Agriculture

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.

Agriculture articles

Klamath Basin crops and products, go HERE.

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