Friday, April 1, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
Calif. pork standards will be reviewed by top court
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A legal dispute over Califor-
nia’s pork production standards has
landed before the U.S. Supreme
Court, which will decide whether
the requirements unconstitutionally
inhibit interstate commerce.
The nation’s highest court has
agreed to review a ruling by the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
which last year upheld a California
law banning in-state pork sales from
farms that use “extreme methods of
farm animal confinement.”
Nearly two-thirds of California
voters approved a 2018 ballot ini-
tiative, Proposition 12, which cre-
ated minimum hog confinement
standards. The restrictions were
then challenged in federal court
for affecting out-of-state farms by
the National Pork Producers Coun-
cil and the American Farm Bureau
Federation.
In 2021, the 9th Circuit deter-
mined the law doesn’t have an
Capital Press File
The U.S. Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of a Cali-
fornia law that bans in-state pork sales from farms that don’t follow
its minimum hog housing standards.
“impermissible
extraterritorial
effect” because the hog-raising stan-
dards only affect pork sold in Cali-
fornia and don’t dictate prices or dis-
favor out-of-state meat.
“Under our precedent, unless
a state law facially discriminates
against
out-of-state
activities,
directly regulates transactions that
are conducted entirely out of state,
substantially impedes the flow of
interstate commerce, or interferes
with a national regime, a plaintiff’s
complaint is unlikely to survive a
motion to dismiss,” the 9th Circuit
said.
The agricultural organizations
urged the Supreme Court to review
the decision because hog farmers
can’t realistically implement a sep-
arate supply chain for California,
which means the state’s hog confine-
ment standards will effectively apply
to nationwide pork production.
California imports more than
99% of its pork, its state agriculture
officials must be provided access to
out-of-state hog farms to enforce the
restrictions and shipping documents
must identify whether the meat can
be sold in that state, according to the
plaintiffs.
Hardly any hog farms in the U.S.
provide sows with the 24 square
feet of space required by the law —
most keep sows confined in individ-
ual pens with 14 square feet of space
and prevent the animals from turning
around for hygenic and animal wel-
fare reasons, the plaintiffs said.
To comply with California’s stan-
dards, hog farmers will need to spend
roughly $300 million to $350 million
to reconstruct or build new sow hous-
ing and offset productivity losses, the
groups said in the petition for review.
“It requires massive and costly
alteration to existing sow hous-
ing nationwide, necessitates either
reduction of herd sizes or building
of new facilities to meet its space
mandates, raises prices in transac-
tions with no California connection,
drives farms out of business and pro-
motes industry consolidation, and
will be policed by intrusive inspec-
tions of out-of-state farms conducted
by California’s agents,” the petition
said.
California’s lawyers argued the
Supreme Court shouldn’t review the
case because the law doesn’t violate
the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce
Clause, which allows only Congress
to regulate commerce between the
states.
The hog housing standards
are an “in-state sales restriction,”
which isn’t unconstitutional sim-
ply because some out-of-state farms
will choose to change their produc-
tion practices to serve the California
market, according to state officials.
Major food companies had
already been moving toward requir-
ing more space for hogs and some
recently stated they expect to com-
ply with California’s standards,
undercutting the argument these
changes are unfeasible, they said.
Region’s drought a central theme at Central Oregon Ag Show
Two-day event
features educational
talks, live
demonstrations
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
REDMOND, Ore. —
An estimated 2,100 people
from across the Northwest
attended the inaugural edition
of the Central Oregon Agri-
cultural Show last weekend at
the Deschutes County Fair &
Expo Center in Redmond.
The event came as farm-
ers and ranchers in the region
face another year of paralyzing
drought, with water shortages
projected to bring an abbre-
viated growing season and
major economic damage due
to crop losses.
Water was a central theme
among the show’s speakers
and guests, who discussed
how to get the most out of
every drop and what can be
done going forward to strike a
balance between the needs of
irrigators, fish and wildlife.
“I think there needs to be
a lot of attention paid to Cen-
tral Oregon right now,” said
JoHanna Symons, a rancher
from nearby Madras. “We’re
in a pretty catastrophic
situation.”
Symons raises cattle and
runs a commercial feedlot
with her husband, Jeremy. In
2016, the couple co-founded
a nonprofit organization, Per-
fect Balance USA, in response
to litigation over the Oregon
George Plaven/Capital Press
A tractor parade drives into the Deschutes County Fair
& Expo Center during the Central Oregon Ag Show.
George Plaven/Capital Press
spotted frog, which was listed
as threatened under the Endan-
gered Species Act.
Farming, recreation and
ESA-listed species all depend
on water from the Deschutes
River to thrive, Symons said.
Perfect Balance USA strives
to find “win-win” solutions for
the basin, though catastrophic
drought has only made that
mission all the more difficult.
“It’s never been this bad,”
Symons said. “You really
don’t know how much water
you’ll get. You might be hes-
itant to plant, or you might
over-plant. Some crops might
be destroyed.”
According to the U.S.
Drought Monitor, nearly 94%
of Oregon is in some stage of
drought. That includes 15%
in “exceptional drought,” the
highest category, extending
from the Klamath Basin north
to near the Columbia River
and encompassing most of
Central Oregon.
