NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Tyson seeks to wrest control of feedlot from Agri Beef
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
KENNEWICK — Tyson
Fresh Meats has gone to
court to forcibly acquire the
Pasco feedlot that bankrupt
cattleman Cody Easterday
sold to a major competitor
last year after bilking Tyson
out of $233 million.
Tyson is offering $25
million — $9 million more
than Agri Beef paid — for
the cattle feeding operation
known as North Lot. Tyson
is asking a bankruptcy judge
to void the sale to Agri Beef,
arguing the deal short-
changed it and other unpaid
creditors.
“The $16 million purchase
price was woefully inade-
quate,” Tyson claims in a
complaint filed Monday,
Aug. 9, in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for Eastern Washing-
ton.
The dispute leaves ﬁ nal
ownership of the feedlot
uncertain. Agri Beef Pres-
ident Matt Buyers said in a
court ﬁ ling the Idaho-based
company bought the feed-
lot in good faith in an arm’s
length transaction.
Easterday, 50, pleaded
guilty in March to defraud-
ing Tyson out of $233 million
and another company out of
$11 million by billing them
for cattle he never actually
bought or fed. Easterday
Bob Brawdy/Tri-City Herald
The former Easterday Ranches North Lot cattle feedlot near Eltopia, Washington. Tyson Fresh Meats has gone to bankruptcy
court to forcibly acquire the feedlot, previously sold to Agri Beef by Cody Easterday.
delivered cattle to Tyson’s
processing plant in Pasco.
In a plea deal with federal
prosecutors, Easterday
agreed to pay restitution. He
is scheduled to be sentenced
Oct. 5 on one count of wire
fraud.
Several Easterday farms
in the Columbia Basin have
been sold through bank-
ruptcy court for $209 million
to Farmland Reserve Inc.,
owned by The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Tyson supported the sale
to Farmland, which operates
in Washington as AgriNorth-
west, but says it was blind-
sided by the pre-bankruptcy
sale of North Lot.
Tyson uncovered Cody
Easterday’s fraud in Decem-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
MONDAY
Hot and smoky
with hazy sun
Hot and smoky
with hazy sun
103° 72°
100° 70°
TUESDAY
Mostly sunny
WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny and
not as warm
Partly sunny and
nice
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
91° 63°
85° 62°
80° 58°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
106° 72°
103° 71°
94° 66°
90° 61°
85° 58°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
75/58
97/63
105/69
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
103/76 Lewiston
92/61
106/72
Astoria
71/58
Pullman
Yakima 104/67
89/56
105/73
Portland
Hermiston
97/67
The Dalles 106/72
Salem
Corvallis
92/59
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
98/66
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
98/61
97/66
100/66
Ontario
105/69
Caldwell
Burns
95°
60°
92°
58°
104° (1971) 45° (1931)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
97/61
0.00"
0.00"
0.07"
1.93"
1.66"
5.21"
WINDS (in mph)
100/65
99/59
0.00"
0.01"
0.13"
4.37"
8.68"
8.44"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 94/61
100/64
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
103/72
105/74
92°
64°
90°
59°
107° (1933) 43° (1918)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
90/58
Aberdeen
99/69
103/74
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
89/62
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
103/71
Sun.
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
96/59
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:54 a.m.
8:05 p.m.
12:57 p.m.
11:16 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Aug 15
Aug 22
Aug 29
Sep 6
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 108° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low 35° in Gothic, Colo.
ber and discussed acquiring
the feedlot to begin making
amends. Easterday estimated
the lot’s worth at $20 million,
according to Tyson.
In late January, on a
Friday, Tyson executives
learned in a conference call
with Easterday and his ﬁ nan-
cial adviser, Pete Richter of
Paladin Management Group,
that Easterday planned to sell
the lot within a few days.
Easterday and Rich-
ter declined to identify the
buyer. Over the weekend,
Tyson prepared to go to court
to stop the sale, but learned
that Monday the sale had
closed the previous Friday.
Besides claiming it was
duped, Tyson criticizes
how the $16 million was
distributed.
According to a spread-
sheet sent to Tyson by East-
erday’s lawyer, Richard
Pachulski, more than $11.7
million went to Easterday
Farms and the English Hay
Company, two other compa-
nies owned by Easterday
family members.
Pachulski’s Los Angeles
law ﬁ rm got $600,000, while
Richter’s management group
got $625,604.
Creditors got only $2.1
million, leaving some bills
unpaid.
Six unpaid balances
shown on the spreadsheet
topped six ﬁ gures, including
$804,000 owed one business
for veterinarian services.
