for USDA
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
W
ASHINGTON, D.C. — On Feb. 24 Tom
processing facilities that would allow
Vilsack took the oath of offi ce as the
them to stay in business (and) to be
32nd Secretary of Agriculture.
able to pay the costs, for example, of
It’s Vilsack’s second time as chief of
overtime they had to incur.
the USDA. He previously served eight
CP: Would that funding come
years in the same role in the Obama administration.
exclusively from COVID relief?
Vilsack, 70, is also the for-
Vilsack: It’s
mer governor of Iowa, and most
coming
from
recently was president of the
COVID
relief
U.S. Dairy Export Council, a
resources Congress
dairy trade and lobbying group.
has provided.
On Monday, Vilsack sat down
...
Secondly,
with Capital Press reporter Sierra
Congress has also
Dawn McClain for a wide-rang-
directed us to take a
ing interview. The text has been
look at ways in which
edited for brevity and clarity.
we might facilitate
Capital Press: On Feb. 24,
interstate sale of prod-
President Biden issued an
uct, across state lines.
Matthew Doyle/USDA
executive order requiring you
To do that, state-in-
to investigate agricultural sup- Vilsack, left, walks with Douglas Em- spected enterprises would
ply chains. What do you hope hoff , husband of Vice President Kamala need inspections to be equiv-
Harris, on a trip to Des Moines, Iowa. alent to the federal inspection
to accomplish through this?
Tom Vilsack: I think, fi rst Vilsack and Emhoff were on this trip
and foremost, we want to make in March to show their support of the
See Vilsack, Page 12
sure we build back the supply American Rescue Plan.
chain so that it’s more resilient in
the event of a large-scale disrup-
tion similar to COVID.
Secondly, I think there’s a reason for us to take a
look at the supply chain from an equity perspective.
I think the third thing is a competitive and open mar-
kets aspect. If the supply chain is concentrated in the
hands of a few, it makes it more diffi cult for those sell-
ing to get the best price for whatever it is they’re grow-
ing or raising. That’s particularly true in animal protein.
How do we enlarge, encourage competition, create bet-
ter price discovery?
CP: That leads into my next question. You’ve
talked a lot about the need for price discovery in
the livestock sector. Can you break down how
you plan to address lack of price transparency?
Vilsack: Well, it would start in taking a look
at our processing facilities across board — beef,
poultry, pork — and asking: Are there additional
market opportunities we could take advantage
of? That could happen one of three ways.
One, can we help smaller processing facili-
ties stay in business? There are programs as a
result of COVID relief to get resources to small
Klamath Project to receive
historically low water allocation
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation delivered a
gut-punch to Klamath Project irrigators
Wednesday, announcing a historically low
water allocation as the basin struggles with
extreme drought.
Farms and ranches in the Project will
receive an initial allocation of just 33,000
acre-feet — the lowest total since the shut-
down of 2001 and barely 8% of historical
demand.
That is dramatically lower than the
George Plaven/Capital Press File bureau’s original estimate of 130,000 acre-
Water fl ows from Upper Klamath Lake into the A feet based on hydrological conditions at the
Canal, part of the Klamath Project.
beginning of March. Since then, snowpack
in the Klamath Basin has dropped to 72%
of normal for the water year dating back
to Oct. 1, and precipitation is just 67% of
normal.
The Klamath Project provides irrigation
for 230,000 acres of farmland in Southern
Oregon and Northern California.
Camille Touton, deputy commissioner
for the Bureau of Reclamation, said this
water year is unlike anything the Project
has ever seen.
“We will continue to monitor the
hydrology and look for opportunities for
operational fl exibility, provide assistance
to Klamath Project water users and the
tribes, and keep an open dialogue with our
stakeholders, the states, and across the fed-
eral government to get through this water
year together,” Touton said.
Initial water supplies from Upper Klam-
ath Lake will be available to recharge Proj-
ect canals and provide for some limited
irrigation no earlier than May 15. Remain-
ing water will be delivered no earlier than
June 1.
The bureau will maintain Upper Klam-
ath Lake at or above a minimum elevation
of 4,138.3 feet, “whereby additional proj-
ect water may be available,” according to
the bureau. Reclamation will monitor and
adjust available water on at least a semi-
monthly basis.
Offi cials also announced $15 million
in immediate aid to the Klamath Project
See Klamath, Page 12
Washington farm groups embrace OT bill, for this season
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — The overtime bill
that’s likely headed to Gov. Jay Ins-
lee will protect farms from back-
pay lawsuits and give farm groups
more time to convince the Legisla-
ture that time-and-a-half pay after
40 hours will harm farmworkers
more than it helps them.
The bill, Senate Bill 5172,
phases in overtime pay for farm-
workers. The threshold will be 40
hours a week in 2024. Before then,
the thresholds will be 55 hours in
The Washington House on April
9 passed a bill to give all farm-
workers overtime pay.
2022 and then 48 hours in 2023.
Farm groups had lobbied for
a seasonal exemption, allowing a
farm to choose 12 weeks a year to
pay overtime after 50 hours a week.
Labor groups and majority Demo-
crats rejected the provision.
Farm groups contend that with-
out an allowance for agriculture’s
uneven work schedule, farms will
struggle and workers will see their
hours limited and incomes cut.
“We can say that until we’re blue
in the face, but until it comes from
workers who are disproportionately
aff ected, the Legislature won’t act,”
Washington Farm Bureau associ-
ate director of government relations
Breanne Elsey said Monday.
The House passed the overtime
legislation on a 91-7 vote Friday.
The House made no policy changes
to the bill passed by the Senate
but lumped all provisions into one
section.
“We do expect the Senate to con-
cur and for this version to move for-
ward,” Elsey said.
Before Friday’s vote, Vancou-
ver Rep. Larry Hoff , the top-rank-
ing Republican on the House Labor
and Workplace Standards Commit-
tee, said the seasonal exemption
See Bill, Page 12
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