By Oregon Farm Bureau HB 2980 – Farm Labor Housing Tax Credit. This bill will extend the current tax credit program that allows on-farm and community housing projects to receive a tax credit. This bill was included in the Co-chairs’ budget and should not have any difficulty in passing. It is currently in the Joi

Senate Passes Merkley Proposal to Create Jobs by Repairing Crumbling Water Infrastructure May 15, 2013 The U.S. Senate passed Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley’s Water Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act (WIFIA) as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2013. The program would create jobs by providing low-cost l

 National Farmers Union National Farmers Union (NFU) joined a group of agriculture and conservation organizations in sending letters to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce urging for

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association NCBA Statement on Reauthorization of the Animal Drug User Fee Act National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Scott George, a Cody, Wyo. dairy and beef producer, issued the following statement on yesterday’s action by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on reauthori

By American Farm Bureau Statement from Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation, Regarding Senate Judiciary Passage of Immigration Reform Bill:  “The time is long overdue for our nation to have a comprehensive agricultural labor plan that works for all sectors of agriculture and across all regions of our

Roger O. McClellan Former Chair of EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Washington and Oregon are in the middle of an intense debate about whether to expand facilities to ship coal to Asia. As a former resident of Washington state and one who has family that lives in the area, I have followed this issue [...]

By Oregon Farm Bureau Replacement Dwelling Bill Poised To Become Law HB 2746 (Replacement Dwellings) had its first hearing in the Senate Rural Communities and Economic development Committee. The legislation would allow some homes that do not qualify currently to be replaced. These are homes that have fallen into disrepair b

Oregon State Senator Alan Olsen Senator Alan Olsen (R -Canby) has successfully shepherded three bills through the Oregon Senate over the last week that will aid the health of Oregon’s waterways. “ Oregon has a reputation for some of the most beautiful, clean and abundant waters in the world, ” said Olsen. “ We need

  By Daily Digger Oregon Association of Nurseries Proposed federal immigration bill amendments number in the hundreds Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee started the process this week of considering amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform bill proposed by the “Gang of Eight” senators (

By Cindy National Corn Growers Association The term “massive farm bill” has been used repeatedly in the general media this week to describe the bills passed out by the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, and by “massive” they mean the farm portion of the bill, not the nutrition portion which accounts for 80% of

  By American Farm Bureau You haven’t heard this said a lot: Congress got a lot done this week! At least when it comes to the farm bill. American Farm public policy director Dale Moore talks about what got done in this story from AFBF’s Johnna Miller.   Miller: It’s been a big week for [...]

By California Farm Bureau By Kate Campbell It’s going to be a long, hot summer—that’s a given in California’s interior valleys. What isn’t known, farmers say, is how well billions of dollars’ worth of food crops will weather the heat amid severe irrigation water cutbacks. The season’s f

Wyden, Merkley Ask Agriculture, Interior Secretaries for Emergency Grazing Rights on Federal Land in Southeastern and South Central Oregon By U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Faced with another year of drought conditions in Southeastern and South Central Oregon, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are asking the Department of

  By Daily Digger Oregon Association of Nurseries Driver’s card opponents seek referendum To the surprise of few observers, the anti-immigration group Oregonians for Immigration Reform has started a petition drive to undo recently passed Senate Bill 833. If successful, they would deny undocumented residents their

By Oregon Farm Bureau Cougar Management Bill The bill that allows the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to manage Oregon’s cougar population by licensing agents to hunt cougars with dogs has currently stalled in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. HB 2390 lifts the sunset date of Januar

 National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement regarding the release of the initial draft of the 2013 Farm Bill by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry: “NFU is encouraged that the initial draft of the farm bill has been circulated to members of the Senate Agri

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association The Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition today praised the introduction of legislation that would assist in establishing a stable workforce that can help sustain the rural communities where farmers, ranchers and food manufacturers grow and process the nation’s and world’s food

By American Farm Bureau The Health Insurance Tax will hurt small business employees the hardest, according to congressional testimony today by New York Farm Bureau President and dairy owner Dean Norton. Testifying before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology, Norton, also a board member of the Ameri

By Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife ODFW fish biologist Ben Walczak with one of the rainbow tagged with entries in Cabela’s “Fish for Millions” contest. Anglers who catch one of these fish can redeem the tags at Cabela’s for prizes up to $2 million. The contest runs from May 4-July 7. There are now [

By Rick Sohn, Umpqua Coquille LLC Wood products set records in April and pushed all prices higher, as log shortages still are  an issue.  Housing starts finally broke through 1 million for the first time in 5 years.  Seven-year trend of lumber, logs, housing, and mortgage statistics are shown below.   $445 for studs is

  By Oregon State University Extension Office The spotted wing drosophila lays eggs in small and stone fruits, creating cosmetic blemishes. (photo by Vaughn Walton.) The spotted wing drosophila fly, which lays its eggs in fruit and makes it unmarketable, could reach record population levels in the Pacific Northwest thi

  By Daily Digger Oregon Association of Nurseries U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) gave the OAN and its members prominent mention last week while testifying against <A href=”http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d113:SN743:” target=”_blank”>S.873</a>, which would require retailers

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is appalled to learn that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to illegally release information on cattle operations to the activist groups Earth Justice, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Counc

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Agriculture Committee leaders announced plans for starting the 2013 Farm Bill process.  Because a new Congress started this year, Congress cannot pick up where it left off with the farm bill last year and must start the process over again.  Currently, USDA is operating under an a

  By American Farm Bureau Sequestration. We keep hearing about it, but now more than 300,000 farmers will be feeling it directly unless something changes. American Farm Bureau farm policy specialist Mary Kay Thatcher explains the situation in this story from AFBF’s Johnna Miller. Miller: Sequestration is proving to h

Timber Workplace Safety Bills Pass Oregon House Representative Wayne Krieger, A pair of bills aimed at enhancing timber workplace safety passed the Oregon House of Representatives today on wide, bipartisan margins. House Bill 2595 makes the illegal obstruction of forest management activities a class “A” misdemeanor for

Forest Industry Urges Comprehensive Solution for Federal Forests –Requests that Wilderness Legislation Not Advance Separately American Forest Resource Council, A group of forest products industry associations sent a letter to Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urging enactment of a meaningful legislative resol

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter Senate Bill 633 is OFS’s top priority legislative bill which deals with seed preemption. SB 633-A is scheduled to be voted on by the full Senate on Tuesday, April 30th.   Please contact your State Senator and ask him/her to vote YES on SB 633. If you do not know who your senat

Reports are out that this year may see great returns for Oregon fish. KATU-TV News reports: Fisheries officials are projecting the largest fall chinook salmon run since 2004 as part of the salmon seasons set for the Columbia River. The summer run of chinook is projected to be about 73,000, with the season running from [...]

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Livestock Disaster Protection Act Introduced in the House of Representatives The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) supports the efforts of Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) in introducing legislation that would provide a safety net for livestock owners across the nation. Under th