ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
What’s happening
with farmland
across the nation?
F
or decades there have been concerns that
foreign investors are buying up farmland
in the United States.
That this is a hot-button issue for American
producers and a strategic policy concern for
politicians is understandable. Wealthy foreign
buyers make it harder for domestic producers
to compete for available farmland. Well-heeled
investors of all types always push out smaller
potential buyers. The thought of some foreign
actor taking control of the domestic food supply
is frightening.
There’s no doubt that foreign investors are
interested in snapping up American farmland.
We are more concerned with what foreign
investors are doing with the farmland they buy
than we are that they are buying it in the first
place.
Our reporting of USDA data shows that
in the 40 years or so that records have been
kept, foreign investors have bought more than
35 million acres of U.S. farmland worth $62
billion. In all, that’s an area larger than the state
of New York.
According to USDA staff, outside invest-
ments are on the rise. Filings show foreign hold-
ings of American farmland increased by 141%
between 2004 and 2019.
In 1978, Congress passed the Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which
required foreign buyers to report their transac-
tions.
Foreign buyers have purchased 1.2 million
acres of Oregon farmland — roughly 7.5% of
the state’s farm acreage, according to the 2017
U.S. Census of Agriculture. The total is 1.5
million acres in Washington, and just 122,598
acres in Idaho.
The takeover of American farm produc-
tion by foreigners is far from imminent. Their
purchases in the last 40 years are equal to 3.9%
of the farmland now in production.
Critics are convinced the reported numbers
are low, and contend without proof that much
more land is being bought than is being
reported. They concede it would be impossi-
ble to quantify without combing through land
records in 3,000 county courthouses across the
country.
It is certain the USDA’s numbers are
misleading. Some of the land in question has
been sold by one foreign buyer to another,
while others have divested altogether. Tracking
those transactions through USDA data is diffi-
cult. Also, not all foreign investors who have
reported a purchase have a controlling interest
in the land.
We agree that foreign purchases should be
monitored. It would be a dangerous problem if
foreign interests gain control of U.S. agriculture.
To be clear, we would prefer that U.S. farm-
land stay in the hands, or at least the control, of
U.S. entities. But, the more pressing concern is
keeping farmland productive.
Foreign investors are joining domestic
companies that are interested in building alter-
native energy facilities or other real estate devel-
opments on farmland.
Turning cropland into windfarms, shop-
ping malls and subdivisions is a greater danger
to agriculture, and in turn the country, than a
French company buying vineyards here to make
wine.
Once farmland is built over, it’s gone for
good. No farmer, foreign or domestic, will ever
farm it again.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters
and cartoons on this page express the opinions
of the authors and not necessarily that of the East
Oregonian.
LETTERS
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of 400 words or less on public issues and public
policies for publication in the newspaper and on
our website. The newspaper reserves the right
to withhold letters that address concerns about
individual services and products or letters that
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters
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letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
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or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
20 years later, reflecting on 9/11
BRIGIT
FARLEY
PAST AND PROLOGUE
O
ur country will mark
the 20th anniver-
sary of the attacks on
the World Trade Center and
Pentagon this Saturday. So
many emotions and images
emerge in a reflection on 20
years, but there is one word
that keeps coming to me time
and again.
That dreadful day and its
aftermath became a study in
contrasts.
The attacks managed to
showcase in one terrible event
the best and worst in human
beings. The planners and
hijackers took aim at insti-
tutions thousands of miles
from their homelands. They
hated the Pentagon, WTC
and personnel more than they
valued their own lives.
In contrast, hundreds of
firemen, police and emer-
gency workers rushed into
the burning buildings, putting
their lives in grave danger, to
save as many lives as possi-
ble. Stephen Siller, a fireman
with Squad 1 in Brooklyn,
was among them. The father
of five children, Siller had
just finished a shift and was
headed for the golf course.
When he heard of the attacks
on the radio, he rushed back
to his firehouse, where he saw
that the Squad 1 crew had
already left.
The city had closed to traf-
fic all bridges and tunnels,
but Siller was undaunted.
