The Oregon Natural Resources Report - Agricultural News from Oregon

Field burning ban bill squeaks out at end of Session

Field burning ban bill passes at tail end of Legislative Session.

The field burning ban (Senate Bill 528) was passed by both the Oregon House and Senate and is expecting a Governor’s veto soon.   The measure outlaws field burning by 2010. This will have a direct impact on grass seed growing industry for which Oregon is one of the largest growers in the nation for cool-season grass seed. Governor Kulongoski’s office stated support for the bill for environmental reasons.  Yet Roger Beyer, Executive Director of the Grass Seed Council, says that  field burning is a most environmentally friendly process.  The new field burning ban will create more pesticide use, more soil erosion and more dust.   In addition, this field burning ban is expected to put several Southern Valley growers out of business at a time when Oregon has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation.

Oregon farm stands grow in popularity

Oregon Department of Agriculture:  Like hundreds of other Oregon agricultural producers, John Zielinski is ready for another busy season of selling fresh, local food products grown on his own farm to a steady stream of devoted customers. But he never has to leave his own property. Farm stands- also known as roadside stands- share with farmers’ markets the direct sale of locally grown food by the people who produce it. There is no middleman as there is with retail stores or restaurants. How do they differ from farmers’ markets? Instead of the farm going to the consumer, the consumer comes to the farm.

Oregon receiving 16 million in energy stimulus funds

The U.S. Department of Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, announced Friday that, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and West Virginia were getting more than $96 million in Recovery Act Funding.  Oregon’s share is $16.8 million and will be used to fund energy efficiency improvements, develop renewable energy resources and ensure environmental protection through the established State Energy Program.

Hoop house bill passes House, Senate

Oregon Association of Nurseries
Daily Digger Blog

Yesterday we told you that House Bill 2904 (HTML|PDF) passed the Oregon Senate. Today we can report that it passed the Oregon House by a 59-0 vote. The bill blocks a move by the Oregon Department of Revenue to treat hoop houses as permanent structures on property tax statements. Without the bill, nursery owners would have been exposed to an added tax burden, just as many are struggling to recover from last winter’s storms that caused many hoop houses to collapse.  The Oregon Association of Nurseries was involved in lobbying for the clarification in statute. “The OAN thanks Reps. Tina Kotek (D-Portland) and Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) for their hard work on the bill,” OAN Director of Government Relations Jeff Stone said. “Senators Ginny Burdick (D-Portland) and Frank Morse (R-Corvallis) delivered the bill on the senate side. A good bill and a major victory for the nursery and greenhouse industry.”

Governor Kulongoski to Sign Tractor Safety Bill into Law

By Oregon Farm Bureau,

In rural communities all across the state, tractors and farm equipment traveling along the roadway are a common sight, particularly during summer harvest months. It is legal for farmers to drive their equipment on public roads, and both farmers and other drivers must take proper precautions to share the roadways, for their own safety and the safety of others.

BEPA Should Reevaluate Science of Climate Change Finding

WASHINGTON (June 23, 2009) – The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and an informal coalition of companies and trade associations representing U.S. energy and mining sectors submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today regarding a recent EPA proposal to find that human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are an endangerment to public health and welfare. The proposed finding, released by EPA in April, is the first step in a process that could require GHG regulation under the Clean Air Act (CAA)—a move that would be devastating to the agriculture sector, and the U.S. economy as a whole.

Farm Bureau presses against Climate Change Bill

The American Farm Bureau Federation.  WASHINGTON, D.C., – The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging all members of the House to vote “no” on a sweeping climate change bill that is scheduled for a floor vote on Friday and is asking them to vote “yes” on an amendment authored by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.). In a letter sent today to all 435 members of the House, AFBF President Bob Stallman said H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will “unquestionably impose enormous costs on the American economy, including agriculture.”

HB 2414 overturns election history

Highlights from an OFS Legislative Alert
Oregonians for Food and Shelter

In the 11th hour of the of Legislative Session, the Oregon Legislature has gutted-and-stuffed House Bill 2414 to overturn Oregon’s election history and sew confusion for Oregon voting on referrals. Under the new language of the bill, initiatives on Oregon’s ballots will have drastically different meanings at the ballot box. Put simply, a YES vote will mean “No,” while a NO vote will mean “Yes. This bill is a direct affront against the new Corporate Minimum tax proposal we opposed earlier this session, which will likely be overturned by Oregon voters in the next election.

State seeking landowners help in locating beavers

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:   ROSEBURG, Ore. – For a limited time, Douglas County residents with a problem beaver on their property can contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife which will trap and relocate the animal as part of a scientific study. In the wrong place, beavers can flood roads, fields, and yards, and damage trees while in the right place, they can create habitat for juvenile salmon. Since the end of May, seven beavers have been fitted with radio-tags and released into Rock Creek and Canton Creek in the North Umpqua River basin.

Good news for housing starts, permits, logs and studs

Timber Industry Report June 21
By Rick Sohn, Umpqua Coquille LLC

US housing starts and permits recovered from record lows.  Logs have stopped their 8-month slide, and studs have stabilized.  This is good news, relatively speaking.  See the 3-year price comparisons for lumber, logs, housing starts, permits, and unsold home inventories below.

What the numbers mean.

