The Oregon Natural Resources Report - Agricultural News from Oregon

American Farm Bureau,

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 21, 2009 – A crop and livestock producer from Texas today said cap-and-trade climate change legislation could hike the cost of fuel used for farming to the point that it will have a devastating economic impact on his and similar family-owned businesses. Speaking at a Capitol Hill news conference, Texas farmer and cattle producer Richard Cortese said increased fuel prices, on top of other energy-related costs, would deal a sharp blow to farmers and ranchers. Cortese, who farms near Little River, Texas, is a member of the Texas Farm Bureau board of directors.

By Department of Agriculture of Oregon,

For nearly 70 years, Oregon’s soil and water conservation districts have helped protect the state’s natural resources through varied but effective projects and programs that continue to stand the test of time. Those districts are now getting high level recognition as Governor Kulongoski has designated November 1-7 as Soil and Water Conservation District Week in Oregon.

“Successful on-the-ground projects made possible by funding and direction from the districts prove to all Oregon landowners that conservation is good business,” says Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba. “There is a higher public expectation for clean water, environmental enhancement, and watershed protection. Districts are conservation leaders in each of their communities.”

By Oregon Association of Nurseries,

There’s disappointing news for nurseries selling primarily to the landscape trade. Sales of new homes went down in September, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. There are several reasons this could be viewed in a positive or negative light:

* Positive: It was the first decline since March.
* Negative: But, sales were down 7.8 percent from September 2008.
* Positive: The market is up 22 percent from its lowest point in January.
* Negative: It’s down a whopping 70 percent from its peak in January 2005.
* Positive: In September there was a supply of 251,000 new homes, which is a 17-year low. A low inventory is good news for those hoping for construction to resume once market demand recovers.
* Negative: As low as inventory is, it’s still a 7.5 month supply of new homes under the current market conditions.

Brian Ensures Fairness for Washington State Waterway Workers
By Congressman Brian Baird,

Washington, D.C.-  Washington waterways workers will soon be able to keep more of their money, thanks to the work of Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA-03).  Currently these workers were seeing their income taxed by other states for work done on waterways that crossed state lines.  In 2000, Congressman Baird passed the Transportation Employment Fair Taxation Act to end this unfair practice. Unfortunately a judicial decision that was inconsistent with the spirit of the law required Congressman Baird to place a clarification that explicitly prohibits the practice in this year’s Coast Guard Authorization Act (H.R. 3619). The bill passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority today.

Register for OFB Convention by Nov. 6
By Oregon Farm Bureau,

The 2009 OFB State Convention is scheduled for Dec. 8-10 at the Hood River Inn in Hood River, right in the heart of the Columbia Gorge. November 6 is the deadline for both convention registration and hotel reservations. Registration forms and hotel information are available on oregonfb.org and ofbinfo.org, from county Farm Bureau presidents, or by calling the OFB office at (503) 399-1701.

By Sean Smith,
Vice President, Starfire Lumber Co.

On July 16, the Department of the Interior, acting on a number of pretexts failing even the most cursory legal scrutiny, summarily withdrew the Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) and placed the timber sale program on 2.5 million acres of land in southwest Oregon in limbo.  This hasty, ill-considered decision means more years of uncertainty and distress for the long-suffering communities and timber industry in the affected region.

By way of background, WOPR was the culmination of well over a decade of legal wrangling which started with a lawsuit brought by a consortium of interests in 1994.  The plaintiffs in that lawsuit correctly alleged that by including the Oregon and Californian Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands (collectively, the O&C Lands) in the restrictive management scheme prescribed by the Northwest Forest Plan of 1994, federal land management and wildlife agencies were violating the O&C Act of 1937.

By Department of Agriculture,

Oregon’s specialty crop industry is receiving a $1.5 million shot in the arm as part of federal funds earmarked through the 2008 Farm Bill. The money will fund 24 projects selected by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and an industry advisory board- projects designed to help a major portion of the state’s diverse agriculture industry.

