Agriculture

Agriculture touches all of our lives, Baxter Black, H&N, posted to KBC 11/26/11.

Oregon Agriculture Power Point Presentation  Thank you Brent
Searle, Special Assistant to the Director, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture

   Latest edition of agriculture resource directory available, H&N 10/6/05
* Oregon pesticide use reporting system

The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates that in 2006, there were 2 million farms, a slight decline from 2005. Total land in farms was 932 million acres last year, declined by 780,000 acres, a drop of nearly 1 percent from 2005.

 * Establishment of the White House Rural Council, Executive Order 13575 of President Obama, posted to KBC 6/16/11.

Agriculture articles

Klamath Basin crops and products, go HERE.

Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate comments due 11/9/11

Siskiyou County Ag Census Trends 1992-2007, USDA

* Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate, Federal Register Volume 76, Number 155, posted 8/12/11. "The proposed requirements would apply to cattle and bison, sheep and goats, swine, horses and other equines, captive cervids (e.g., deer and elk), and poultry...First, animals moved interstate would have to be officially identified...Second, animals moved interstate must be accompanied by an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection...We are also proposing some associated recordkeeping requirements. ..The estimated incremental costs of the proposed rule for cattle enterprises--between $14.5 million and $34.3 million, assuming official identification is a separately performed activity..." Comments due November 9, 2011

Distrust clouds EPA, Capital Press editorial, posted to KBC 3/28/11. "The EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee has recommended that the agency set tougher restrictions on airborne dust and dirt -- "coarse particulate matter" in government speak. An EPA draft memo suggested setting allowable coarse particulate matter levels as low as 65 to 85 micrograms per cubic meter -- about half the 150 micrograms per cubic meter currently allowed under the agency's air quality standards. Such a move could cause vast areas in the West -- including parts of Idaho and California -- to violate pollution standards."

Farmer’s cut of food dollar: 11.6 cents, Delta Farm Press, posted to KBC 3/21/11

Walden, Oregon farmers fight pesticide buffer by Peter Beland, Oregon Business, posted to KBC 3/10/11." 'This crop field, which now produces $21,000 in income — if the federal government’s rules as full described here — you’d be down to $1,500... buffer zones could take 40 percent to 67 percent of Oregon’s farmland out of production...' A number of conservation groups represented by Oakland-based environmental law firm EarthJustice filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency last November...". (KBC NOTE: GEORGE SOROS helps finance Earth Justice, which provides free legal fees for "environmentalist" and ecoterrorist groups to destroy "American Capitalism." EarthJustice represents most of the environmental groups with voting power in the controversial Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.)

(EPA) Dust talks exclude public, Capital Press 3/10/11

Fights unite ag groups, Capital Press 8/27/10

Wheat yields soar on eastside, Capital Press 8/19/10

S510: Illegal to Grow, Share, Trade, Sell Homegrown Food, posted by Toni Thayer on our discussion forum 8/12/10

Klamath County - USDA Livestock Forage Disaster Program, 6/30/10

Director Jennifer Simon: Farm Bill doesn’t fit Klamath Basin agriculture needs, H&N 5/23/10

Obama targets US public with call for climate action, Guardian News 6/16/09. "But the bill has run into strong opposition from some Democratic members of Congress, especially those from agricultural states who say that putting limits on greenhouse gas emissions will hurt farmers' economic interests. That could complicate Pelosi's plans of getting the bill passed through various committees by this Friday, 19 June, and put to a vote next week."

Biological opinion takes water from people, Capital Press editorial 6/11/09

Animal ID critics vent objections at ag meeting, Capital Press 6/9/09

Helping (Tulelake) Basin farmers try new practices, H&N 6/4/09

Bill requires all eggs sold in California to be from cage-free hens, Sac Bee 6/3/09

Back to the drawing board for NAIS, Capital Press 5/28/09. "...all but two of the 75 producers who testified opposed NAIS. These were not wild-eyed conspiracy theorists with tin foil on their heads. They included the state veterinarian, two statewide cattle organizations and other operators, large and small."

Farmers Losing Crops to Endangered Fish, FOX, posted to KBC 5/18/09

3/16: NAIS comments due on proposed amendments.

Hay growers consider water needs; Researcher discusses effects of irrigation cutoff on alfalfa, Capital Press, posted to KBC 3/13/09

EPA says farm dust requires regulation! Capital Press , posted to KBC 3/3/09.

Obama to focus on family farms, Capital Press 1/29/09

***Official Animal Identification Numbering Systems (proposed amendments), posted 1/20/09, Comments due by March 16, 2009

NAIS....The latest attempt to steal your land, posted 1/18/09

USDA issues final rule for country-of-origin label rule, Capital Press, posted 1/13/09

Amish farmer charged for not registering animals, Capital Press 12/30/08. (KBC NOTE: initially the National Animal Identification System promised to be voluntary. More articles on Agriculture Page.)

California bans conventional egg production, Capital Press, posted to KBC 11/5/08. "Many producers have said they will consider moving their operations to other states, or even to Mexico."