In its latest water sup-
ply outlook, the USDA Nat-
ural Resources Conservation
Service predicts streamflows
in the Upper Deschutes and
Crooked river basins will
range from 43% to 83% of
the median. “Water manag-
ers in the basin should prepare
for significantly reduced water
supplies in the coming months
if conditions do not improve,”
the report states.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
has declared a drought emer-
gency in Klamath, Crook,
Jefferson and Morrow coun-
ties, making them eligible for
state and federal disaster relief.
Gilliam and Jackson coun-
ties have also requested emer-
gency drought declarations.
Symons said agriculture
is the backbone of the nation,
and “needs to be prioritized,
especially right now.”
Perfect Balance USA plans
to resume farm tours in April,
which Symons said are the
best way to reconnect people
with where their food comes
from. The group is also target-
ing several projects including
planting MegaFlora trees on
government land to sequester
carbon.
That wasn’t the only poten-
tial solution being proposed at
the Central Oregon Ag Show.
From left: Paul Romero, candidate for Oregon governor;
Tony Newbill, a cattle rancher from Powell Butte, Ore.;
and Michael Stettler, a candidate for U.S. Senate. The men
were on hand to promote the concept of cloud seeding.
Tony Newbill, a cattle
rancher from Powell Butte,
purchased a vendor booth at
the show to promote cloud
seeding — a type of weather
modification in which com-
pounds such as silver iodide
are released into the air, bond-
ing with water particles in
clouds and causing them to fall
as precipitation.
Cloud seeding is success-
fully used in other Western
states including Idaho and
California, but not Oregon,
Newbill said. He worries that
deepening drought and water
shortages will eventually lead
to infighting among the eight
irrigation districts that make
up the Deschutes Basin Board
of Control.
“All us farmers and ranch-
ers in Central Oregon right
now are struggling,” Newbill
said. “What I’m seeing evolve
here is we’re going to start
fighting among the districts.”
Newbill was joined by
Paul Romero, a Republican
candidate for Oregon gover-
nor from Roseburg, who has
adopted cloud seeding as part
of his campaign.
Elsewhere around the fair-
grounds, crowds gathered each
afternoon for a live working
dog demonstration by trainer
Clint Johnson. A vintage trac-
tor and gas engine exhibition
was presented by Ed Staub,
along with 59 other exhibitors.
Joe Beach, editor and pub-
lisher of the Capital Press,
which produced the Central
Oregon Ag Show, said the
newspaper is committed to
making the show an annual
event.
“We are extremely happy
with the turnout for our first
show in Central Oregon,”
Beach said. “We’ve had noth-
ing but positive responses
from our sponsors and our
exhibitors.”
Looking for Willamette Valley, OR
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PNW PROCESSORS
Washington Farm Bureau
comes out against wolf rule
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington
ranchers
most hounded by wolves
would be further afflicted if
the Department of Fish and
Wildlife adopts a new rule
governing
“chronic-con-
flict areas,” according to the
Washington Farm Bureau.
The rule would require
ranchers to carry out plans
crafted by Fish and Wild-
life for preventing attacks on
livestock. If the plans aren’t
followed, the department
wouldn’t shoot wolves as a
last resort.
The Farm Bureau sent a
notice to members March
23 opposing the rule. Farm
Bureau director of govern-
ment relations Tom Davis
said that it would detract
from Fish and Wildlife’s
duty to control problem
wolves.
“We think it’s moving
in the wrong direction,” he
said. “And we’re not happy
with what we’re currently
getting.”
The rule would apply to
packs that have been tar-
geted for lethal control in
at least two of the past three
years. Fish and Wildlife pro-
posed the rule in February,
responding to an order from
Gov. Jay Inslee, who was
prodded by the Center for
Biological Diversity.
Wolf advocates com-
plained the department
wasn’t giving enough atten-
tion to non-lethal deter-
rents and was killing too
many wolves in northeast
Washington. The advo-
cates proposed a lengthy
set of directions for ranch-
ers in chronic-conflict areas,
including tracking their cat-
tle by GPS.
Fish and Wildlife has
proposed a much shorter
rule that reflects what it is
already doing informally:
Setting expectations for
non-lethal deterrents and
making a case-by-case judg-
ment call on whether to kill
wolves.
While the spirit of the
informal policy and pro-
posed rule are the same, the
outcomes may be different,
Davis said.
In areas with chronic
conflicts, Fish and Wildlife
should do more to remove
problem wolves, he said.
Instead, the rule will shift
responsibility to ranchers,
Davis said. “Ultimately, this
affects the livestock pro-
ducers in the most difficult
situations.”
The territory of one pack,
the Togo pack in Ferry
County, currently qualifies
as a chronic-conflict area.
Fish and Wildlife hired a
consultant to study the rule’s
economic impact. The con-
sultant noted that public
funds may subsidize range
riders and other non-le-
thal deterrents, but ranch-
ers could still face increased
costs.
The department will
take written comments
on the rule until April 11.
Comments may be sent by
email to WolfConflictDe-
terrence102@PublicInput.
com. Recorded comments
can be made by calling (855)
925-2801, code 3861.
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