He threw on his gear and ran
through the Brooklyn Battery
Tunnel, to the WTC, where
he died with his comrades,
attempting to rescue people in
the south tower. Could there
be a more compelling demon-
stration of love for humanity?
In the aftermath, the
enormous shock and grief in
New York, a tough-minded,
hustling city whose unof-
ficial motto might be, “get
outta my way,” morphed into
a free-floating compassion.
Riders nodded to other riders
on the subway, where stud-
ied indifference is the norm.
The city streets were bustling
as ever, but people seemed
to take more care to avoid
jostling passersby.
Three weeks after the
attacks, Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani appealed to visitors
to attend a nearby funeral, as
there were so many taking
place simultaneously that
some services might lack
mourners. My dad and I
happened to be in the city
for a concert, so we went to
St. Ignatius Loyola to help
commemorate the life of
31-year-old firefighter Thomas
P. Cullen III.
Cullen, we learned, had
graduated from Fordham
University and planned
to attend law school, but
discerned a calling to the fire
service and waited years for
his chance. He left a young
wife and 2-year-old son. We
were moved to discover we
were sitting with individuals
from the UK, France, Brazil
and Japan, all come to honor
a stranger’s ultimate sacrifice.
They introduced themselves
after the funeral and spoke
of their deep sorrow for this
country.
That same evening, Dad
and I attended our Berlin Phil-
harmonic concert at Carnegie
Hall. Before the performance,
the conductor turned and
asked the audience to stand.
The orchestra then played a
slow, funereal rendition of the
National Anthem, in memory
of the 9/11 dead. There were
few dry eyes among the
concertgoers afterward.
Long-term responses
to the attacks contrasted
sharply as well. The strike
in Afghanistan against those
who harbored the 9/11 plotters
seemed proportionate, but
it and the ensuing war with
Iraq became occupations.
These spawned resistance that
killed many American service
personnel and local civilians
and damaged the U.S. image
abroad when evidence of
torture emerged. The sham-
bolic U.S. exit from Afghani-
stan serves as a fresh reminder
of the costs of the “war on
terror.”
Yet in the U.S., many
people worked to bring forth
something positive from the
tragedy. President George W.
Bush called upon Americans
to rise above blaming Amer-
ican Muslims for the attacks.
He modeled generosity and
broad-mindedness by appear-
ing in public with prominent
Muslim leaders. Stephen
Siller’s family had an inspired
idea as they sought meaning in
Stephen’s death: They would
invite people from around
the world to “follow the
footsteps.” On a September
Sunday each year, participants
pay $50 to join about 30,000
of their new best friends to run
or walk Stephen’s 9/11 route
from Brooklyn, through the
Battery Tunnel, to the WTC
site. A post-race block party
caps off a wonderful day of
remembrance. Proceeds from
this and similar events around
the country go to the construc-
tion of smart homes for
disabled veterans and assis-
tance for children of fallen
first responders.
Former New York Gov.
Mario Cuomo hinted at
maybe the greatest good that
could come from the attacks.
Recalling his shock and horror
at witnessing thousands of
people murdered at their
workplaces on an ordinary
September Tuesday, Cuomo
suggested that everyone take
the words “carpe diem’ to
heart.
“9/11 is not going to teach
you what to do with your life,”
he said in an interview, “but it
will teach you to do with your
life.”
In other words, live and
remember. Call that friend.
Plan that trip. Seize the day.
Tomorrow is not promised.
———
Brigit Farley is a Washing-
ton State University professor,
student of history, adventurer
and Irish heritage girl living in
Pendleton.
YOUR VIEWS
We need to change
with the climate
A recent “Our view” editorial in the
East Oregonian, written after the release
of the most recent report from the inter-
governmental panel on climate change,
implied that there are two sides to the
climate debate.
But those two voices are really the
same language spoken with a different
accent.
It’s understandable that there’s a desire
to put a positive spin on this. But getting
policy proposals from academic experts
is like buying your food from an auto
dealership. That’s not their business. It
takes decades to get a dam built, decades
that we don’t have. And that’s before we
talk about the disappearance of salmon
and steelhead, whose numbers have
dwindled to nothing. The steep drop off
is because we’ve already dammed up
so many streams. Those fish evolved in
fast-flowing waters and that’s what’s in
short supply.