None of the money shown
distributed went to Tyson.
In the face of Tyson’s bid
to obtain the feedlot, Agri
Beef went ahead Aug. 10
and paid the bankrupt East-
erday Ranches $1 million
for trucks, tractors and other
equipment at North Lot.
Ban k r uptcy Judge
Whitman Holt in Yakima
approved the equipment
sale. Agri Beef certainly
owns the rolling stock, but
Tyson’s bid to acquire the
ground will be decided later,
the judge said.
If Tyson prevails, “it
creates a logistical issue,”
Holt said. “You (Agri Beef)
have to come and get your
stuﬀ oﬀ the property.”
Indian Creek restoration starts near Elgin
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
ELGIN — A project to
remove several dams along
Indian Creek near Elgin is
underway.
Trout Unlimited, in
partnership with Hancock
Natural Resource Group,
is planning to remove two
outdated diversion dams on
the creek, along with remov-
ing an old roadbed and its
culvert in an eﬀ ort to restore
spawning habitat and rear-
ing grounds for juvenile ﬁ sh,
including Lower Snake River
steelhead, chinook salmon
and bull trout.
Some of the ﬁ sh species
this project will help are
endangered, including the
redband trout.
“It is really helpful to have
a return back to the state it
was supposed to look like,
and that allows for more resil-
ience in the ecosystems,” said
Trout Unlimited spokesper-
son Emery Hansell.
The groups planned to
break ground on the project
this week. Oﬃ cials expect
the project will run approx-
imately three to four weeks
and open up nearly 10 miles
of connected habitat in the
area.
Removing the obstruc-
tions, according to offi-
cials, will allow for the
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Levi Old/Trout Unlimited
Indian Creek ﬂ ows into the Grande Ronde River near the
area Trout Unlimited and Hancock Timber Resources Group
are working to remove outdated diversion dams to improve
habitat for ﬁ sh.
easier passage and rearing
of juvenile ﬁ sh as they travel
through the Grande Ronde
River. But that’s only one
beneﬁ t that will come with
the removal of the dams.
“There is more than just
the passage going on,” said
Levi Old, Trout Unlimit-
ed’s project manager for
Northeastern Oregon. “You
will, a lot of times, have a
constricted f loodplain so
you’re moving water more
eﬃ ciently through an area
near the dam, which aﬀ ects
the local geomorphology. By
removing these two dams,
we’re going to open up about
1.5 acres of historic ﬂ ood-
plain habitat that had been
cut oﬀ .”
The project also will add
22 large wood structures to
the creek to create habitat
for ﬁ sh that would protect
them from predators, help
with sediments sorting and
oﬀ er shade from the sun. The
introduction of these wood
structures, according to Old,
will help restore the creek to
its original state.
“Streams have evolved
with heavy woodloads
in them, and historically
humans have taken them out,
but these ﬁ sh have evolved
to use the shade and cover,”
Old said. “A creek like Indian
Creek is especially important
for spawning and rearing of
ocean-going ﬁ sh and resident
trout species. And as we’re
starting to feel the eﬀ ects of
a changing climate, there is
still cold water in places like
Indian Creek.”
IN BRIEF
Umatilla National Forest to
further reduce area closure
PENDLETON — With continued reduced
initial attack on new ﬁ res across the Umatilla
National Forest, oﬃ cials are taking more
steps to reduce the area closures on Friday,
Aug. 13, reopening access to most of the
Umatilla National Forest lands in Oregon,
according to a press release.
National forest lands within proximity to
active large wildﬁ res, such as the Lick Creek,
Green Ridge and Elbow Creek ﬁ res, will
remain closed to public entry.
The modiﬁ ed closure prohibits access to
all Umatilla National Forest lands in Wash-
ington state — on both the Pomeroy and
Walla Walla ranger districts — and closes
lands surrounding the Elbow Creek Fire on
the Walla Walla Ranger District in Wallowa
County, the release said. The Elbow Creek
Fire closures encompass lands south and east
of where Alder Creek intersects with Forest
Service Road 62 to the forest boundary.
Public entry is prohibited in the areas iden-
tiﬁ ed in the closure, which includes lands,
roads, trails and recreational facilities.
Visitors planning a trip to areas within the
closure should cancel any plans for the next
several weeks. These areas remain closed to
protect public and ﬁ reﬁ ghter safety as the ﬁ re
crews continue to actively suppress wildﬁ res,
while also responding to new smoke reports.
— EO Media Group
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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