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CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 24, 2022
Ukraine
online video platform every other
Friday. They are also available on
You Tube. Project coordinators
will provide updates to donating
companies upon request, Gry-
nyshyn added.
Continued from Page 1
said. As they retreated, they
placed mines in the farm fields.
Despite the dangers, farmers
are still producing, he said. “They
still go into the fields.”
Grynyshyn estimates 99% of
the nation’s farmers remain in
Ukraine.
“They have secured their fam-
ilies, but they themselves have
returned,” he said.
It’s hard to say how many have
been killed because that informa-
tion is not readily available, he
said. Some farmers have been
killed by mines in the fields, and
others have died while serving in
the army.
Stolen crops
About 20% of Ukraine is
occupied by Russia. In south-
ern Ukraine, Russian adminis-
trators forced farmers to provide
information about their farms,
including all data and crop stor-
age locations.
“When the farmers did this, in
a couple of days, the commodi-
ties were just vanished,” Gry-
nyshyn said with a Ukrainian
accent. “So in fact they were ask-
ing for address where to steal it
from.”
Farmers were told they could
plant a crop this year only if they
signed papers giving 70% of their
harvest to Russia, he said.
Civilians “are being tortured in
the basements and police stations
by Russians because they are
active patriots,” he said. “There
are even moments that a Russian
soldier stops a person in the street
and says, ‘Tell how great Russia
is, how thankful you are, because
if I don’t believe you, I will kill
you.’”
Grynyshyn spoke with the
Capital Press June 7 at Wash-
ington State University’s Whit-
man County Extension office in
Colfax.
The day of the interview, Gry-
nyshyn had heard of Russian
troops stealing 11 rail cars of
grain and taking them to Crimea,
a territory Russia took from
Ukraine in 2014. Two days later
troops burned Ukraine’s second
largest grain terminal, which was
filled with sunflower meal.
When leaving a village, Rus-
sian soldiers steal anything pos-
sible, Grynyshyn said, including
carpets, computers and livestock,
which they tie to the top of mili-
tary vehicles.
“At some point, I’ve heard you
would not even be able to say
whether it is a tank or armored
vehicle, because there is so much
packed on top of it,” Grynyshyn
said.
In setting up farmer exchanges
Grynyshyn has traveled to the
U.S. roughly 40 times. Upward of
400 Ukrainian farmers and rep-
resentatives of agricultural busi-
nesses have visited the U.S. over
the years through Grynyshyn’s
10-day program.
As part of the program, he’s
worked with Steve Van Vleet, a
WSU Extension educator, since
2009. Van Vleet has also traveled
to Ukraine to work with farmers
there.
Seeking help for Ukrainian
farmers, Grynyshyn has been
visiting his contacts in Europe
Current picture
123rf
whose website is https://lifenets.
org/.
Victor Kubik is a LifeNets
Online: https://www.wrru.org/
board member. His wife, Beverly,
is the board president. Kubik said
his parents were Ukrainian ref-
ugees after World War II and he
and North America. He visited
still has family there.
Washington state this month was
“It is such a horrible situa-
headed to North Dakota, Canada
tion over there,” Kubik told the
and Wisconsin.
Capital Press. “Ukraine ought to
Help offered
be leaders in the world but right
In Germany, a client and friend
now they are under such oppres-
sion. ... It’s an astounding crisis
who is the largest sweet corn
of humanity, of agriculture, of
farmer in the nation hosted Gry-
nyshyn. The friend’s daughter
everything. We shake our heads
asked Grynyshyn to give 1,000
as we see people being killed
euros she had raised in her school
every day and the world being
to Ukrainian farmers who are in
held hostage, blackmailed, with
need.
nuclear action.”
That led to the formation of
Before aid is authorized, farm-
ers must open their houses and
the fundraising project, World
farms to inspection by WRRU
to Rebuild Rural Ukraine, or
coordinators. Priorities are recon-
WRRU, to help farmers. The
struction of houses, greenhouses,
website is https://www.wrru.org/.
barns or stables and replacing
WRRU will use the funds
machinery or lost livestock.
to rebuild farmers’ homes and
WRRU will not provide
replace machinery and out-
buildings that have been
cash.
damaged or destroyed.
“Aid is about the actual
They have no access to
objects that are recon-
structed or the machinery
government programs or
units or the farm animals,
anywhere else to turn.
and no upgrade,” Gry-
Those farmers who
nyshyn said. “If the farmer
have lost a relative, have
had a tractor by Belarus
Stephen
a sick or disabled family
member or who have chil- Van Vleet: (that is) 120 horsepower,
dren are given priority.
“We have to he will not get a 350 horse-
Ordinarily,
farmers be able to power John Deere.”
WRRU’s board of
would be first to help oth- support the
ers in need, “but now they Ukrainian ambassadors — Van
are at the edge of survival
Vleet is a member — are
themselves,” Grynyshyn people as a “respectful” citizens from
democratic countries outside Ukraine
said.
