Friday, June 18, 2021
CapitalPress.com 3
USDA to strengthen meatpacker
antitrust enforcement eff orts
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Capital Press File
Trees infected with sudden oak death were previously cut down as part of sudden oak
death eradication treatments near Brookings, Ore. Two infestations outside Oregon’s
quarantine area have been discovered so far in 2021.
Sudden oak death disease found
outside Oregon quarantine area
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
As a researcher study-
ing sudden oak death, Ebba
Peterson keeps a close watch
on the landscape when driv-
ing
through
Southwest
Oregon.
“You always keep your
eye open for dead tanoak,”
a tree species vulnerable to
the disease, said Peterson, a
research associate at Oregon
State University.
During a trip this spring,
Peterson noticed some dead
tanoaks near Port Orford,
Ore., and decided to get a bet-
ter look.
Among them, she found
a sprout with disease symp-
toms, which laboratory tests
later confi rmed were caused
by phytophthora ramorum,
the fungal-like pathogen
responsible for sudden oak
death.
Her discovery was distinc-
tive for two reasons.
The outbreak was discov-
ered 21 miles outside the sud-
den oak death quarantine area
in southern Curry County —
farther than expected for a
new infestation.
The disease was also
caused by a strain of sudden
oak death, NA2, that previ-
ously wasn’t detected in the
wild, though it’s been found
in West Coast nurseries since
2004.
It stands to reason the
strain moved from nursery
stock to forest plants at some
point, though it’s unknown
whether that’s how it got to
the site in Southwest Oregon,
Peterson said.
“This whole area is sus-
ceptible to phytophthora
ramorum,” she said.
The infestation marks the
second discovery of sud-
den oak death outside Ore-
gon’s 515-square-mile quar-
antine area this year, after
an outbreak was confi rmed
in the Rogue River-Siskiyou
National Forest earlier this
spring.
That site was infected
with another strain, EU1, so
the two infestations are not
related, said Sarah Navarro,
sudden oak death pathologist
with the U.S. Forest Service.
The fi rst discovery was
less surprising because it
was about six miles from
the quarantine area, which is
in line with the distance the
pathogen naturally spreads,
she said.
It’s concerning that three
sudden oak death strains —
NA1, NA2 and EU1 — have
now been found in Oregon,
though the state’s quaran-
tine area is still in one county
as opposed to 16 counties in
California, Navarro said.
At the initial site found
outside the quarantine area
this year, infected trees and
those within a 600-foot buf-
fer have already been cut
down, she said. The second
site will also undergo eradi-
cation treatments and the sur-
rounding area is being moni-
tored to see if the pathogen is
more widespread.
“We do have boots on the
ground looking every day
where this disease could be,”
Navarro said.
Douglas fi rs and other
commercial conifers can be
infected with sudden oak
death, though it’s not known
to kill them in Oregon, she
said. However, the disease
has been found to kill coni-
fers in the United Kingdom.
The EU1 strain spreads
more aggressively than the
NA1 strain, but further test-
ing will be needed to assess
the threat from NA2 in the
wild, Navarro said. “We don’t
know the aggressiveness or
how it’s going to spread in
Oregon forests.”
More information is also
needed to fi gure out if the
2021 discoveries are iso-
lated incidents or part of
a trajectory of spread out-
side the quarantine area, said
Chris Benemann, nursery and
Christmas tree program man-
ager at the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
It’s possible that addi-
tional information could lead
to an expansion of the quar-
antine area, with discussions
about that decision expected
to occur this summer, she
said. The discovery of NA2
in the wild won’t bear on that
analysis.
“How we treat it from a
regulatory standpoint is not
impacted by that informa-
tion,” Benemann said.
USDA says it will begin work on
three proposals to strengthen its enforce-
ment of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
The 100-year-old law was designed to
protect poultry, hog and cattle producers
from unfair, deceptive and anti-competi-
tive practices in meat markets.
The Packers and Stockyards Act is
a vital tool for protecting farmers and
ranchers, but it needs to take into account
modern market dynamics and should not
be used as a safe haven for bad actors,
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said Fri-
day in announcing the proposed action.
USDA intends to take three actions
related to rulemaking in the months
ahead. First is to propose a new rule
to provide greater clarity to strengthen
enforcement of unfair and deceptive
practices, undue preference and unjust
prejudices. Second is to propose a new
poultry grower tournament system rule.
Third is to re-propose a rule to clar-
ify parties do not need to demonstrate
harm to competition to bring legal action
against a meatpacker.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Asso-
ciation said in a statement USDA’s
announcement signals the start of a
lengthy process, not the conclusion.
“We don’t yet have language for pro-
posed rules, and we don’t expect to see
specifi cs from USDA for some time,”
said Colin Woodall, NCBA’s CEO.
“But we are actively engaging with
the agency to get more information and
make sure that the needs of our members
are front and center in the administra-
tion’s thought process,” he said.
NCBA will fi ght hard to ensure that
any regulations created or revised do not
reduce cattle producers’ ability to real-
ize higher profi ts and make the decisions
that are best for their business, he said.
NCBA is particularly concerned with
cattle producers’ ability to use alterna-
tive marketing arrangements, which rep-
resent value-added opportunities.
The North American Meat Insti-
tute issued a statement saying these
sorts of proposals in the past have been
opposed by many livestock producers
and Congress.
“In fact, the concepts embodied in
these proposals have been rejected by
eight federal appellate courts,” said Julie
Anna Potts, president and CEO of the
Meat Institute.
“Should these proposals be imple-
mented, they will limit producers’ abil-
ity to market their livestock the way they
see fi t and will lead to costly, specious
lawsuits. The Meat Institute will con-
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File
USDA is taking steps to increase
its enforcement of the Packers and
Stockyards Act.
tinue to oppose unnecessary and burden-
some government intervention in live-
stock markets,” she said.
American Farm Bureau Federation
has long advocated for remedies that pro-
vide fairness for chicken farmers while
maintaining provisions that keep hog and
cattle markets fl exible and competitive,
said Scott Bennett, Farm Bureau’s direc-
tor of congressional relations.
“We appreciate USDA’s commitment
to ensuring farmers and ranchers receive
their fare share of skyrocketing meat
prices. But until the actual language of
the new rules is published, we will focus
on making sure our members’ voices are
heard by this administration throughout
the rulemaking process,” he said.
National Farmers Union welcomed
the announcement, saying the Packers
and Stockyards Act lacks the teeth to
achieve its intended objectives and pro-
posed reforms are a strong step in the
right direction.
“After decades of lax antitrust
enforcement, farmers are once again
subject to many of the same injustices
that their ancestors endured,” said Rob
Larew, NFU president.
The Farm Action Alliance also wel-
comed the announcement, contend-
ing USDA can’t rein in abusive corpo-
rate monopolies without new, strong
regulations.
“Past failures to adequately strengthen
the Packers and Stockyards Act left the
regulatory environment a safe haven for
huge corporations to grow and consoli-
date power,” said Joe Maxwell, president
of the alliance.
The Organization for Competitive
Markets said the proposed rule in regard
to competitive injury is the most needed
reform.
“This regulation would clarify that
parties do not need to demonstrate harm
to competition in order to initiate legal
action,” said Mike Eby, the organiza-
tion’s executive director.
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