Cattlemen Update: Water, taxes, climate change

Oregon Cattlemen Association
Legislative Update 06-19-09

HB 3369: Funding for Umatilla water development projects. This legislation was originally intended to provide lottery bond financing for grants for water supply projects and to establish Agriculture and Community Water Supply Grant Funds with continuous appropriations to Water Resources Department for the grant program.  The bill now includes the funding for Umatilla water development projects plus a lot of pork for a Water Development Fund, a Water Resources Investment Fund, a Water Resources Grant Fund, and a Water Conservation, Reuse and Storage Investment Fund specifically intended to fund a statewide integrated strategy for implementing the state water resources policy.

Many in the Natural Resources community including the OCA have maintained this is not necessary and have successfully opposed any efforts to pass legislation making this possible.  Very strategically the combined issues in this bill make it difficult at this late date to successfully separate and eliminate the pork provisions, but the effort is being made.

BLM Caution: Fire Danger Will Increase in the Future

From Bureau of Land Management,

VALE, OREGON- June 19, 2009. The Vale District, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is urging users and neighbors of public lands to be aware of increasing fire danger. Heavy spring rains have produced abundant grasses. Even though the rains have continued in recent days, it will take only a few hours of sunny weather, wind and warm temperatures to continue to cure and dry this extremely heavy fine fuel load. The BLM is asking the public to be very cautious with campfires, debris burning, controlled burning, and to choose parking areas that are clear of dry grasses and other flammables. The use of fireworks is strictly prohibited on all BLM lands.

New Field Burning Ban Bill Introduced - SB 985

Oregon Farm Bureau Alert,

Today, Senator Prozanski and Representative Holvey introduced a last minute attempt to ban the use of field burning as a management tool.  SB 985, which is actually a referral out to Oregon voters, would ban field burning, burning of stacks or piles and propane flaming of grass or grain crops in the Willamette Valley and allow the Environmental Quality Commission to designate additional areas of critical concern where burning would be banned.

Ranchers defeat attempt to stop federal land grazing

By Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue

In an order issued late on June 15th, Oregon Federal District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty determined that environmental groups failed to show “that all grazing must cease” on certain allotments in the Malheur National Forest.  Reversing an order from 2008 that stopped grazing on 100,000 acres of federal forest lands, and denying a request to enjoin grazing on an additional 200,000 acres in 2009, Judge Haggerty determined that ranchers and the Forest Service had demonstrated that grazing could continue without harm to threatened steelhead.

Cattlemen Speak Out on Clean Water Act Land Grab

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association: WASHINGTON (June 18, 2009) – The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee passed S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) out of committee today on a party-line vote, bringing the country one step closer to the largest federal land grab in our history. The bill was amended at the markup by Senators Baucus, Klobuchar, and Boxer. The amendment is a smoke screen that allegedly takes care of agricultural concerns by exempting prior-converted croplands from federal jurisdiction. Cattle are generally not grazed on prior-converted croplands, so this amendment does nothing to mitigate the potential damage to livestock production from this legislation. The amendment is a diversion from the real issue, which is the removal of the word “navigable” from the definition of waters.

Media botched reporting on H1N1 virus. Ag media got it right.

Whatever Happened to Responsible Journalism?
By Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau

I am a firm believer in freedom of the press as a vital part of our democracy. But with that freedom comes responsibility. Round-the-clock news services competing for ratings and, in the end, money, has turned press coverage into a blitz of shock and awe reporting. It seems like you can’t turn on the TV anymore that major network news segments don’t look like a clip taken from “Night of the Living Dead.”  Last month’s H1N1 virus scare is a prime example. While the agricultural media got the story right, mainstream news outlets did a huge disservice to the public and especially hog producers by sensationalizing what otherwise should have been a fairly benign issue in the U.S.

Merkley, Wyden Announce $11.85 Million for Biomass Projects

Recovery Act Funding to Create Clean Energy Jobs in Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, and Linn Counties
From US Senator Ron Wyden,

Washington D.C. – Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today that the Department of Agriculture has awarded $11.85 million to five counties in Oregon to create clean energy jobs and reduce the risk of wildfire in Oregon as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The funding will go to projects in Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, and Linn Counties. “During my recent trip through Southern Oregon I saw firsthand how biomass projects are creating jobs in our forests,” Merkley said.  “This funding from the Recovery Act will move us towards a clean energy economy and help accomplish the important goal of reducing threats from wildfires.”

Field burning ban moves in late Legislature

By Oregon Farm Bureau,

The field burning ban bill moved out of the Natural Resources Ways and Means SubCommittee.  The bill was amended to preserve the tool for the Silverton hills, however it allows the Environmental Quality Commission to prohibit field burning by rule.  We are aware of some legislators who were opposing the bill are now supporting the bill.

Carrot plant is new Oregon invasive species

Agri-Business Council of Oregon: SALEM, Oregon—You would think a giant member of the carrot family would be something a rabbit would dream about, but Giant hogweed has few friends, and unfortunately, no natural enemies in Oregon. The Oregon Invasive Species Council June 2009 Invasive Species of the Month, featured online at www.oregon.gov/OISC, is a member of the carrot or parsley family, is native to Asia, and grows 10 to 15 feet tall. It found its way to northwest Oregon in 2001, where land managers are mounting a full frontal assault to eradicate the species in areas such as wetland and agricultural field edges, river corridors, forests, recreation areas, and neighborhoods.