Lawmakers are adding a no-spray buffer requirement to Oregon pesticide legislation that also increases enforcement funding, doubles fines for violations and creates new requirements for applicators.

Controversy over Oregon’s pesticide laws was ignited by an off-target application of herbicides that affected residents in Curry County in 2013, prompting a multitude of proposals during this year’s legislative session.

Those concepts were distilled into a single piece of legislation — House Bill 3549 — that initially focused on better training for applicators and a greater capacity for state regulators to investigate complaints and enforce existing laws.

During a May 21 work session on the bill, the House Rules Committee adopted an amendment that will require 60-foot no-spray buffers around homes and schools for aerial pesticide applications in forestry.

Farm and forestry groups will continue to support the legislation despite the buffer amendment, said Scott Dahlman, policy director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group.

“In the legislative process, there is compromise along the way,” he said.

Eric Geyer, manager of business development for Roseburg Forest Products, said the industry isn’t thrilled with the no-spray buffer amendment but the change isn’t enough to sink its support of the overall package.

Earlier bill proposals that died in committee would have imposed greater restrictions on pesticides, including an outright ban on aerial spraying and certain classes of chemicals.

The amendment adopted by the committee does not include stricter notification and reporting requirements for pesticide applications, which the timber industry has opposed as impractical.

“Real time” notification of sprays is challenging time-wise due to changes in the weather, particularly if a company must alert numerous people, said Jake Gibbs, director of external affairs at Lone Rock Timber.

The timber industry is also concerned about the potential for sabotage by eco-terrorists if specific sites and dates are announced for spray applications, said Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie.

Proponents of more stringent notification requirements claim it’s necessary in case aerial applicators violate rules against off-target spraying.

Advance notification would allow neighbors to prepare for pesticide sprays by staying indoors or leaving the area, said Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego.

“There are real people getting hurt and they need our help,” she said.

Kathryn Rickard, a Curry County resident affected by the 2013 incident, said it took state regulators six months to notify her which chemicals were found on her property, which hindered adequate medical treatment.

The situation would be different with advance notice and better reporting, she said. “Our physicians would have known how to treat us in a timely manner.”

While the no-spray buffer amendment to HB 3549 was adopted, the overall bill has not moved out of committee for a vote on the House floor, which means it’s still subject to further hearings.

Apart from the no-spray buffers, the bill would increase registration fees on pesticide distributors to raise up to $2.4 million for enhanced pesticide enforcement, complaint response and investigation.

Aerial applicators would be required to undergo 50 hours of special training a year and obtain a specific license, pesticide fines would increase twofold and the Oregon Department of Agriculture would create a pesticide hotline and hire additional staff, among other provisions.

THURSDAY, MAY 21

ADRIAN, Ore. — A lone wolf that inexplicably spent more than five weeks in an area of Malheur County not considered typical wolf habitat has moved on.

The wolf, known as OR22, moved into Grant County over the weekend, said Philip Milburn, a district wildlife biologist in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Ontario office.

The male wolf, which separated from a Northeast Oregon pack in February, moved into Malheur County on April 10 and bucked conventional wisdom by spending much of its time here in sagebrush country west of Adrian and south of Vale.

OR22, which has a tracking collar, even made a brief foray into farm country near Adrian, where it was seen by several farmers napping in a wheat field and by ditch workers as it swam across a canal.

Before OR22, no other wolf was known to have spent more than a brief period in the county, Milburn said.

“I don’t know why he took a month-long break in Malheur County, but he did,” Milburn said. “He’s been a little unique. There’s probably no telling where he will ... move to.”

The wolf was moving 10-plus miles a day in recent days and is now south of Prairie City.

Malheur County is the state’s top cattle producing county and ranchers here were not unhappy to hear the wolf had left.

“We’re pretty happy he’s moved on,” said Malheur County Cattlemen’s Association president Chris Christensen. “Obviously, he didn’t like Malheur County and that’s a good thing.”

Fish and wildlife biologists found two cow carcasses the wolf had been feeding off and believe they played a major factor in the wolf’s decision to hang around so long. Both died before OR22 found them and the wolf started moving West after they were removed, Milburn said.