“Oregon and its Pacific Northwest neighbors make up one of the most intensive specialty crop production areas in the country, and these federal funds will ultimately help keep our producers competitive in the marketplace,” says ODA Director Katy Coba.

American Farm Bureau Federation: WASHINGTON, D.C.– Speakers at Farm Bureau’s second annual commodity outlook conference, Oct. 15-16, in Albuquerque, N.M., painted a “cautiously optimistic” outlook for U.S. agriculture, with crop and dairy producers likely faring better than livestock producers who will still face challenges in the year ahead.  Joe Glauber, the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, told the conference that grain and oilseed demand remains strong, and relatively low ending stocks means that markets still have the potential for some price volatility. For livestock, Glauber does see price recovery, with higher prices forecasted for 2010. “Farm income should improve in 2010 if input costs do not spike as they did in 2008,” Glauber said. For 2009, net cash farm income is forecast to fall to an aggregate $68 billion in 2009 however, down a staggering $30 billion from a record $98 billion in 2008.

By Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,

After months of public input and technical review, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced today an official list of persistent, surface water  pollutants that pose a potential threat to the state’s environment and residents. The list identifies 118 toxic pollutants that come from a wide variety of sources and have a documented effect on human health, wildlife or aquatic species.

The final list is available on the DEQ Web page http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/SB737 (under “Documents to Download,” in right-hand column). It contains two types of toxic pollutants: substances that either persist in water environments or accumulate in the tissues of people, wildlife or plants; and chemicals that have been banned or restricted for years but remain in sediment and tissue samples at detectable levels.

Prepare now to survive a West Coast tsunami
By Pat Corcoran
Oregon State University Extension Service

ASTORIA, Ore. – Two weeks after tsunamis in Sumatra and American Samoa initiated by powerful earthquakes killed hundreds of people, a growing number of Oregonians are wondering how people living along the West Coast will fare when a large – and possibly overdue – quake shakes our own soil. “Unfortunately, our fascination with the physical phenomena eclipses our interest in preparing to survive our next big earthquake and tsunami,” said Patrick Corcoran, a hazards outreach specialist with the Oregon Sea Grant program at Oregon State University.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone, which stretches more than 700 miles from northern California to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, has experienced several major earthquakes during its long history.

By Rick Sohn,
Umpqua Coquille LLC
Timber Industry Report, October 19, 2009

The Western Wood Products Association economic forecast for the wood products industry, projects that we will not reach 1 million housing starts until 2012.  Log prices moved up this month, increasing the squeeze on mills.  Fortunately, there is a small drop in unsold inventories and a significant drop in mortgage interest rates.  See the 3-year price tracking for lumber, logs, housing starts, permits, unsold home inventories, and mortgage rates below.

What the numbers mean.

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association
By Jim Welsh

1. Navigability Not Just a CWRA Issue
2.  Animal Welfare Initiatives Expected
3.  Rangeland Lease Holders Attending State Lands Board
4. DEQ’s Toxics Reduction Strategic Planning
5. OWRD Integrated Water Resources Strategy
plus more…

Navigability Not Just a CWRA Issue
Yes, we want the Feds to stay out of the states water authority in the yet to be passed “Clean Water Restoration Act” and leave navigability in the commerce clause.  Here in Oregon it looks like we may be faced with another round of navigability battles as it pertains to use of the beds and banks of our many streams.  It is rumored the Oregon Steelheaders fishing group will be introducing legislation in the February Session to introduce this issue again and force landowners to justify their right to protect their property from trespass, misuse and abuse.  There is certainly no one in the natural resources community that is looking forward to this battle again.  As soon as there is a proposed piece of legislation there will be more information provided.

By Oregon Forest Research Institute,
– Excerpts from OFIC’s report “Resilience“…

“…A recent report from the Oregon Department of Forestry notes that demand for logs and lumber from the state’s forests will not improve until there is a turnaround in housing starts. That could take a while. New home construction is forecast to have hit bottom the second quarter of 2009 at a historically low level of 540,000 annual starts. A gradual increase is forecast thereafter, with starts reaching 1.6 million in 2012.