That said, there’s much to be optimis-
tic about, but it’s new stuff, stuff that will
turn things upside down, and that’s hard.
This isn’t about technology. Electric vehi-
cles, charging stations, solar panels, wind
turbines, battery storage, digital controls
to connect them all — all that stuff exists.
It’s about changing the way we do busi-
ness, about who makes money and how
it’s made.
We need a clear understanding that
we have only a few years left to turn the
ship around. We have to adopt those new
ideas, to move in with them psychologi-
cally socially, and culturally. We need to
change with the climate.
We also need to protect our waterways.
That’s why the River Democracy Act
should be supported by Union County.
A changing climate is a serious threat
to all of us because our fresh waters are
what keep us all here and make agricul-
ture possible. Whether that water comes
as rain or snow, and how long it stays in
the mountains, that’s up to us. Capturing
that water in reservoirs that will only heat
up with the climate is a sure route to more
fish kill. We need to protect what we have.
It’s time to get real about what we face
and what it will take to deal with it. The
old ways are gone. It’s time for the new
ways to take hold. That’s the voice we all
need to speak with.
Norm Cimon
La Grande
Action required to save
Pacific Northwest salmon
As a retired fish biologist who still
spends a lot of time with rivers, I’ve
observed the impacts of warming rivers
on fish and other wildlife here in North-
eastern Oregon for many years. This
summer has been grim.
Water temperatures are through the
roof. In July, the entire run of endangered
Snake River sockeye had to be trucked
from Lower Granite Dam to their spawn-
ing streams. Water in the Snake was hot
enough to kill them.
Climate change means that every year,
we must be ready to implement drastic
solutions like this on a moment’s notice or
risk losing runs of salmon and other fresh-
water species. Our “rubber meets the road”
solutions need to be flexible and immediate
— not 10 years from now, but today.
Securing a future for our region’s
iconic wildlife and fighting climate change
should go hand in hand. Oregon is a leader
in both these arenas, and Gov. Kate Brown
was correct in her recent op-ed: A federal
infrastructure appropriation is the right
way to tackle these issues simultaneously.
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, we
need your leadership to secure federal
investments for the Columbia Basin now.
Climate-smart energy infrastructure,
and regional programs such as compensa-
tion to farmers who share their irrigation
water with fish, are working solutions that
make a difference right now. Expand these
solutions.
Urgent action is required, or we risk
a future filled with litigation, climate
chaos and most certainly the extinc-
tion of many salmon species here in the
Pacific Northwest.
Mary Edwards
Joseph
Compassionate people give
hope in a time of unrest
The coronavirus pandemic, hurricanes
and flooding, wildfires and the plight of
refugees are fueling the division and polit-
ical unrest in the United States, as well as
the entire world. It is tempting to join in
with the weeping and wailing and anger
and blaming. And it tempts those of good
will to sink into overwhelming depres-
sion and helplessness, not knowing how to
deal with the suffering of so many human
souls.
We forget to reflect on the courageous
health providers who work long hours,
sometimes unceasing, to care for the tragi-
cally sick and dying in our community and
across the country. We forget to be thank-
ful for the majority of citizens who care
for the welfare of others in the community
enough that they get their vaccinations and
wear masks in public in order to stop the
spread of the coronavirus.
The astounding bravery of those people
working to save the stranded in floods and
devastation and to reconstruct the commu-
nities that are suffering is worthy of thank-
fulness, gratitude and praise. As are the
tireless firefighters facing the wildfires’
life-threatening danger.
The American servicemen and
servicewomen, grateful for their assis-
tance facing the enemy in Afghanistan,
are providing an example of human
compassion and brotherhood. Those
workers and volunteers serving home-
less refugees all over the world attempt to
soften the suffering of so many without
food, clothing and shelter.
I thank God for the compassionate
people who work for the welfare of others
and provide hope for us all.
Eveyln Swart
Joseph