WOMEN IN AG SPECIAL SECTION | PAGES 10-12
Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
CapitalPress.com
Friday, July 1, 2022
Volume 95, Number 26
$2.50
UP AND AWAY
Operating loans grow as production costs soar
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
T
in the fi rst quarter of the year mush-
roomed, according to the Federal
Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Total non-real estate bank loans to
farmers were up nearly 18% year over
year in the fi rst quarter to about $93.4
labor.
billion. Operating loans accounted for
“Expenses are through the roof,”
about 62% of that and were up more
said Eric Bennett, relationships
than 31% year over year to $57.8
manager at Northwest Farm
billion.
Credit Services.
Although the number of
Some fertilizer is twice the
operating loans reached an all-
price it was a year ago, and
time low for the fi rst quarter,
diesel that was 92 cents a gal-
the average size of those loans
lon two years ago is now $5 a
approached a record high, the
gallon, he said.
bank reported.
“That’s a problem. Fuel’s just Eric Bennett
Fortunately, most farmers
a killer,” he said.
were fi nancially healthy going
Hay is $260 a ton and corn silage is
into the year.
$60 to $65 a ton standing in the fi eld,
“Most producers had positive earn-
compared to $38 to $42 a ton last
ings in the previous two years and
year, he said.
increased their working capital, posi-
Producers across the country are
tioning them to handle a diffi cult year,”
feeling the sting of infl ation and sup-
said Doug Robison, Idaho president of
ply-related shortages — due to such
Northwest Farm Credit Services.
factors as the war in Ukraine and ship-
The 2022 operating renewal season
ping problems — sending the price of
went well despite higher expenses, he
some inputs skyward.
said.
As farmers tried to keep up with
See Loans, Page 13
spiraling operating costs farm lending
WIN FALLS, Idaho —
Farmers and ranchers
are asking their lenders
for bigger loans this year
due to the surging cost of
fuel, fertilizer, feed and
123rf
As the cost of inputs continues in increase, many
farmers have been forced to seek additional fi nanc-
ing from their lenders, even as interest rates rise. The
only bright side: Higher prices for many crops.
Industry groups challenge
Oregon’s heat and smoke
workplace rules in lawsuit
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
A coalition of Oregon business
and timber groups is challenging
the state’s new workplace rules
on heat and wildfi re smoke.
On May 10, Oregon OSHA
adopted permanent rules intended
to protect workers, including
farmworkers, from high heat and
wildfi re smoke. The rules instruct
employers on how to provide
workers with shade and water,
breaks and other preventative
measures.
Last week, industry groups
challenged these rules, arguing
that the guidelines are too vague.
“The provisions…are so vague
that they do not provide employ-
ers, including plaintiff s’ members,
with fair notice of what conduct
is required or proscribed,” the suit
alleges in court documents.
A lawsuit, fi led June 15, asks
the U.S. District Court for the Dis-
trict of Oregon Medford Division
to issue a temporary restraining
order preventing Oregon OSHA
from enforcing the rules while the
court considers whether to block
their enforcement permanently.
The coalition that brought the
suit includes Oregon Manufac-
turers and Commerce, Associated
Oregon Loggers Inc. and Oregon
Forest Industries Council.
Defendants are OSHA and the
Oregon Department of Consumer
and Business Services. The suit
also named agency leaders, Ore-
gon OSHA’s acting administra-
tor Renee Stapleton and Oregon
DCBS’s director Andrew Stolfi ,
as defendants.
See Lawsuit, Page 13
Courtesy of Tim O’Hara/Forest Resources Association
H-2B workers plant new seedlings. Business and timber industry
groups are challenging Oregon OSHA’s new workplace rules on heat
and wildfi re smoke.
Proposed wolf rule faltering in Washington
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Holly Kuchera/Getty Images
OLYMPIA — The Washing-
ton Fish and Wildlife Commission
moved closer June 24 to rejecting
a rule sought by wolf advocates
to restrict the department’s use of
lethal control.
Several commissioners said a
rule was unneeded and would be
counterproductive, destroying hard-
won progress in balancing wolf
recovery and ranching.
“We worked really hard under
challenging circumstances,” Com-
missioner Molly Linville said. “We
Founded in 1945
by Farmers and Ranchers.
Who saw a need for Rural Lending.
MEMBER FDIC
are getting fewer and fewer wolves
killed and fewer and fewer livestock
killed.”
A lethal-control protocol written
by an advisory group that included
conservation groups and ranching
representatives guides, but does not
bind, the department.
The protocol came from the
department’s time-consuming and
expensive eff ort to keep wolf recov-
ery from being a winner-take-all
political and court fi ght. The proto-
col has withstood several lawsuits
by wolf advocates.
At the request of several envi-
ronmental groups, Gov. Jay Ins-
lee ordered the department’s staff
to propose a binding lethal-con-
trol rule. The governor agreed with
wolf advocates that annually killing
wolves in northeast Washington was
unacceptable.
The nine-member commission is
set to vote on a rule July 8. Com-
missioners Barbara Baker and Kim
Thorburn agreed with Linville that
a rule would take away the depart-
ment’s fl exibility.
“I’m real sure it would chill the
advancements that we are making,”
Baker said.
See Wolf, Page 13
Jed Myers and Nial Bradshaw are
Experienced Lenders with a focus on
Agricultural and Commercial Loans
and Operating Lines of Credit.
CALDWELL, ID
ONTARIO, OR
923 DEARBORN ST.
435 SW 24TH ST.
208-402-4887
541-889-4464
JED MYERS
Ontario, OR
NIAL BRADSHAW
Ontario, OR