Every 10th household nation that who support the project
has been destroyed, he grows crops and will approve the bud-
very similar get. Five project coor-
estimated.
dinators in Ukraine are
to ours.
WRRU was formed
two months ago, Gry- What would responsible for all stages
nyshyn said, and hopes to we do if it of reconstruction and find-
raise funds exclusively to happened ing third-party experts, if
help farmers.
to us? We needed.
“Western Ukraine has
Van Vleet, with WSU cannot al-
enough labor, materials,
Extension, is a WRRU
ambassador. He said it’s low Russia bricks, cement, every-
to win in
thing. All we need is
“deep in my heart,” and
Ukraine.”
money to start doing this
not just because he’s vis-
ited Ukraine several times
job,” Grynyshyn said.
to teach farmers and students
He hopes to partner with
there.
co-ops, service providers, sup-
pliers and machinery companies,
“We have to be able to support
among others.
the Ukrainian people as a dem-
ocratic nation that grows crops
A company that makes a dona-
tion to WRRU can assign an
very similar to ours,” Van Vleet
ambassador, who will oversee
said. “What would we do if it
how the funding is spent and has
happened to us? We cannot allow
the right to veto decisions, Gry-
Russia to win in Ukraine.”
nyshyn said.
WRRU emphasizes transpar-
ency, Grynyshyn said. Donations
The project offers a free online
are made through the nonprofit
update on the war, Ukraine’s ag
organization LifeNets Interna-
industry and exports and recon-
struction efforts on the Zoom
tional, based in Batavia, Ohio,
WORLD TO REBUILD
RURAL UKRAINE
Before the war, Ukraine’s
farms could feed up to 600 mil-
lion people.
“We can feed about two popu-
lations of the United States,” Gry-
nyshyn said.
Ukraine has similar soil and
climate to Washington state,
Van Vleet said. The country’s
top crops are corn, wheat and
sunflowers.
About 20 million to 25 million
metric tons of last year’s crops are
stuck in storage, Grynyshyn said.
Ukraine had a total storage
capacity of roughly 57 million
metric tons, Grynyshyn said. Rus-
sia has destroyed the biggest ele-
vators, but farmers also had stor-
age. About 30% to 40% of land
is unavailable for planting due to
the war, he said.
As of June 1, approximately
6.98 million people had fled
Ukraine, and more than 7.13 mil-
lion people were internally dis-
placed as of May 30, according
to the Central Intelligence Agen-
cy’s World Factbook. At least
8,900 civilian casualties had been
reported.
Ukraine farming
Ukraine has about 375,000
square miles, making it slightly
smaller than Texas. It has a pop-
ulation of nearly 44 million,
according to the CIA.
About 71.2% of land is agri-
cultural, with 56.1% arable,
13.6% permanent pasture and
1.4% permanent crops. About
16.8% is forest, and 12% is other.
Agricultural
corporations
work about 20% of the land, pri-
vate farmers 45-50% and small
or family farmers 25-30%, Gry-
nyshyn said. He said there are
“millions” of the small farmers.
Russia’s invasion
Grynyshyn calls the southern
city of Kherson “Ukrainian Cal-
ifornia,” because it produces veg-
etables, berries and watermelons.
It had the biggest irrigation sys-
tem in the former Soviet Union,
and housed a university that
developed irrigation technology.
Russian soldiers destroyed
all paper and data at the univer-
sity, he said, as well as attacking a
seed bank in Kharkiv.
“Even Germans in World War
II left it because they knew they
would use it,” Grynyshyn said of
the seed bank. “Russians burned
it down. It proves they don’t care
about anything Ukraine.”
‘Everything is there’
Food and security in the world
are changing beyond Ukraine,
Grynyshyn said.
“It’s whether it stays the same,
where ... human rights prevail and
the law prevails, or the terrorists
come into action and those who
have more power start terrorizing
their neighbors,” he said.
Grynyshyn believes weapons
will allow Ukraine to fight back
“to the last soldiers, and to the last
square foot of our land — it’s one
of the two.”
“How long it will take, how
much we will pay in lives, in
“Western
Ukraine has
enough labor,
materials,
bricks, cement,
everything.
All we need is
money to start
doing
this job.”
— Roman Grynyshyn
infrastructure, I don’t know,” he
said. “But the longer it lasts, the
more consequences the world
will feel, in all the factors, not
only fuel or energy sources cost.”
Grynyshyn said he’s asking
U.S. farmers to pledge support for
their peers in Ukraine.
“Unless we stand, the whole
world will have a food crisis,” he
said.
The world cannot afford to do
nothing about Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine, Van Vleet said.
“We have to address it now,”
he said. “Agriculture is what
brings yourself out of depres-
sions, recessions, war time. It’s
always been the solve.”
Grynyshyn and his family
have refugee status in Germany.
He “definitely” wants to return to
Ukraine.