Good returns for farmers, but profits have dropped, Herald and News October 6, 2008
Cutting costs comes in variety of changes, Increasing organic production, cutting back on fuel a few ways farmers save, October 6, 2008, Herald and News
Economist: It’s a unique time in agriculture history, H&N 10/6/08
Farmers express uncertainty about the future, Most note that farmers are aging and young people seem uninterested, H&N 10/6/08

Interim Rule and Request for Comments (on the NAIS), deadline November 17, 2008, Citizens for Constitutional Republic 10/05/08

Fighting to Stop the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), Liberty Ark Coalition website., posted to KBC 10/5/08

American Farm Bureau Federation, Education efforts address misconceptions about agriculture, Capital Press, posted to KBC 9/26/08

Farm income, costs spiral across West, Capital Press, posted to KBC 9/12/08

Ranchers to be honored at Tulelake fair; Harold and Roger Porterfield focus of Appreciation Day dinner Friday night, H&N, posted 9/6/08

Local century farms or ranches, H&N 9/2/08

A farming legacy; Throughout the region, farming is a family affair, H&N 9/2/08

OSU Extension office working on succession planning, H&N 9/2/08

Trade Talks Crumble in Feud Over Farm Aid, Washington Post 7/30/08

ACTION ALERT: Mandatory Requirement for NAIS in School Lunch Program Put in House Agriculture Appropriations Bill.  CALL NOW! 6/23/08

Lawmakers from Western states protest proposed $70 million cut, H&N, 6/12/08.(Farm Bill $ for fishermen)

Rising costs lead farmers to go high tech, Capital Press 5/28/08

The New Economics of Hunger; A brutal convergence of events has hit an unprepared global market, and grain prices are sky high. The world's poor suffer most. Washington Post, posted to KBC 5/7/08. "For the 1 billion people living on less than a dollar a day, the world's worst food crisis in a generation is a matter of survival." (KBC NOTE: How will the Klamath Basin contribute to world hunger? After the World Wars, veterans came to the Klamath Basin to feed a hungry nation. The Klamath Basin Settlement Agreement demands downsizing off-Project irrigation by 30,000 acre feet of water, downsizing Project farming considerably, and taking out 4 Klamath River dams that provide power for 70,000 households annually. The Nature Conservancy and gov't agencies have taken 100,000 acres out of ag land and made swamps with most of it, decimating our cattle business and evaporating water that could water more farms or fish. States demand replacing oil with ethanol, already doubling and tripling the cost of corn and grains. The Humane Society forced the ban on killing sea lions which eat thousands of endangered salmon. Shortage of salmon has caused ban on Pacific Coast salmon fishing and cost billions of dollars in studies and restoration projects. People are starving to death. Enemies of the human race are among us.)

Commodity prices are rising, but so are costs, H&N 5/2/08

Local ag: A balancing Act, H&N 5/2/08

CEI Fights Sierra Club Demands for CO2, CEI posted to KBC 4/13/08. "If Sierra Club wins the litigation, potentially hundreds of thousands of previously unregulated small- to mid-sized farms, factories and buildings would have to go through the costly and time-consuming PSD permitting process, because the statutory threshold for regulation under PSD is 250 tons a year."

Paying Respect, Missouri Ruralist, posted 3/20/08

Farmers brace for costly season, Escalation in fuel, fertilizer and other input costs shows no signs of easing, Capital Press 3/14/08

NAIS, National Animal Identification System update 2/6/08

Klamath farmers face continuing water questions, AgAlert, CFBF posted 12/28/07

NAIS - National Animal Identification System, Farm Bill update - CALL YOUR SENATORS!! 11/1/07

Report: Wis. loses 30,000 acres of farmland per year, but diversity insulating fallout, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/16/07. (KBC Note: will America wake up in time??)

Reality of farm subsidies: they're still needed, Carl Sampson, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/8/07. "Blumenauer criticizes subsidies when it comes to farming, but encourages subsidies for enterprises like the Portland mass transit system, which has received more than $1.5 billion from the federal government."

National Animal ID System subject of legal action, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/3/07

Farm group advocates for water protection; Family Farm Alliance says agriculture should not be 'shock absorber' for urban growth, posted 9/18/07. "California converted 1 million acres of farmland to urban use from 1988 to 1998"

Triple threat to ag, Development, restoration, climate issues mount, Capital Press, posted to KBC 9/17/07

Eat That! Mandatory NAIS forced on 12-yr-old children at county fair, Good Neighbor 8/29/07

NAIS "Opt-out" now available, but no one knows about it, Eco-Logic Powerhouse, posted to KBC 8/23/07

Signatures roll in for eminent domain initiative, AgAlert, posted 8/16/07

EPA says no special review of 2,4-D needed after years of research data prove it's not a human carcenogen, posted 8/16/07 by  Industry Task Force II

COOL Victory: R-CALF members make it happen, AZ Range News, posted to KBC 8/9/07, "Only cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the United States will qualify to receive the 'Product of the U.S' label..."

Farm group advocates for water protection; Family Farm Alliance says agriculture should not be 'shock absorber' for urban growth, posted 9/18/07. "California converted 1 million acres of farmland to urban use from 1988 to 1998"

***COOL and NAIS explanation in Farm Bill: This was sent to KBC from Congressman Walden's office 7/27/07

Action Alert: Keep Telling the House Committee on Agriculture to Take Mandatory Animal ID Out of the Farm Bill, Weston Price Foundation 7/9/07

House Agriculture Committee Unanimously Passes Groundbreaking Farm Bill, Congressman Walden, posted to KBC 7/23/07

Healthy Pets Act won't be forgotten, Press Telegram, posted 7/16/07. "Sponsored by Levine, a Democrat from Van Nuys, and promoted by an acid-tongued activist named Judie Mancuso, AB1634 was a proposal, which, among other things, would have required every California dog and cat to be spayed or neutered by the age of four months." (KBC Note: yes, this would effect your pets, ranch dogs including cow dogs and sheepdogs, poodles... Levine plans to reintroduce the bill next year.)