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 grown from cells, without slaughter. This revolutionary protein will have a dramatically smaller envir…
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.
BUHL, Idaho — For those who know me, there are few things in this world which I feel more passionate about than Idaho agriculture and water. Both have been cornerstones of my life since I firs…
Like the past several sessions, the Oregon Legislature is considering a slate of bills that could deeply impact producers like me. Unlike recent sessions, legislators considering those bills d…
Your March 5 article, “Farm labor supplier opposes new ag workforce bill,” is a one-sided portrayal of the newly reintroduced Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) and does a disservice to y…
We have long been skeptical of the initiative processes in California and the Pacific Northwest. Most initiatives are proof that even good concepts can make bad laws.
A politician once said, never let a good crisis go to waste. That is exactly what environmental extremists are attempting to do in Emma Newton’s opinion piece about a family facing bankruptcy …
I agree 100% with Tom Kammerzell's assessment of the plan to take out the Snake River dams. I would add: for the most part, the dam removal people are driven by a worthy desire to bring back t…
When Gov. Kate Brown took office in 2015 amid the scandals that brought down her predecessor, John Kitzhaber, she promised that her administration would be transparent.
When Washington-based Easterday Ranches announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the heels of allegations that it had cheated Tyson Foods out of millions of dollars, it had a bizarr…
In February a trade association representing general contractors urged President Joe Biden to provide relief from record lumber prices. Among their requests is to import more wood products fro…
Eastern Oregon scored a big victory last month with the selection of Congressman Cliff Bentz as the ranking member of the Water, Oceans and Wildlife (WOW) Subcommittee on the House of Represen…
Growing up on a ranch filled me with wonderful memories and a serious work ethic. But, I was probably in elementary school when my dad’s sister pulled me aside and told me to work extra hard a…
Stand clear, if these measures pass, lest you be run down by the trial bar rushing to the courthouse.
For farmers and ranchers, stress is a way of life. We depend on many factors that are out of our control, like weather, commodity prices, availability of labor, trade markets, and a lot more. …
If you are a rural Oregonian, beware, two recent newspaper articles very clearly illustrate the political attacks that are being mounted to eliminate Oregon and western U.S. rural communities.
The Washington Legislature has before it a proposal to require the use of low-carbon fuels in cars and trucks. The fuels, mixtures that would include more ethanol and diesel made from cooking …
A bill originally designed to protect Washington farmers from having to pay retroactive overtime pay in the wake of a recent state supreme court decision has been changed in committee to requi…
Some moments lend themselves to hyperbole. That amazing fishing trip from seven years ago; the winning free throw at a high school basketball game; the marriage proposal when time stood still.
With the holidays now far behind us, few people are giving thought to the cozy evening they likely spent watching “It’s a Wonderful Life."
Depression and suicide are an overlooked health crisis in our rural communities. Washingtonians living outside urban centers are left with fewer resources to address mental health issues and f…
As the president of the Middle Fork Outfitters Association, I represent 27-member outfitters in Idaho that take customers from all over the world on week-long Middle Fork Salmon River trips. W…
On occasion we are reminded that the budget process used by the Oregon Legislature and state agencies is a bit curious, if not lacking.
Oregon has legalized recreational marijuana, possession of illegal drugs for personal use and sports betting, but shipping more than two cases of wine a month to a customer is still beyond the pale?
Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson floated a $33 billion “concept” a few weeks ago to breach the four lower Snake River dams and compensate the businesses, governments and other organizations and …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, I released for discussion a concept that could end the Northwest salmon wars. It would lock in a more certain future for agriculture, energy, transportation and c…
Commissioners in Oregon’s Yamhill County have finally decided to pull the plug on a controversial rail-to-trail project opposed by neighboring farmers.
A bill proposed in the Washington House by Democrats is long on promise but so short on specifics as to be dangerous.
Klamath Project irrigators have long been stewards of the land and care deeply about the fisheries and migratory bird populations that call the Klamath Basin home.
A nonprofit group will hold a meeting to discuss two proposed climate bills and whether they address farmer needs.
Your Opinion section’s analysis of climate change (Feb. 5) attempts to use the same old diatribe minimizing the effects of the U.S. reducing their discharges of greenhouse gas emissions.
Your call to end the hate and violence and come together (Jan. 15 editorial "We must stop this now") spoke to me. I wholeheartedly agree. We would do well to remember our common values of love…
“The U.S. can’t go it alone.” For many years policy wonks in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere have told Americans the U.S. shouldn’t take on major international issues by itself.
Washington farmers and ranchers must be protected from having to retroactively pay overtime as a result of a recent state Supreme Court ruling.
People are manipulated through fear.
Hemp producers who had hoped permanent rules governing the crop’s production issued earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture would remove regulatory stumbling blocks are only p…
President Joe Biden is taking the lead on immigration reform.
I generally read your Editorial Opinion piece and find you to be fairly on target. However, I think your conclusion in your editorial in the Jan. 15 issue missed the mark when you closed with …