Milburn and Christensen said one of the biggest lessons learned from OR22’s visit to the county is that dead livestock carcasses are an enticement to keep wolves around and should be removed quickly.

Milburn said OR22 stopped his movement pattern after finding the cow carcasses.

“Having a readily available food source ... can really hold these animals in non-typical wolf habitat,” he said. “That’s a pretty good lesson.”

When the wolf moved into an area where cattle were grazing on public land, Milburn said biologists had a difficult time notifying the permit holders.

“When it came to a public land situation, it was not easy figuring out who needed to be notified,” he said. “The names of permit holders aren’t something that is readily available from agencies.”

He said the county’s wolf committee will work on that issue.

Milburn said communicating with people during the wolf’s stay here turned out to be helpful.

Milburn used emails to update media, local officials and the livestock industry on the wolf’s movements and notified producers who were directly impacted through text messages and phone calls.

“Good communication when something like this happens really helps so people are not having to rely on third-hand information,” he said.

After an uncontroversial start, legislation that would require mediation for disputes over biotech crops in Oregon is now facing opposition from critics of genetic engineering.

House Bill 2509, which would direct the Oregon Department of Agriculture to mediate conflicts over genetically modified organisms, didn’t initially meet with objections and passed the House by an overwhelming margin.

The bill arose from a work group convened by Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, that evaluated a range of GMO proposals.

During a May 20 legislative hearing, Clem said he’s surprised by the recent surge of antagonism toward HB 2509, which emerged from the concerns of GMO critics who worried that biotech farmers wouldn’t agree to mediation.

“This came from the anti-GMO community,” he said. “This was designed to be helpful for people worried about being interfered with by GMOs.”

Friends of Family Farmers, a group that favors stronger GMO regulation, participated in the work group negotiations and credited the bill with providing an incentive for mediation during a work session last month.

Now that HB 2509 is before the Senate, however, the nonprofit group and other GMO critics are asking lawmakers to reject the proposal because they say farmers who are harmed by biotech cross-pollination should not be forced into mediation.

“I strikes us that mediation should be a choice farmers make, not a mandated situation,” said Ivan Maluski, policy director of Friends of Family Farmers, during the recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

If a dispute over genetically engineered crops occurs between farmers, the bill calls for ODA to provide mediation to seek a coexistence solution. If a grower refuses mediation and later loses a lawsuit in the dispute, he’d be required to pay the opposing party’s legal costs.

While Friends of Family Farmers believes mediation may be useful in some circumstances, the group has decided to oppose the bill because mandatory mediation could impose a financial burden on small growers.

The mediation requirement may delay a timely court decision when a farmer faces market rejection of his crop due to cross-pollination, the group claims.

Our Family Farms Coalition, which successfully campaigned for a GMO ban in Jackson County, argues that HB 2509 would hinder the ability of organic and conventional growers to enforce that prohibition.

The group argues that small farmers would effectively be blocked from seeking a “quick legal action to prevent contamination of their crop” due to fears of paying astronomical attorney fees.

“This bill would prevent that as a practical matter,” said Kellie Barnes, a representative for the group.

The Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit involved in prominent legal battles over GMOs, alleges that ODA can’t be trusted to oversee the mediation program because the agency has served as the “mouthpiece of the agricultural biotechnology industry.”

Since the mediation requirement lacks any limit on duration or expense, ODA could use it as an obstacle for farmers who need a fast legal remedy to their dispute, the group says.

Scott Dahlman, policy director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group, said he’s disappointed by the hostility toward HB 2509 after the work group tried to establish a middle ground.

The bill was intended to shed light on how many biotech conflicts actually exist in Oregon and encourage compromises that would be difficult to reach in court, he said.

“It might be as simple as communicating your planting schedule with your neighbor and planting at different times,” Dahlman said.

Lebanon, Ore. — Oregon State University plant pathologist Cindy Ocamb reported at a crucifer disease field day May 14 that she is finding seed fields infected with blackleg around the Willamette Valley.

The discovery is not unexpected, she said, given that blackleg infections were severe last year and infected crop residue provides a source for the disease to persist and spread.

