Friday, April 16, 2021
CapitalPress.com 7
LUBA rules against Oregon landfi ll expansion
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Washington FFA
The Washington FFA state offi cer team. From left are
Secretary Gunnar Aune, Treasurer Alissa Whitaker, Pres-
ident Cole Baerlocher, Vice President Lauren Stubbs,
Reporter Haley Gilman and Sentinel Tysen White.
Washington FFA revving up
for virtual convention in May
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Washington FFA offi cers
are gearing up for the state-
wide organization’s annual
convention after a year that
included a change in leader-
ship and a global pandemic.
“It’s defi nitely been a
challenging year,” said exec-
utive director Jason Bullock.
The convention will be
held virtually May 13-15.
Attendees and exhibitors
can begin accessing the plat-
form May 10.
The FFA board decided
in October to hold another
virtual convention due to the
diff erences in how schools
are handling attendance,
with some meeting virtually,
some in-person and some a
hybrid, Bullock said.
Bullock
took
over
as executive director in
December.
The state offi cer team
selected a theme of “All
Systems Go.”
The convention will
maintain its traditional
agenda, with one session
streamed on Thursday and
Friday evenings and two on
Saturday. The new state offi -
cers will be announced Sat-
urday evening.
Bullock hopes to draw
3,000 attendees during the
virtual conference.
The
National
East-
ern Region
vice presi-
dent, Mir-
iam Hoff -
man, is one
of the key-
note speak-
ers slated.
Jason
Career
Bullock
develop-
ment events, or CDEs, and
leadership
development
events, or LDEs, resumed
virtually in March. Begin-
ning April 19, three to fi ve
events will be held each
week until the end of May,
Bullock said.
“(It) has been quite chal-
lenging to determine how to
convert an in-person event
into a virtual format and
still evaluate a member’s
knowledge and skill level,
especially when there are
hands-on components to it,”
Bullock said.
Some events in late May
may be in person, such as
agricultural
mechanics,
poultry evaluation, agron-
omy, dairy cattle manage-
ment and meat evaluation
as state restrictions ease and
the number of vaccinations
increases.
The state offi cers have
conducted chapter visits in
person and virtually each
week since December. They
also recently visited the
Chehalis area for spring vis-
its and industry tours.
An Oregon land use
board has affi rmed Yamhill
County’s decision not to
allow a controversial land-
fi ll expansion that’s long
been opposed by several
neighboring farms.
Yamhill County ade-
quately explained why
farming disruptions from
the Riverbend Landfi ll’s
29-acre expansion couldn’t
be “mitigated to an insig-
nifi cant level,” accord-
ing to the state’s Land Use
Board of Appeals.
Waste Management, the
landfi ll’s owner, argued the
county’s fi ndings didn’t
suffi ciently explain its con-
clusion that small amounts
of plastic litter from the
landfi ll would force imper-
missible changes to adja-
cent hay production.
The company argued
that Yamhill County hadn’t
established that its land-
fi ll was the litter’s source
or why the landfi ll’s litter
control plan wouldn’t ade-
quately reduce the alleged
problem.
Last year, the county
determined that even min-
imal amounts of trash drift-
ing onto nearby farmland
would substantially aff ect
farm practices and increase
operational costs. The
county’s board of com-
missioners rejected Waste
Management’s
applica-
tion after approving sim-
ilar proposals in previous
years.
LUBA has now ruled
that Yamhill County’s rea-
soning was “explained
in great detail” and is
“more than adequate” to
account for why the land-
fi ll expansion proposal was
denied.
Because the litter prob-
lems were a valid rea-
son to deny the expansion
plan, LUBA didn’t reach
a decision on the county’s
fi nding that cumulative
impacts also impermissibly
disrupted farm practices.
Since
the
county
rejected the expansion’s
site plan, it did not have to
separately analyze a fl ood-
plain development permit
for the landfi ll, LUBA said.
