A federal judge has rejected a request by two Oregon alfalfa farms to block Jackson County’s ban on genetically engineered crops from going into effect.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke has found the GMO ban is not pre-empted by the state’s “right to farm” law, thereby allowing the ordinance to become effective on June 5.

The “right to farm” statue prohibits ordinances and lawsuits that treat a common farming practice as a trespass or nuisance, but it does not protect activities that harm commercial agriculture, the judge said.

Oregon’s legislature passed the law to shield farmers from urban encroachment and complaints about smells, noises and other irritations, he said.

“While farming practices may not be limited by a suburbanite’s sensitivities, they may be limited if they cause damage to another farm’s crops,” Clarke said.

Growers are able to file lawsuits over such grievances under the “right to farm” statute, and Jackson County’s ordinance simply “serves to prevent such damage before it happens” — even if it hasn’t yet occurred, he said.

Clarke also found that lawmakers intended to permit the GMO ban when they excluded Jackson County from a 2013 bill that pre-empted other local governments from regulating biotech crops.

He pointed to testimony from lawmakers representing the county who claimed the ordinance was necessary to avoid unwanted cross-pollination between biotech crops and those that are conventional or organic.

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber also stated that Jackson County was specifically exempt from Senate Bill 863, the state pre-emption law, when he pushed lawmakers to approve it, said Clarke.

Plaintiffs in the case — Schulz Family Farms and James and Marilyn Frink — claimed that SB 863 did not affect the “right to farm” law, which they interpreted as protecting their genetically engineered alfalfa crops from being destroyed.

While Clarke has dismissed the farmers’ arguments regarding “right to farm,” their claim seeking $4.2 million in compensation from Jackson County remains alive in the case.

The growers argue that forcing them to remove about 300 acres of herbicide-resistant “Roundup Ready” alfalfa amounts to the county condemning their property for public use, which requires just compensation.

Capital Press was unable to reach the plaintiffs or Jackson County for comment.

The Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit critical of biotech crops, considers the ruling a “big win” but expects the plaintiffs will challenge it before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said George Kimbrell, senior attorney for the group.

The judge has recognized that genetically engineered crops pose a significant commercial threat to non-biotech growers, which was a key issue in the litigation, Kimbrell said. “This case is a resounding affirmation of the right of farmers to protect themselves from GE contamination.”

A bill aimed at expanding government oversight of “rails-to-trails” across farmland in Oregon, intended to prevent disruptions to agriculture, has died in committee.

House Bill 3367 would have required conditional use permits for certain projects in farm zones, such as converting railroad tracks to bike paths, which would allow neighboring farmers to weigh in on such proposals.

The Oregon Farm Bureau and conservation groups supported the bill, arguing that dealing with ongoing public recreation poses a much greater challenge for farmers than the passage of an occasional train.

Growers know when trains will travel across their property and can plan their operations accordingly, but they face greater difficulties when spraying, tilling or moving livestock near bikers and other visitors, proponents of HB 3367 said.

The Oregon Recreation and Park Association opposed the original version of the bill for allegedly threatening to interfere with a process that’s successfully created hundreds of miles of trails in the state.

Trails rarely encounter the type of problems anticipated by farmers, opponents of HB 3367 said.

Even trails that cross the farmland of willing landowners would be subject to greater scrutiny by county governments under the bill, ORPA said.

“Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Stephanie Redman, the group’s executive director, during a recent legislative hearing.

The original version of HB 3367 passed the House by a strong margin, but during Senate hearings, ORPA pressed for an amendment that would only require permits when the land is acquired through eminent domain.

Representatives of Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development testified that permits are already required for certain trails, though not those which modify existing transportation easements.

Several park officials, however, told lawmakers that this process hasn’t been followed unfirmly across the state.

In the end, the Senate Committee on Environment decided to let the bill die during a May 27 work session rather than schedule further deliberations.

Cindy Robert, lobbyist for the ORPA, said the concept isn’t necessarily a “dud” but more time is needed to clarify existing regulations and how they’ve been applied.