Ocamb said she is finding the disease in a “patchwork” pattern and that different fields have different levels of disease — a disparity she attributed to lack of timely management with fungicides.

Ocamb advised growers to refrain from planting susceptible crops within one-quarter mile of a field that hosted a blackleg-infected crop the previous year.

“And the farther apart the better,” she said, noting that the fungus’ windblown spores could be moving “tens of miles” and not just a few miles, as once suspected.

Ocamb also said that she noticed some fields went from less than 1 percent infection to between 80 and 100 percent in a matter of weeks during rainy weather, showing that the disease’s secondary inoculum is readily splashed by rain from infected plant stems and leaves.

While the disease moves systemically down a plant and can cause lesions on storage roots, it does not move systemically up a plant to infect seed, Ocamb said. Seed infection typically occurs from inoculum splashing onto seed heads during pod development.

Ocamb said she started seeing the blackleg fungus in October in commercial vegetable seed fields and in fields planted as part of a three-year OSU experiment to determine the effect of brassica crops, such as canola, on specialty seed production.

Fields that were treated in the fall with a fungicide were performing better than fields that went without a fall treatment, Ocamb said.

Ocamb also reported she has found light leaf spot in fields in recent weeks, a disease relatively new to North America. It started appearing in valley fields during February, she said.

According to literature, growers in the United Kingdom, where light leaf spot is common, report 22 percent yield loss in oilseed crops infected with the disease, Ocamb said.

Many of the seed treatments and fungicide applications that target blackleg are expected to also control light leaf spot, Ocamb said.

Ocamb said she fears blackleg infection in 2016 in Western Oregon could be even worse than this year.

“Seed fields will probably face more pressure next fall,” Ocamb said.

“I think it is going to be critical that we not only treat seed, but have a fungicide campaign with early sprays in the fall,” Ocamb said.

In addition to increasing chances of plants dying from blackleg, plants infected in the fall are more susceptible to other pathogens, Ocamb said.

An ODA proposal that would mandate field inspections for five years provides an indication of how long the scientific community believes it will take for Oregon growers to get the disease under control.

“The industry and the ODA believe a limited time period (five years) of mandatory inspections … is necessary to bring the blackleg epidemic back under control,” the proposal states.

Ocamb added: “I think it is going to be important that everybody joins the control party.”

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is proposing a rule mandating inspection of crucifer fields in the Willamette Valley as part of an effort to quash what is being called “the blackleg epidemic.”

Oregon State University researchers first spotted blackleg infection in the valley last year in certain vegetable seed crops, such as turnips and canola. The disease appears to be more prevalent this year, said Cindy Ocamb, in part because windblown spores from infected plant residue helped spread infections.

In addition to concerns about seed lots being contaminated, Ocamb said she now fears the disease could be moving into fresh vegetable acreage.

In January, ODA adopted a rule mandating that crucifer seed be tested, found free of blackleg and treated prior to being planted in the valley.

The newly proposed rule would require that growers also apply to the department for an inspection and cover a portion of the program’s cost at a rate of $6.50 an acre. Each acre would need to be inspected twice, once early in the growing season and at early- to mid-flowering.

Nancy Osterbauer, ODA’s plant health program manager, said the two inspections will help determine if the department’s recommendations for controlling the disease are working.

“Part of (the motivation behind the rule proposal) is an education process for everybody involved,” Osterbauer said.

Under the proposal, if blackleg is found in a field, certain mitigation requirements would kick in, such as fungicide treatments.

Osterbauer said the seed industry came to the department seeking the rule.

The rule will sunset in five years, according to the proposal.

A public hearing on the proposed rule is scheduled for June 22, beginning at 11 a.m., at the department’s Salem research farm, 151 Hawthorne Ave. NE.

Interested parties can comment at the hearing or through written correspondence, Osterbauer said.

“We welcome comments,” she said. “This is an industry rule.”

Whether Oregon’s “right to farm” law extends to the production of genetically modified crops is a central question in the legal battle over Jackson County’s prohibition against such crops.

During oral arguments on May 20, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke questioned whether the statute was intended to protect such technology.

