Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, December 3, 2021
Volume 94, Number 49
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A MATTER OF
‘EQUALITY’
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Kathryn and James Dunlap with their daughter, Evelyn, at the family’s ranch near Baker City, Ore. The couple has filed a lawsuit over being excluded from a
USDA loan forgiveness program for minority farmers.
Ranchers join legal battle over race-based
USDA loan forgiveness program
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
B
AKER CITY, Ore. — The pos-
sibility that USDA would for-
give their farm loans seemed
like a godsend for James and
Kathryn Dunlap.
But shortly after hearing of the agency’s
new program, the Dunlaps learned they
didn’t qualify — only farmers from racial
minorities were eligible.
“It kind of blew our minds,” James said.
The couple has taken out about
$280,000 in loans from USDA’s Farm
Service Agency for cows and equipment
to expand their ranch business near Baker
City, Ore.
“Until that’s paid off, we’re just trying
to survive,” James said. “The goal was to
grow. Unfortunately, while you’re grow-
ing, it’s very difficult.”
Though they wouldn’t have taken out
debt they couldn’t pay back, the Dunlaps
found it troubling they’d been excluded
from the loan forgiveness program for
being white.
“If they want to offer a program, it
should be available to everyone,” he said.
James said he was content to merely
grumble about the program but his wife
convinced him to take action.
“Don’t just complain about something
unless you’re doing something about it,”
Kathryn said.
Is program constitutional?
With the help of the Pacific Legal
Foundation, a libertarian public interest
law firm, the Dunlaps have filed a law-
suit challenging the USDA’s minority loan
forgiveness program as unconstitutionally
based on race.
“Righting past discrimination with
more discrimination is not the way to go
about it,” she said. “It should be based on
individual circumstances.”
The couple’s lawsuit is one of 12 sim-
ilar complaints filed across the nation
that argue USDA’s $4 billion loan for-
giveness program violates the Constitu-
tion’s promise of equal protection under
the law.
The litigation has been consolidated
as a class action lawsuit in federal court
in Texas, where U.S. District Judge Reed
O’Connor has issued a preliminary injunc-
tion halting the program. Similar orders
against it have been entered in three other
states.
O’Connor wrote that “the government’s
claim that new race-based discrimination
is needed to remedy past race-based dis-
crimination is unavailing,” meaning that it
is ineffective.
Few topics are more sensitive or
uncomfortable than race and money, espe-
cially in the current politically tense atmo-
sphere. The litigation against USDA tack-
les both subjects head-on.
See Equality, Page 11
Oregon clean truck mandates come with costs
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Don Jenkins/Capital Press File
Oregon’s Environmental Quality Commission, a small
regulatory body, has approved the Clean Trucks Rule, a
mandate aimed at cutting emissions by requiring pro-
duction of cleaner trucks.
SALEM — Oregon’s
Environmental Quality Com-
mission, a governor-ap-
pointed panel, has approved
the Clean Trucks Rule, a man-
date aimed at cutting emis-
sions by requiring production
of cleaner trucks.
Advocates say the rule
will benefit the environment
and public health; critics say
it will hurt truck manufactur-
ers and raise prices on trucks,
which farmers and ranchers
rely on for shipping.
The rule has two parts.
First, it mandates manufactur-
ers boost production of elec-
tric trucks. Second, it requires
new medium- and heavy-
duty diesel trucks sold in Ore-
gon to meet stricter emissions
standards.
The first rule requires up to
half of the new medium- and
heavy-duty trucks, buses and
vans sold in Oregon by 2030
have no emissions, and up
to 75% be electric by 2035.
The second requires all new
heavy-duty diesel vehicles
sold in Oregon to emit 75%
less nitrogen dioxide than
current levels starting in 2025
and 90% less by 2027.
tor alone is the largest source
of greenhouse gas emissions
in Oregon, so this moves
us toward cleaner air,” said
Rachel Sakata, senior air
quality planner for the Ore-
gon Department of Environ-
mental Quality. “We’re on a
path to zero emissions.”
Critics say the rule will
raise the price of new trucks,
will rapidly push a fleet of
electric vehicles on a state
that doesn’t have sufficient
infrastructure set up yet and
will unfairly penalize truck
manufacturers.
The rule only applies to
manufacturers and does not
require anyone to buy the
trucks.
After California, Oregon is
the second state to adopt the
rule, which will go into effect
in 2024 and apply to 2025 or
later models.
Advocates say the rule
will decrease tailpipe pollu-
tion contributing to smog and
ozone formation, promote
cleaner air for disadvantaged
communities and reduce die-
sel exhaust that may cause
cancer, lung disease and other
health problems.
“The transportation sec-
See Trucks, Page 11
H-2A minimum wages to increase
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Minimum wages for seasonal
foreign farmworkers will rise
by 9% in California and 6.5% in
Washington and Oregon based on
an annual pay survey released Nov.
24 by the USDA.
California will displace its West
Coast neighbors as the state with
the highest H-2A wage in the coun-
try at $17.51 an hour. The H-2A
wage in Washington and Oregon
will be $17.41.
The wages purport to reflect
average pay for all farmworkers
and vary by region. The H-2A floor
nationally will average $15.56, a
6.4% increase, the highest percent-
age in at least a decade.
The U.S. Department of Labor
TIME TO PLAN
for next year.
uses the survey to set minimum
H-2A wages for the coming year.
Farms that hire H-2A workers must
pay their U.S. workers the same
wage.
Michael Marsh, CEO and pres-
ident of the National Council of
Agricultural Employers, said the
survey inflates pay by rolling piece-
rates, overtime and bonuses into an
hourly minimum wage.
Bank of Eastern Oregon
offers Operating Lines of
Credit and Term loans on
Equipment and Land.
The survey’s flaws cause wages
to become increasingly discon-
nected with market economics, he
said.
“Farmers and ranchers are going
to struggle with these wages and,
unfortunately, we’re going to see
additional food production move
out of the U.S.,” Marsh said.
See Wages, Page 11
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