Hopefully, a solution that makes sense for everyone can be found during a future legislative session, she said.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Checks totaling $20 million are being sent to 18 timber counties in western Oregon under terms of a federal subsidy renewed by Congress.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday that the money is being distributed to the so-called O&C counties under terms of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.

The counties once received so much money as a share of logging on the so-called O&C lands that some didn’t have to levy taxes. But when logging was drastically cut in the 1990s to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon, Congress created a series of safety nets. The latest one had expired, but was revived by Congress.

The money has been steadily decreasing, and counties that depend on it the most have trouble providing services.

LANGLOIS — New signs, a popular grocery featuring many locally sourced organic products, a newly reopened hip diner, a Montessori-inspired preschool, wool artisans, antique stores, wind surfin…

The Port Orford Arts Council sponsored a spring party on May 16 at the former Langlois Cheese Factory, which is now rented out for events in the area.

Associated Press

Armed with rifles equipped with silencers, government hunters have started shooting seabirds on an uninhabited island at the mouth of the Columbia River, to reduce their consumption of juvenile salmon migrating to the ocean.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged Wednesday that wildlife control personnel from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services started over the weekend implementing the corps’ plan to cut by more than half the numbers of double-crested cormorants nesting on East Sand Island between Oregon and Washington, where they eat millions of juvenile salmon migrating to the ocean. The island is the biggest double-crested cormorant nesting site in North America, and some of the salmon are protected species.

Bob Winters, program manager for the corps, said a team of three to four wildlife control personnel armed with .22-caliber rifles would be killing birds on the island through August. The goal is to reduce the colony from about 14,000 breeding pairs to 5,600 pairs by 2018.

The Audubon Society of Portland has challenged the killing in a federal lawsuit that argues the corps is ignoring the biggest threat to salmon, hydroelectric dams on the Columbia. Conservation director Bob Sallinger called on the corps to allow independent observers on the island so the public can know how the killing is being carried out, and to call off the killing until the lawsuit has run its course.

“The idea of turning the largest cormorant colony in the United States into as shooting gallery and killing cormorants on the nest is a low point in terms of recent wildlife management efforts,” Sallinger said.

Winters said Wildlife Services personnel are focusing on portions of the colony where eggs have yet to hatch, so as not to create a situation where chicks are left without parents to feed them. Numbers of how many birds have been killed and eggs oiled to prevent them from hatching are to be posted on a corps website on Thursdays each week.

He added that the corps has a contract with people who are verifying the culling is being done in accordance with the environmental impact statement.

ONTARIO, Ore. — Oregon State University researchers have alerted onion growers in the region to be on the lookout for the iris yellow spot virus in this year’s crop.

The virus has been detected in several volunteer onions, said OSU Cropping Systems Extension Agent Stuart Reitz.

“I haven’t seen it in the crop yet but if we’re seeing it in the volunteers, it’s only a matter of time before it shows up in the crop,” he said. “I expect to see it showing ... up in the crop any time basically.”

About 25 percent of the nation’s fresh bulb onions are grown in Eastern Oregon and Southwestern Idaho and the virus is one of the industry’s top production challenges.

It weakens the onion plant and can significantly reduce growth, which is important in the onion industry because larger-sized bulb onions fetch higher prices.

The virus is transmitted to onions by thrips and the insect’s populations are starting to build up rapidly, Reitz said.

“We’re consistently seeing 1 to 2 adult thrips per plant, which is a healthy population for this time of year,” he said.

The virus was detected in last year’s crop in early June.

Reitz said growers should be focusing on controlling volunteer onions, since they act as early season reservoirs for thrips and the virus to move into the crop.

“People need to get all of the volunteer stuff away,” said Nyssa farmer Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association.

Nyssa grower Reid Saito said the virus is one of the industry’s top two problems, along with the nutsedge weed.

“We don’t have a real good handle on it,” he said. “You just never know when it’s going to show up. Year to year and area to area, the virus pressure varies.”

Saito said he has seen onion fields that look great “and then when the virus shows up, I’ve seen the whole complexion of the crop change from good to terrible in a matter of days.”