The legislative history seems to indicate that lawmakers passed the “right to farm” statute to prevent urban sprawl from undermining agriculture, he said

“It seems to me this situation doesn’t squarely fit into that now, does it?” Clarke asked.

The ban was approved by Jackson County voters last year, but two farms that produce biotech alfalfa filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance’s validity.

The growers — Schulz Family Farms and James and Marilyn Frink — claim their ability to grow genetically engineered crops is protected by the “right to farm” statute, under which local governments are barred from restricting a common farming practice as a nuisance or trespass.

David Markowitz, the attorney for the farmers, said that the impetus of the law may have been urban sprawl, but “right to farm” protections are much broader.

The statute is intended to preserve the entire resource base of Oregon agriculture, which include biotech crops, he said.

Defendants also argue that Oregon lawmakers expressly authorized the GMO ban by excluding Jackson County from 2013 legislation, Senate Bill 863, that pre-empted local governments from regulating biotech seeds.

The judge asked why the legislature would pass SB 863 if biotech crops were already protected by “right to farm.”

“Doesn’t it indicate the legislature recognized the right to farm law isn’t going to preclude counties from banning GE products?” Clarke said.

“Isn’t that a pretty big pothole for your side?” he asked.

Markowitz responded that lawmakers did not intend to exempt Jackson County from any other state laws by passing SB 863, including the “right to farm” statute.

“It is a much broader and specific ban in relation to seed,” the attorney said.

The exemption created for Jackson County was simply to allow a vote on the ordinance, not to cast a judgment about whether the GMO ban would pass muster under other state laws, the farmers say.

They’re seeking an injunction that will prevent the prohibition against genetically modified organisms from becoming effective, or $4.2 million in damages if they’re forced to destroy existing alfalfa fields.

Under SB 863, Jackson County could have narrowly tailored a law that would reimburse organic farmers for actual damage from imprudent practices, Markowitz said.

However, Jackson County’s ordinance goes much further and thus violates the “right to farm” statute, he said.

“There isn’t even a suggestion that my clients have caused harm to anybody,” Markowitz said.

“It treats the prudent the same as the imprudent,” he said.

The ordinance was supposed to go into effect on June 6 but the county agreed not to enforce it until the lawsuit is resolved.

The ordinance was supposed to go into effect on June 6 but the county agreed not to enforce it until the lawsuit is resolved.

Farming genetically engineered crops is a “generally accepted, reasonable and prudent method” as required by the law, since such plants have become ubiquitous in U.S. agriculture, the plaintiffs argue.

While the Jackson County ordinance tries to avoid the “right to farm” issue by designating the production of GMOs as a “violation,” rather than a nuisance or trespass, the effect is the same, plaintiffs say.

A primary argument in favor of the ordinance was preventing the genetic contamination of conventional and organic crops with biotech traits, which amounts to the county treating GMOs as a nuisance or trespass, the lawsuit claims.

Jackson County and other parties that voluntarily intervened as defendants counter the ordinance isn’t affected by the “right to farm” statute.

Defendants argue a genetically engineered crop is not a “farming practice” that’s protected by the law — the ordinance only applies to plants with altered DNA, not the cultivation techniques necessary to grow them.

The rejection of GMO crops by 66 percent of Jackson County voters also shows that biotechnology is not “generally accepted” in the area, the county says.

Marion County voters overwhelmingly approved a tax measure that will support Oregon State University’s Extension office and 4-H programs in the county.

In Tuesday’s election, voters approved Measure 24-380 by a margin of 72 percent to 28 percent. The measure creates a Marion County service district for Extension and 4-H.

The measure will increase property tax bills by 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It’s expected to generate about $1 million a year for the programs.

About two dozen Oregon counties have approved such special districts in response to state and local funding cuts over the years. The Marion County Board of Commissioners placed the measure on the ballot after judging community support for the idea.

Oregon’s medium-sized ag producers churn out high-quality meat, grain and greens, but gaps in the aggregation, processing and distribution infrastructure make it difficult to put on consumers’ plates at an affordable price.

A new report from Ecotrust, a Portland non-profit, calls for investment in “Ag of the Middle” producers and the network that can sustain a strong regional food economy.

