Funds added to predator control, marketing, more

By MITCH LIES

Capital Press

SALEM -- The Oregon Department of Agriculture is operating with 276 fewer employees and 90 fewer full-time-equivalent positions than a decade ago, according to a report issued by the department.

"After years of doing more with less, the ODA is now at the point of doing less with less," according to the report.

The report, posted on the department's website, provides a perspective on agriculture-related legislation from the 2011 Legislature.

It shows full-time-equivalent positions at the department have dropped from 433 in the 2001-03 biennium to 343 in the current biennium. In the 2009-11 budget, the number of full-time positions was 373, according to the ODA website.

The department's budget for the years 2011-13 is $83.9 million, which is down from $87.4 million the Legislature approved for the 2009-11 biennium.

The report shows that the majority of the department's funding, $52.1 million, comes from fees paid by growers, retailers and other entities for licensing, registration, inspection, certification and marketing efforts. General funds, supplied by taxpayers, account for $12.9 million of the total and lottery funds add $6.9 million. The federal government contributes $11.9 million, according to the ODA website.

The report also shows that roughly 34 percent of every dollar spent by the department addresses natural resource issues, including water-quality oversight and efforts to stop invasive species.

Thirty cents of every dollar goes to food safety and consumer protection, and 24 cents goes to agricultural development, according to the report. Marketing, certification and grade-inspection programs fall under this umbrella.

Positive additions to ODA in the recently completed session, according to the report, include:

* Three new positions and $660,000 in additional funds for the department's agricultural development and marketing division.

* The addition of $250,000 in predator control funding.

* $65,000 in funds to implement Oregon's new hen-cage requirements.

* $100,000 for wolf compensation grants to counties to compensate livestock owners for losses to wolf depredation. The compensation grant money can also be used to help ranchers finance nonlethal mitigation.

The report identifies several agriculturally significant bills passed by the 2011 Legislature, including:

* House Bill 2541, which provides a tax credit for natural resources estates on inheritance taxes.

* HB3058, which "stops double taxation of Oregon agricultural cooperatives," according to the report.

* HB3560, which creates the wolf compensation program.

* HB2336, which provides "licensing and inspection exemptions for farmers whose annual sales at farmers' markets and direct sales to the public total less than $20,000."

* Senate Bill 960, which "expands the opportunities for farmers to supplement their farm income with agri-tourism activities."

* SB805, which requires the department to adopt rules regulating confinement of egg-laying hens.

Online

The report can be found on the department's website: www.oregon.gov/ODA