“Everything is there — my
home, my business, my clients,
my family,” he said. “People in
Ukraine respect and know me as
the one who is bringing technolo-
gies to Ukraine. Right now, I am
outside the country, but at the first
ability, I will go back. ... After the
victory, I will be the first to invite
anyone willing to show how
beautiful my country is.”
Farmers worldwide know
how to tackle the difficulties that
Mother Nature brings to their
fields, Grynyshyn said.
“The difficulties and the dam-
ages that the human brought
into the fields of Ukraine, this
is much more devastating, much
more dangerous,” he said. “But
Ukrainian farmers don’t give
up.”
Fire: Oregon forestry officials rate properties for elevated risk Groundwater:
Continued from Page 1
perfect,” Shaw said. “There will be adjust-
ments in the future. This is a great first step.”
The Oregon Farm Bureau has worried
about adverse impacts to agriculture since
lawmakers began negotiating comprehen-
sive wildfire legislation last year.
The Legislature ended up passing Sen-
ate Bill 762, which the Farm Bureau crit-
icized for its “top-down” approach to
wildfire mitigation. The group favored a
“bottom-up” strategy of consulting with
rural communities proposed in another bill.
To get the bill over the finish line, law-
makers eliminated SB 762’s definition of
wildland-urban interface, or WUI, and
instead directed the Board of Forestry to
set the parameters based on “national best
practices.”
However, the Farm Bureau and other
critics believe the board’s WUI criteria are
nonetheless overly broad. The vast acreage
likely included in the designation will leave
people “shocked,” said Lauren Smith, the
group’s director of government and national
affairs.
“Our legislators will be very surprised
when they start getting constituent calls,”
she said. “When you get a WUI that is
nearly the size of the State of Oregon, it sort
of defeats the purpose.”
Properties will only be subject to regula-
tion if they’re both within the WUI and have
a hazard rating of “high” or “extreme” wild-
fire risk.
Roughly 250,000-300,000 properties fall
The Legislature ended up
passing Senate Bill 762,
which the Farm Bureau
criticized for its “top-
down” approach to wildfire
mitigation. The group
favored a “bottom-up”
strategy of consulting with
rural communities proposed
in another bill.
into the “high” and “extreme” risk catego-
ries, but ODF doesn’t yet have an estimate
of how many are also in the WUI.
The Farm Bureau expects a great deal of
overlap, which will have a drastic effect on
rural areas, Smith said.
“You’ll see large swaths of entire com-
munities pulled into high or extreme risk
WUI,” she said. “There’s a lot of regulation
going on focused on this map and all these
rural communities, and not a lot of represen-
tation by them.”
The defensible space regulations require
fire-prone fuels to be cleared from 50-100
feet around certain structures, depending on
the hazard rating.
It’s not yet clear that cultivated cropland
will be excluded from that requirement,
with the matter currently being considered
by Gov. Kate Brown’s Wildfire Council,
Smith said. It’s also unknown whether the
requirement will apply to rural facilities,
such as small hydroelectric plants.
“Nobody has been able to answer those
questions,” she said.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office has
exempted agricultural buildings uninhab-
ited by people from the defensible space
rules for vegetative fuels, though the Farm
Bureau fears that could change under new
leadership.
“We’re sort of at the whim of that agency
now,” Smith said.
Over the longer term, areas subject to
regulation will have to meet stricter building
codes, adding expense to new or replace-
ment dwellings, she said. “It’s going to be
harder to develop in these communities with
these higher standards.”
The Farm Bureau believes many
instances of over-regulation could be pre-
vented if the ODF crafted a narrower defi-
nition of WUI.
As it stands, the criteria applies to areas
with at least one structure larger than 400
square feet per 40 acres, if more than half
the surrounding land consists of vegetative
and “wildland” fuels.
The Farm Bureau expects that rural prop-
erties will widely be swept into that defini-
tion by default, Smith said.
“If you don’t have any other structures,
what else is going to be on that land? Our
anticipation is that’s going to be most of
rural Oregon,” she said. “There are all sorts
of unintended consequences when you start
regulating at this scale.”
Regulators want
stricter standards
for Oregon
Continued from Page 10
in areas where the impact to aquifers is
unknown — even before the new regula-
tions are finished.
“It’s concerning because the existing
rules would seem to be the reason for the
situation we’re in,” said Woody Wolfe, a
farmer and commissioner.
That sentiment was echoed by Meg
Reeves, a retired attorney and the com-
mission’s chair.
“I would be in favor of exploring what
can be done in the interim,” she said.
Waterwatch of Oregon, an environ-
mental nonprofit, believes that current
laws and regulations allow OWRD to
“default to no” when wells are pro-
posed in areas with limited groundwa-
ter data.
“We don’t think there’s any new pro-
cess needed to do this,” said Lisa Brown,
the nonprofit’s attorney.
Brown said her organization appre-
ciates the OWRD’s regulatory direction
but urged the agency to act quickly.
“We’re still seeing those default-to-
yes issuances going through the system,”
she said.