The report, “Oregon Food Infrastructure Gap Analysis,” defines “Ag of the Middle” producers as too big to survive by selling only at farmers’ markets or to CSAs, but too small compete in commodity markets.

“It’s absolutely the most painful place to be as a producer,” said Amanda Oborne, one of the report’s authors and Ecotrust’s food and farms vice president.

The 250-page study describes a haphazard system in which growers and other food producers spend too much time on the supply chain instead of developing their product. They must cobble together outlets, pick, pack and store things themselves and deliver small amounts to multiple buyers.

Neighborhood grocery stores in Portland, especially those catering to consumers willing to pay more for local, organic or sustainably produced food, are besieged by clusters of delivery vehicles. Some of them amount to a cooler in the trunk of a grower’s car. In Portland’s increasingly busy streets, getting from store to store isn’t easy.

The founder of Portland’s Bowery Bagels, which uses Northwest grains, told the report writers he delivers to 114 outlets on weekdays. “I can make more bagels,” CEO Michael Madigan is quoted as saying, “but I can’t deliver any more.”

The report says Ag of the Middle producers often lack branding or marketing strategy and do without communications and strategic planning.

The result is a system that is “highly fragmented, lacking consistent data and information, and dependent on personal relationships,” according to the study.

Ecotrust is investing in the solution. The organization is retrofitting a former ironworks building in Portland’s eastside industrial area to be a food development, storage and distribution hub.

The building on Southeast Salmon Street — called “The Redd” after the egg nests salmon make in streams — will have 16,000 square feet of development, incubator or processing space for meat, grain and greens. A mezzanine will contain 8,000 square feet of offices and educational space.

A building next door will have cold storage and warehousing space, and a delivery company that uses electric cargo bicycles capable of hauling up to 800 pounds of product to restaurants or other customers. Bowery Bagels is moving into the building as well.

Portland has a reputation as a “foodie” city, but Oborne said Ecotrust and its partners are intent on developing a “food system, not a food scene.”

TODAY

BANDON – He was just 17 years old and not even finished with high school.

A proposed ban on biotech crops in Oregon’s Benton County has failed by a strong margin.

Nearly 73 percent of voters rejected Measure 2-89, which would have prohibited cultivation of genetically modified organisms.

The proposal was met with alarm by scientists at Oregon State University, which lies in the county, who feared it would stop research projects that rely on genetic engineering.

Even if it had been approved, the initiative was likely unenforceable.

Legislation passed by lawmakers in 2013, Senate Bill 863, precluded most Oregon counties from regulating GMOs.

However, biotech critics now hope to get a ballot initiative on the 2016 statewide ballot that would allow local governments to enact such restrictions.

Voters in Jackson and Josephine counties passed GMO prohibitions last year.

Josephine County’s ordinance is pre-empted by state law, but Jackson County was exempted from SB 863 because its initiative was already on the ballot.

Alfalfa farmers are now seeking an injunction prohibiting Jackson County’s ban from going into effect for allegedly violating the state’s “right to farm” law, which disallows local government restrictions of farm practices.

LANGLOIS — When Cole Kreutzer was a freshman, he was part of perhaps the most unlikely state championship in Pacific High School history.

Small-scale Oregon farmers and entrepreneurs are getting a helping hand from a state law that went into effect this year.

The law, which allows Oregon-based businesses to raise up to $250,000 from state residents, became effective in January. Called the Oregon Intrastate Offering Exemption, the law allows individuals to invest up to $2,500 per offering.

Amy Pearl, founder of Hatch Innovation Lab and the person who spearheaded passage of the new law in the legislature, said, “Local investing equals impact investing.” Oregon is the 14th state to establish an “intrastate crowd funding” law.

“We were the only state to launch the law with companies who had filed their material and were legal,” said Pearl. Every company defines their own terms, such as selling shares or offering convertible notes.

The nine companies and details of their investment offerings are available at HatchOregon — http://hatchoregon.com.

Five of the companies are involved in food and agriculture.

Red Wagon Creamery in Eugene is a handcrafted ice cream company that focuses on using local ingredients, highlighting seasonal fruits and fresh, local hormone-free milk.