Speaking of forecasts, because of the continued downturn in timber harvest, OFRI’s revenue projections – down nearly 15 percent from the previous year – are expected to drop another 10 percent in fiscal year 2009-10. To stay in the black, we’ll have to carve more than $200,000 out of the already approved 2009-10 budget.

Energy and Water Appropriations Bill Clears Senate and Heads For President’s Desk
- Bill Passed by Senate and House Includes Millions in Oregon Dredging and Alternative Energy Projects
By Senator Ron Wyden:

Washington, D.C. – Working to improve Oregon’s waterways and alternative energy technology capabilities, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced today that the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is on its way to the President’s desk for signature. The bill, which includes nearly $200 million in projects for Oregon and the Northwest, has been approved by both the House and the Senate. The bill also includes millions in funding for energy programs – such as $50 million for wave and tidal energy research – that are very important to Oregon.

By Stewart Truelsen
American Farm Bureau Federation,

This has been a good year for the critics of mainstream farming and ranching. Time magazine ran a cover story at the end of August sharply critical of modern farm production methods and the nation’s food supply. It said “food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous” and blamed obesity on American agriculture.

The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation was once on the cover of Time when that was considered a huge honor. Now, the magazine is a shadow of its former self in readership, editorial content and influence, but the recent story was a slap in the face to farmers and ranchers nevertheless.

By US Wheat Associates,
Special Report here.

By Yamhill County Farm Bureau,

Katie Evers and Garrett Duyck will each receive a $1,500 college scholarship from Yamhill County Farm Bureau.

Katie Evers graduated from Dayton High School and is the daughter of Gerald & Dottie Evers of Dayton.  Katie is currently a sophomore attending West Texas A&M University where she is pursuing a double major in Agriculture Education and Agribusiness & Equine Industries.  While being an active FFA member, Katie was also involved in local community service projects, working summers on her family’s farm and for Ken Wright Cellars.  She has continued this high-level of activity at her university, including membership in Chi Omega Sorority, working at a vet clinic and beginning the process of joining a nationally renowned horse-judging team.

Oregon State University Extension Service,

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A newly recognized pest in Oregon continues to concern fruit growers and researchers with the recent discovery of a Spotted Wing Drosophila fly in a sample of Willamette Valley wine grapes. Since the tiny fly, Drosophila suzukii, was first confirmed in Oregon less than two months ago, there have been an increasing number of reports of its occurrence in a variety of fresh fruits, including blueberries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, plums – and now grapes, according to Amy Dreves, a research entomologist at Oregon State University.

Oregon Marine Reserves State Agencies Proposed Administrative Rules
By Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association,

HB 3013 provides that the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, State Fish and Wildlife Commission, State Land Board and relevant state agencies “…shall, consistent with existing statutory authoriity, implement the November 29, 2008, recommendations from the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) on marine reserves by:  1) Adopting rules to establish, study, monitor, evaluate and enforce a pilot marine reserve at Otter Rock and a pilot marine reserve and a marine protected area at Redfish Rocks…”.

The three Oregon state agencies required by HB 3013 (passed in the 2009 Oregon legislative session) to prepare administrative rules concerning the establishment and management of marine reserves and marine protected areas are the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), Oregon Parks & Recreation Department (OPRD), and the Oregon Department of State Lands (ODSL).  These agencies are now seeking input from the public on their respective proposed administrative rules.

Bureau of Land Management,

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a Fiscal Year 2010 work plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon that will add economic certainty for local communities while protecting endangered species.

In addition to a proposed schedule of 62 timber sales under the Northwest Forest Plan, Salazar announced that federal field teams will identify future proposed timber sales with high likelihood of being sold and harvested and a special task force will take a fresh look at forest management issues in Oregon.