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Local ranchers concerned about losing local control
By PHIL WRIGHT
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Eastern Oregon
agriculture producers and associates
have concerns the Biden administra-
tion could take back local control, but
they also see some hope the new administra-
tion could get tough on the big corporations
that control U.S. meat production.
Curtis Martin is the patriarch of the VP
Ranch in North Powder, a former presi-
dent of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Associa-
tion and serves as a director for the United
State’s Cattlemen’s Association. The Trump
administration, he said, favored control and
rulemaking at the local level.
“By that I mean not having edicts come
out of DC,” he said.
But under Biden, he said, the federal gov-
ernment again seems to be moving toward
more authoritarian control, more like the
approach of the Obama administration. Mar-
tin said farmers and ranchers are not keen on
that.
“We feel like the less amount of govern-
ment we can have in our business the better
off we are,” he said.
Colby Marshall agrees. He is the former
vice president of the Silvies Valley Ranch in
Harney County but now works in real estate
there and keeps a tab on the local ag scene.
The Trump administration recognized one
size does not fit all in agriculture, he said,
and for the most part the Trump administra-
tion emphasized local control. A swing back
toward a more authoritarian approach would
not be helpful, he said, pointing out that’s
already how the state government of Oregon
operates when it comes to ag.
He said the Trump administration favored
local control to deal with farming and ranch-
ing issues rather than a more authoritarian
stance.
“For the most part that is how the Trump
administration went about it,” he said. “One
size does not fit all in agriculture.”
Under the Biden administration, however,
he said he anticipates a swing back to central-
ized federal control. The state government of
Oregon already takes that approach, he said,
and having the weight of the federal govern-
ment on top of that will not help agriculture
producers.
Marshall also said he is concerned about
what could come of the proposal from Repub-
lican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho to
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
North Powder ranger Riley Martin bundles up rope cut from hay bales on Monday, April 5,
2021. Martin and his father, Curtis Martin, say they want the Biden administration to take on
the four big companies that control at least 80% of the meat products in the U.S.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Riley Martin exits his tractor to feed a herd of cattle on his North Powder ranch Monday, April
5, 2021. Martin, along with his father Curtis Martin, are among other ranchers who remain
skeptical toward the Biden administration.
remove the four dams on the Lower Snake
River. The change in administration opened
the door for this plan, he said, which he called
“a terrible idea” that would devastate produc-
ers who rely on water from those dams for
irrigation and have a drastic effect on ship-
ping grain out of the Pacific Northwest.
Ag producers also don’t want to see the
Biden Administration bring back a deal such
as the North American Free Trade Agree-
ment. Chris Heffernan also farms near North
Powder with his two sons, Justin and Shel-
don. Chris Heffernan said President Donald
Trump replacing NAFTA with the United
States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, which
took effect July 1, 2020, was about one thing:
leveling the playing field so U.S. ag produc-
ers have a fair shot at competition.
Martin said the trade disputes that arose
under the Trump administration, particu-
larly with China, were tough on the Amer-
ican farmer and rancher, but he said they
understood why the president took on the
challenge. China, he said, had maintained an
unfair advantage in the trade of ag products
with the U.S. for a long time. That trade war
hurt in the short term, he said, but the long-
term outcome is worth it.
Martin and his son Riley Martin said they
want to see some real movement against
what they described as the meat packaging
cartel or monopoly.
Ag producers at one end of the tunnel
are making quality protein and goods for
the consumers at the opposite end, the Mar-
tins said, but in between those two points are
Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and Smithfield
Foods, and they control at least 80% of all
the beef in the United States.
“It’s a horrible monopoly right now that’s
a stranglehold on the producers,” Riley Mar-
tin said.
Curtis Martin said the Trump Adminis-
tration seemed to be hesitant to use antitrust
laws to break up that stranglehold while the
Biden administration may have more of a
tendency to pursue antitrust cases. Still, he’s
skeptical.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Curtis Mar-
tin said.
The father and son also want to see a
return to labels letting U.S. consumers know
where their beef is coming from. A USDA
stamp of approval, they said, only lets the
buyer know the product meets certain stan-
dards but says nothing about where the beef
is from or whether it was repackaged before
it hit the store shelves.
“It’s really disheartening,” Riley Martin
said. “The people don’t know where their
food is coming from.”
“We need to focus on source identity, and
we need to be truthful to the American con-
sumer,” Curtis Martin said. “Let’s make sure
we’re not lying to them.”
Riley Martin also said the Trump admin-
istration showed it valued the American
farmer and rancher.
“It was nice to hear us on the main stage
and to hear us being mentioned,” he said.
Just how much the Biden administration
will value the nation’s ag producers still is up
in the air.