Agrarian Farmhouse Ales outside Eugene is a small craft brewery that grows all its own herbs and hops — 15 different varieties — and sources other ingredients such as grains, chile peppers and honey from neighboring farms. It is working toward becoming a true estate brewery.

Both Red Wagon and Agrarian are offering shares of their company.

All Hatch projects are allowed 12 months to raise the funds with an option to extend for another 12 months. They must meet in person with a Local Business Technical Service Provider to review the business plan.

Once the offering materials are complete, including the reason for the raise, the team involved, the risks and benefits and the terms, the company will be listed on the web site within 7 days.

Ton Ton’s Artisan Affections in Talent sells grain-free, gluten-free cookies and fresh, homemade hummus. In its third year of business, owner Michael Antonopoulos, has both a low and high end goal for the public offering. He wants to high-pressure pasteurize the hummus to increase its shelf life and allow for conventional distribution. Depending on funds, this will happen in the shared rental kitchen or in his own production facility that he envisions as an incubator for the region. He is offering convertible notes.

So is Wylie’s Honey Brews in Phoenix. The company makes local artisan honey sodas sweetened with unheated raw honey using herbs and live enzyme cultures.

Gro-volution is a company that’s still in development. Gro-volution is a high-tech farming concept out of Klamath Falls started by Eric Wilson. He’s working on a unit called a PEA Pod that’s a refurbished, recycled and repurposed shipping container.

“We can take the farm and move it anywhere in the planet and have it close to the people who want it,” said Wilson.

The aeroponic growing technique uses an organic fiber recently approved by the FDA. “We’re trying to achieve close to 100 percent nutrient conversion,” said Wilson.

When entrepreneurs create the terms, the deals are more helpful, said Pearl. “That’s a dramatic difference from banks. We call it compatible capital.”

She sees high interest among farmers who are looking to expand, buy land and move into agritourism.

Todd Perlmeter, the general manager at Agrarian Ales, said the company has already raised $65,000. The first goal was $50,000 to help pay for permanent bathrooms and heaters for the tasting room. “We’ve already broken ground,” he said.

The next goal is $90,000 total to help with expansion of the brewery and hop yard. “We’ve decided to stop there because we’re going into our busy summer season when we have more cash flow. The Hatch offering is setting us up for success with more traditional loans and we may not have to offer up more equity to raise additional funds.”

Oregon’s high school equestrian team championship has been rescheduled to June 24-27 due to lingering concern about an outbreak of equine herpes virus.

The event will be held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond. Approximately 550 riders from 100 schools will compete in events over the four days.

The championship event was postponed after nine horses became ill following high school meets in April. Multiple horses were quarantined as the disease ran its course. Two horses were taken to Oregon State University’s veterinarian hospital but responded to treatment and have been returned home.

Equine herpes virus, called EHV-1, is a common virus among horses and may lie dormant until activated by stress or other factors. It can cause respiratory or neurological problems and in severe cases can kill horses.

Symptoms can include fever, poor coordination, nasal discharge, urine dribbling, loss of tail tone and hind limb weakness. Horses may lean against a wall or fence to avoid falling, or may not be able to rise.

The illness is spread by horse-to-horse contact, equipment, clothing or human hands.

TODAY

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) — When a tractor-trailer rig loaded with 80,000 pounds of dairy products overturned on an Oregon highway southeast of Eugene, the main problem did not seem to be spilled milk but sour cream — lots and lots of sour cream.

The Register-Guard of Eugene reports that Oregon State Police spokesman Bill Fugate says the truck driver apparently failed to negotiate a curve Monday morning on Oregon Highway 58 and rolled the rig onto its side. The driver was unhurt.

The crash near Oakridge didn’t block the highway but the fuel tanks needed to be pumped and the cargo removed before the truck could be pulled upright and removed. Oregon highway officials first thought the primary product was cheese but later determined it was mostly sour cream. They were trying to salvage as much as possible for nonprofit agencies.

The plan called for removing the cargo Monday, reopening Highway 58 overnight, then re-establishing a detour Tuesday while the truck is removed.

