Friday, May 24, 2013
Click here for RSS feedBanking bill needs support I am a third-generation farmer who lives and farms in Kitsap County, Wash. I have been involved in agriculture the majority of my 70-plus years. I am writing as an appeal to Congress to reintroduce legislation known as the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial The Supreme Court this week unanimously ruled against an Indiana farmer who argued that patents on biotech seed are exhausted once the crop is sold to a grain elevator. The ruling means that biotech developers like Monsanto can enforce patent protections to bar the planting of genetica ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial Call them warehouse farms, literally. We're not talking about high-efficiency confinement buildings used by some livestock and poultry farmers. We're talking about a farm built in an old warehouse. Using hydroponic and aeroponic agriculture and other variations on the theme, warehouse ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
This year, USDA is committed to helping Congress get a comprehensive, multiyear Food, Farm and Jobs Bill passed as soon as possible. This is critical to provide certainty for U.S. producers, while giving USDA the tools we need to continue strengthening the rural economy. Without a Food, Farm and ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1,440 American plant and animal species are currently listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Another 182 species are candidates for listing. Yet only a handful have ever been removed from the list in the 40-year history ...
Friday, May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial Before the month is out both the House and Senate ag committees will begin markup sessions for the 2013 Farm Bill. Both promise, at least at the start, to look a lot like their ill-fated attempts to write and pass a bill last year. And that may well be the problem. Opponents of vario ...
Friday, May 10, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial Here's a concept that appears to have lost favor among some federal agencies. The idea is that the federal government writes and enforces regulations and laws in a fair and neutral manner. No groups or individuals, regardless of their political persuasion, should get special treatment. A ...
Friday, May 10, 2013 12:00 AM
A strong U.S. agriculture industry depends in part on a robust array of crops grown by America's farmers, as well as diversity in production styles. Also important is the farm bill, which helps farmers and ranchers deal with risks that threaten their ability to produce the food, fiber and fuel we ...
Friday, May 10, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial In the heyday of the Hollywood Western, a favorite plot line pitted a powerful cattle baron against honest farmers in a fight for their water rights. The movie always ended with a gunfight where all is made right by the reluctant hero. Disputes over water are more than the stuff of movie ...
Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM
Editorial If the idea of government regulators flying drones over your ranch or farm gives you pause, just wait until PETA goes airborne. PETA -- the organization called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- has announced its plans to buy at least one $10,950 CineStar 8 Octocopter, which ...
Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM
A thriving agricultural economy benefits all Americans. Achieving this depends on a sound farm bill. Among the plethora of federal statutes that govern the nation, the farm bill stands out as a "Lone Ranger" that helps farmers and ranchers deal with the risks that threaten their ability to produce ...
Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM
Grouse mirrors spotted owl I was interested to read your article on the sage grouse. It sounds to me as if you would like to return to the 19th and early 20th century. You would rather put a transmission tower on private land than Bureau of Land Management land where it might disturb a grouse or a ...
Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM
Public feedback at the April 18 hearing conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about its proposed listing of the pocket gopher and several other species and about Thurston County's proposed habitat conservation plan sent a consistent message to federal regulators and our county commission ...
Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM
Bill opens door to attacks on rodeos The concern of Jordan Valley, Ore., residents over Senate Bill 835, which is politically referred to as gateway legislation, is potentially far-reaching. The bill is not only misleading with its "horse tripping" title but opens the way for future anti-rodeo ...
Friday, April 26, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial If the talking points are to be believed, a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in the Senate last week seems to satisfy the needs of the agriculture industry. Though we've yet to wade through the nearly 900 pages of the bill -- dubbed "The Border Security, Eco ...
Friday, April 26, 2013 12:00 AM
Dwell with me for a moment on these images: A tawny Kiger mare and her hardy buckskin foal, racing together free as the wind across a high desert landscape. A gleaming black colt, straining down the homestretch with all his heart to be the first to plunge under the wire. A grizzled old Appaloosa ...
Friday, April 26, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial It's one thing to sit in a comfortable Seattle or Portland coffee shop and discuss the concept of protecting wolves so they can roam the remotest portions of Washington and Oregon. It's quite another to consider the very real issues involved once some of those wolves arrive at the doorst ...
Friday, April 26, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial While we like to give people and bureaucrats the benefit of the doubt, we understand why farmers, ranchers and others in the natural resources community have come to suspect the Environmental Protection Agency is in cahoots with environmental activists and organizations. We suspect the e ...
Thursday, April 18, 2013 9:00 AM
The discovery of horse meat in European products labeled otherwise has touched off a flurry of global reaction and over-reaction. While animal rights groups frantically maneuvered the story in support of their effort to ban human consumption of horses, a more significant effect of the publicity a ...
Thursday, April 18, 2013 10:00 AM
The real meaning of GMO It's not just that Monsanto, Syngenta and other bullying, foreign profit-takers are contaminating our heirloom and regionally adapted seeds and crops. It is also their chemical mixtures of Roundup to kill everything in the soil, avoid plowing and then plant genetically alter ...
Thursday, April 18, 2013 10:00 AM
Hold the party hats. This year marks the 40th birthday of the federal Endangered Species Act, but it's less a time for celebration than re-examination. In fact, one of the big problems with this law -- both in its structure and in the way it is enforced -- is that its accomplishments are hard to ...
Friday, April 12, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial The Obama administration has been touting what it says are the dire consequences of the budget sequestration required under the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011. It wants to put pressure on Republicans in the House of Representatives to agree to additional tax increases to spare co ...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial At its best, the state fair should be a celebration of all things Oregon, 11 days during which the state's citizens gather to reconnect with their roots and have some fun in the process. It is a time of dizzying rides, a lot of livestock shows and fabulous photographic and crafts display ...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 12:00 AM
Cartoon resorts to stereotypes I write as a farmer, business owner, Farm Bureau member and former infantry officer to say how amused I was by the cartoon that accompanied your editorial of April 5. I am amused that you feel it necessary to resort to what can only be described as a childish, stere ...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 12:00 AM
Editorial Overheard from an Oregon legislator as he exited a committee meeting at the Capitol: "Are we regulating religion or agriculture?" That's a good question, and has probably crossed the minds of many legislators in Oregon, Washington state, Idaho and elsewhere as they continue to be approac ...
Thursday, April 04, 2013 1:00 AM
Editorial Ranchers are rightfully concerned over the Obama administration's reinterpretation of language in the Endangered Species Act. If the policy proposals are approved, federal agencies will employ a more expansive understanding of the ESA's scope, subjecting more land -- both public and priv ...
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