Waste Management is
reviewing LUBA’s deci-
sions and assessing its
options, according to a
spokesperson.
If the company still
wants to move forward
with the project, LUBA’s
decision can be challenged
before the Oregon Court
of Appeals or a new pro-
posal can be submitted to
the county.
The expansion plan
goes “above and beyond
in terms of environmen-
tal protections and consid-
erations for neighbors and
the community,” Waste
Management’s spokesper-
son said.
Why California farmers are going nuts for pistachios
harvested about 3 billion
pounds of almonds, 1.5 bil-
lion pounds of walnuts and
just over 1 billion pounds
of pistachios.
Between 2016 to 2020,
according to industry data,
growers added 173,540
new pistachio acres, a 56%
increase.
“The real wow factor in
this whole thing is the huge
jump in acreage in the last
four years,” Dennis Too-
telian, who conducted the
recent study for the Ameri-
can Pistachio Growers, said
in a statement. “Growers’
investment in new acre-
age equated to more than
$5.1 million per day and
$10,777 per acre.”
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
PIXLEY, Calif. —
The pistachio, with a
record-breaking crop last
year, is now nearly tied
with the walnut as Califor-
nia’s second-biggest tree
nut crop.
Farmers are expanding
acreage, many calling the
pistachio the key to their
future success. Consumer
demand, domestically and
abroad, is growing. And the
pistachio industry, accord-
ing to a recent study from
the American Pistachio
Growers, now has a $5.2
billion impact on the state’s
economy.
Richard
Matoian
Dominic
Pitigliano
“The demand is build-
ing. This is still such an
adolescent industry here,
and I do believe there’s
still room for growth,” said
Dominic Pitigliano, 40, a
fourth-generation Califor-
nia grower in Pixley who
has been expanding his pis-
tachio acreage.
In 2020, according to
USDA, farmers statewide
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Demand has been the
primary driver.
Richard Matoian, presi-
dent of American Pistachio
Growers, attributes most
growth to export markets.
About 70% of the state’s
production is exported
annually, Matoian said.
Matoian said consum-
ers appear to be buying
more pistachios for several
reasons.
First, he said, peo-
ple are becoming more
health-conscious.
Because pistachios are
high in protein, they’re also
popular among vegetarians
and people trying to build
plant-based protein into
their diets.
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Alex McGregor
Ag company adds its voice
to Simpson plan opposition
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The McGregor Co. is
sending a letter to Idaho Rep.
Mike Simpson opposing his
$33.5 billion plan to remove
four dams on the Lower
Snake River in the name of
salmon recovery.
The company sells fertil-
izer, agri-chemicals and ag
equipment. It has retail offi ces
in more than 35 communities
throughout the region.
Simpson has not proposed
legislation. His plan has
drawn opposition from agri-
cultural stakeholders, power
companies and legislators.
“I think we need to take it
seriously,” Alex McGregor,
chairman of the company, told
the Capital Press, referring
to Simpson’s plan. “Rather
than a so-called solution that
threatens farm families, rural
communities and larger com-
munities, we can fi nd ways to
continue to make improve-
ments in stewardship.”
The letter has been
co-signed by 158 other
people, representing 30
towns in Washington, 11
towns in Idaho and two
in Oregon.
The letter corrects Simp-
son’s previous statements that
downriver barge shipments
have declined or that barging
can be replaced with cheaper
alternatives.
“Your proposal heads us
in the wrong direction on effi -
ciency and air emissions, so
much a factor in the dire pre-
dictions about climate and
warming oceans,” the letter
states.
The river system is “cru-
cial” for moving grain down-
river and shipments upriver,
including crop nutrients,
McGregor said. Removing
the dams could cause delivery
delays that risk yield, he said.
“It’s vital that we fi nd
ways to work together to
make progress in caring for
our iconic salmon, while
also being sure to protect a
very effi cient set of dams
that off er us some substantial
advantages (in) agriculture,”
McGregor said.
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