Oregon agriculture advocates are asking lawmakers to fund a study examining how mounting regulations have affected the competitiveness of the state’s farm industry.

Under House Bill 2166, the Oregon Department of Agriculture would have to analyze the “overall regulatory burden” facing farmers and ranchers compared to those in other states and to other industries.

The study would also look at other factors affecting the farm industry, such as climate change, wildfires, drought, labor shortages, water availability and gaps in crop insurance coverage.

Important data points

Supporters of HB 2166 say the report would provide lawmakers and regulators with “an important data point for decision-making” and help them understand the state-specific regulations that disadvantage growers in the global marketplace.

“Individually, these challenges present Oregon producers with a difficult daily operating environment. Collectively, they threaten our fundamental economic viability,” said Angela Bailey, a nursery owner and president of the Oregon Farm Bureau.

Mike McCarthy, an orchardist and farmer in Hood River County, provided the House Agriculture Committee with more than 40 compliance requirements specific to farmers in the state, apart from general business regulations.

“What we do in the evening is worry about this list. We don’t have the staff to do it. We don’t have the time to do it,” McCarthy said. “And the unfortunate thing is the rules keep changing and that makes it even more difficult.”

Regulatory burdens cited by HB 2166’s supporters include the state’s decision to phase out the agricultural exemption from higher overtime wages, as well as paid leave, paid sick time, stricter farmworker housing standards and a minimum wage that’s roughly twice the federal rate.

The state’s leaders should not ignore the conditions that are marking it harder for future generations of farmers to make a living in Oregon, said McCarthy.

“We have to be able to maintain health and safety but there’s got to be a way to simplify this process,” he said.

For fruit growers in Hood River County, who are highly labor dependent, the prevailing wages for farmworkers have kept rising even as farm incomes have plummeted over the past decade, McCarthy said.

“What farmers are doing is borrowing more every year against their equity and hoping for better times,” he said. “At some point, liquidation will accelerate. Liquidation is already occurring in the farm sector and it will continue at a more rapid rate.”

Previous study unfunded

In 2023, the House Agriculture Committee unanimously approved a similar bill but it didn’t ultimately receive the $500,000 needed to fund the farm competitiveness study.

“We thank you for your support and ask for it again today,” said Ryan Krabill, government affairs manager for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

The cost of the HB 2166 hasn’t yet been estimated by legislative accountants, but Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, said he hopes the bill will again be recommended for funding.

“Our hearts go out to the farmers who are facing these tough decisions,” Helm said.