It was 102 degrees in Medford on June 1, 2021. Let me say that again just in case it didn’t fully sink in: Medford suffered temperatures as high as 102 degrees in spring, making it harder for firefighters battling Southern Oregon’s first fires of the year.
There’s been a lot of talk about our dams over the last few weeks, and I want to make it abundantly clear: Any “solution” for our salmon population that includes removing the dams on the Lower…
Two Klamath irrigators say they will breach the Klamath Project headgates in an attempt to get water flowing to more than 1,000 farmers who had the taps turned off last month by the Bureau of …
Farmers and ranchers learn to keep a sharp eye out for invasions. Not the military kind, the pest kind.
As a grower of small grains and seed crops, the article titled “China lettuce a challenging weed for many wheat farmers” caught my eye. Thinking it was a new Asiatic species introduced to our …
I am a political dichotomy.
Taxes! This is usually the first question that comes up for families who are considering gifting their farm to the next generation. A fact that sometimes surprises clients is that Oregon and W…
When it comes to COVID, we’ve always been in the pro-vaccine camp. But we can’t support government efforts to mandate that citizens show proof of vaccination in order to gain certain privileges.
When is an income tax not an income tax? And when is a capital gains tax not a capital gains tax?
Effective management of water resources affects the vitality of communities and their ability to grow and develop. Respecting water rights is a central factor in the management of water resources.
Though a few weeks have passed since the Bureau of Reclamation announced it would not this season divert irrigation water to the Klamath Project, we are sure that the emotions of producers, fa…
The good people of Eastern Oregon sent a message last week to politicians and others in Portland and the rest of Western Oregon. The short version: They want out — out of the state and away fr…
In 10th Century England, those found guilty of debasing the currency had one hand chopped off.
Last year, Washington’s Supreme Court disrupted the state’s agricultural industry when it held that the agricultural overtime exemption violated the state’s constitution as applied to dairy wo…
Why would Oregon residents voting with wheels join the rush to the Snake River Valley in Idaho? Quite simply, the seat of power in the Willamette Valley has increasingly disenfranchised those …
In hearing a radio announcement that our state budget has escalated by billions of dollars and the governor, not knowing what to do with it, was going to fund immigrants to build businesses.
Please contact your U.S. senators and representative to stop unconstitutional federal police reform.
The regulators have said that they would relax restrictions as the science and data permit. Now it’s time to put that promise into action. A more realistic set of regulations is needed.
This year, the Food Prize went to Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted. As a researcher in Bangladesh, she led the way in developing the farming of nutrient-rich small fish to feed mothers and young…
Agriculture regulators in Idaho are getting ready to write new rules for hemp, a crop the state legislature just legalized.
The initiative would make artificial insemination a sex crime; virtually end commercial livestock, dairy production and animal slaughter; and criminalize hunting, fishing and pest control.
The Malheur County Onion Growers Association and Malheur County Potato Growers Association are in favor of the Greater Idaho movement, though we believe that it is more reasonable to integrate…
Who is the Cancel Culture? Whoever those elites are, they are forcing their agendas, values, ideas and beliefs on the basic fabric of American culture. They are attacking history, language, st…
Transparency is in the eye of the beholder. Especially when it comes to government agencies, we occasionally hear a pledge to keep members of the public apprised of issues that impact them.
Here’s news you probably missed.
The good news is the wolf population continues to grow and spread across Oregon. The population grew 9.5% last year to at least 173 wolves in 22 packs. In 2019, the population grew 15%, accord…
Last week President Joe Biden announced a goal to reduce U.S. greenhouse emissions by 50% of 2005 levels by 2030.
This letter is an elegy to three farms going out of production.
The Simpson Plan does everything the Ag and Rural Caucus asked for: 1) puts up dollars up front to mitigate all foreseeable costs on eastern Washington residents, 2) provides time to make good…
Do you want America's Constitutional Republic to become a Socialist/Marxist hellhole dictatorship like Venezuela, China or Russia?
The state of Oregon’s plan to salvage the timber in a small part of the Santiam State Forest is a win-win both for the people who live and work there and for the people who own it — the taxpayers.
While these rules may be necessary, we are wary — as many are — of “temporary” permanent rules that are implemented without an expiration date.
The landscape of northeast Oregon has changed significantly over the past century and a half. Myself and my family have borne witness to much of it. From the railroad to the state highway, hyd…
The Oregon Values & Voices project will pair unbiased research with independent reporting to inform Oregonians working to build stronger communities across the entire state
A prodigious amount of U.S. farmland continues to be converted to other uses. The American Farmland Trust estimates that between 2001 and 2016 more than 11 million acres were taken out of ag p…
The best that can be said about farmworker overtime legislation passed by the Washington Legislature is that it gives producers time to adjust and protects them from backpay lawsuits set in mo…
In order to help meet our obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement, the United States should invest public funds into cultured-meat research. For those who don't know, cultured meat is gr…
Recently I met with county commissioners from Twin Falls, Gooding, Shoshone, Lincoln, Jerome and Minidoka, and I was able to discuss my Columbia Basin Initiative to address ending the perennia…
In Carol Ryan Dumas’ article, livestock pharmaceutical corporation Elanco’s Animal Health Chief Sustainability Officer Sara Place presents a creative interpretation of the word “sustainable” w…
As legislators continue to debate whether and how much overtime pay should be paid to farmworkers who pick apples and do other jobs on Washington’s and Oregon’s farms, we were reminded of anot…
Next week the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a case to overturn California Proposition 12, an animal welfare measure approved by voters in 2018.
This letter regards Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson’s proposal to remove four of the Snake River dams. His proposal may or may not save the salmon, and would greatly negatively impact the North…
I enjoyed reading your opinion piece in the April 2 Capital Press about hard truths that need to be said/echoed.
Make no mistake about it, a proposal by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, that would result in the removal of the four lower Snake River dams would dramatically and negatively impact Idaho agricultu…
Now more than a year on, state legislators across the country are taking steps to check the nearly unlimited emergency powers governors have assumed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past 30 years, the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association (CSRIA) has steadfastly defended the Lower Columbia-Snake River hydro projects. The CSRIA believes to this day that thes…
In 2011, I attended the Fourth International Crop Science Congress in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I listened to a presentation by Dr. Stephen Powles, University of Western Australia, now …
When ESSB 5172, a bill addressing retroactive pay in agriculture, passed out of the Senate in early March, Senate Democrats who hijacked the bill with amendments celebrated its passage as a su…
In early 2020, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, in a panic over COVID, took the pesticide license certification program to virtual only. License holders with poor computer skills or a lac…
In crafting his plan for the removal of the dams on the lower Snake River, Rep. Mike Simpson has managed to forge consensus between farm, shipping and environmental interests on his idea. They…
To the residents of the Tri Cities: In light of the ongoing debate about the Scout Wind Farm Project, I think it is time you are introduced to your neighboring community in the Horse Heaven Hills.
Oregon Senate Republicans have engaged in four legislative walkouts in less than two years. Democrats and Republicans alike have used quorum denial as a negotiating chip when all else has fail…
The process of developing and rolling out a big idea like my Pacific Northwest economic revitalization and salmon recovery package is never easy or pretty. Messaging a comprehensive package th…
In honor of National Ag Week, March 21-27, I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned while working for Oregon Farm Bureau since 2004.
In some sense, it’s difficult to argue against the “fairness” of paying farmworkers overtime.