SATURDAY, MAY 16

Dr. David Montgomery is going to be presenting a lecture at the Hale Center at SWOCC this Saturday under the title "The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood." I am alerting B…

With just over a month remaining in Oregon’s legislative session, lawmakers have acted on several bills related to agriculture and natural resources.

Controversial proposals that would increase the regulation of pesticides and genetically engineered crops have died in committee, while others — such as restrictions on antibiotics in livestock — are still awaiting committee action.

Following is a summary of bills that have either passed the legislature or crossed significant hurdles on the way to becoming law:

A mechanism for resolving potential disputes over cross-pollination between organic, conventional and genetically modified crops has made headway in the legislature.

House Bill 2509 creates a mediation system in which the Oregon Department of Agriculture would seek voluntary resolutions to coexistence conflicts.

After winning support from proponents and critics of genetic engineering, the bill was approved 57-1 in the House. The lone dissenter was Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, who introduced legislation restricting where biotech crops are cultivated. That proposal died in committee.

The mediation bill is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, which is scheduled to hold a hearing and possible work session on HB 2509 on May 20.

A proposal to increase funding for predator control by assessing rural landowners up to $1 per acre in special tax districts was approved by the House 56-2 and is now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. While House Bill 3188 won by a strong margin, it is opposed by animal welfare and environmental groups that object to lethal methods and local management of wildlife. The legislation was supported by ranchers, who say that such added money is necessary in rural counties facing budget shortfalls and pressure from cougars, coyotes and other predators.

Legal protections for Oregon agritourism operators have passed muster in the Senate, which approved Senate Bill 341 unanimously. The legislation would shield growers from liability for visitor mishaps providing they post warnings, among other conditions.

The proposal got off to a rocky start due to opposition from trial lawyers, but managed to overcome that obstacle with an amendment to the bill.

Proponents hope that greater clarity on agritourism liability will convince more insurance companies to provide coverage for such operations.

A new method of reducing property taxes for urban farmers was approved 50-10 in the Oregon House, but House Bill 2723 will likely face changes on the Senate side.

The bill allows local governments to create agriculture incentive zones within urban growth boundaries where properties would be taxed at a lower rate if they’re devoted to farming for five years.

While HB 2723 appears to have momentum behind it, questions over its potential impact on urban growth boundaries still need to be answered. Supporters are also likely to amend the bill to include a 2023 sunset date and exclude marijuana from the tax relief proposal.

Oregon’s prohibition against raw milk advertising, which hadn’t been enforced for more than a year, is officially no longer a state law.

Gov. Kate Brown recently signed House Bill 2446, which removes the longstanding ban from statute but doesn’t otherwise change restrictions on raw milk sales.

The bill was introduced as part of a legal settlement between the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Christine Anderson, a raw milk producer who sued the agency for violating her free speech rights.

During hearings and work sessions, HB 2446 faced no opposition and sailed through the legislative process without so much as an amendment.

Northwest Farm Credit Services, a major agricultural lender in the region, will be able to participate in Oregon’s “Aggie Bond” program, which is aimed at providing loans to beginning farmers under House Bill 3239. The bill was signed into law by Brown recently and expands the definition of lenders who qualify for the program, which provides companies with a federal tax credit for lending to new growers.

A ban against using drones for hunting and angling was also approved by the legislature and Brown without encountering any objections, though lawmakers did make some adjustments to clarify that such devices can be used for managing wildlife with the approval of state regulators.

House Bill 2534 passed both chambers unanimously. The bill was supported by lobbyists representing hunters and fishermen, who feel that drones threaten the concept of “fair chase.”

House Bill 2432, which expands the use of fireworks for bird control, was another non-controversial measure that was recently signed into law. The legislation allows managers of golf courses, airports, landfills and similar facilities to use fireworks to repel birds. Before the bill was passed, such uses were limited to farms and forests.

Legislation that would streamline the permitting process for artificial beaver dams in the Malheur Lake drainage basin passed the House 51-7 and is now under review in the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Artificial beaver dams are intended to restore the function of “flashy” streams by slowing them down, which also improves forage conditions for ranchers.

Environmental groups are split on House Bill 3217, with the Oregon Natural Desert Association supporting it but several other groups worried about reduced fish passage restrictions.