Reitz and Skeen credit an aggressive thrips control program with helping keep virus pressure low last year compared with the previous several years.

2013 was a bad year for the virus but last year was mild by comparison, Skeen said, and that was due in part to farmers spraying earlier and more often for thrips.

Farmers should be out scouting their fields now and acting quickly if any virus pressure is detected, Reitz said.

“People should be checking their crop very carefully to see if any virus shows up,” he said. “The people who had less severe pressure last year were the ones who stayed on top of it.”

For more information about thrips and the virus, contact Reitz at (541) 881-1417.

A proposal to increase restrictions on genetically engineered crops has been revived in the Oregon Legislature a month after a similar bill died in committee.

House Bill 3554 would allow the Oregon Department of Agriculture to establish “control areas” where biotech crops — even those deregulated by federal authorities — would be subject to additional rules, such as isolation distances.

Growers who fear cross-pollination from genetically modified organisms could petition ODA to create a “market production district” in which such crops would face similar regulations.

Farm suppliers would also have to report sales of biotech seeds to the agency.

The new bill is a compromise because state officials could choose whether to designate control areas or market production districts, said Ivan Maluski, policy director of Friends of Family Farmers, a group that supports stronger GMO regulation.

“It’s done in a way that gives ODA the authority without telling them what to do,” he said.

Under earlier legislation, which died in the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water in April, the agency would be required to establish control areas for biotech crops.

Clarifying ODA’s authority over GMOs is necessary because the agency currently believes it loses the power to regulate once they’re commercialized by USDA, Maluski said.

“Right now, they pretty much argue their hands are tied,” he said.

Opponents of the bill are disappointed that the control area concept has been resurrected, even though such designations aren’t mandatory under HB 3554.

“It might be scaled back in some respects, but none that are meaningful,” said Scott Dalhman, policy director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group.

Subjecting biotech crops to control areas is a “draconian” idea that was previously rejected because it effectively allows some farmers to dictate what others can grow, Dahlman said.

Traditionally, farmers who signed contracts that guarantee price premiums in return for high seed purity were responsible for living up to those specifications themselves, he said.

Under HB 3554, growers can demand that the government dictate their neighbors’ farming practices to ensure the contract terms are met, he said.

Dahlman and other biotech proponents want lawmakers to pass House Bill 2509, which would create a mediation system overseen by ODA to resolve conflicts over genetically engineered crops.

Critics of GMOs, on the other hand, claim that a stronger statewide policy is necessary because lawmakers pre-empted most local governments from regulating such crops in 2013.

“There’s a lot of interest in the legislature following through on that promise,” Maluski said.

Up to $2.5 million is available from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to mitigate the effects of drought in 15 Oregon counties.

Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Wasco and Wheeler counties have received drought declarations from Gov. Kate Brown. Other counties could be added if they receive declarations.

Landowners in those counties should submit applications to their local USDA Service Center by June 26 to be considered. The funding is through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a financial assistance program in the Farm Bill that allows NRCS to work with private landowners to implement conservation practices and reimburse landowners for a portion of the expense.

NRCS nationwide is also aiding the most severely drought-stricken areas in seven other states: California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.

“This funding will help Oregonians in the most drought-stricken areas of the state to mitigate the impacts of drought on cropland, rangeland and forestland,” said Ron Alvarado, state conservationist, in a press release.

NRCS will give higher priority to applications in counties with the highest drought status according to the USDA Drought Monitor map, but producers in all counties included in declarations by the governor will be eligible to apply for funding.

In Oregon, NRCS will focus the funding on cropland, rangeland and forestry conservation practices. For cropland practices, NRCS will assist producers with planting and managing cover crops and implementing emergency soil erosion measures. These practices will help farmers protect the soil from erosion, promote more organic matter in the soil, and aid in better water infiltration.

For rangeland practices, NRCS will assist ranchers in developing grazing management plans and installing emergency livestock watering facilities and multi-purpose water impoundments. These practices help reduce pressure on stressed vegetation, allow the soil to retain more moisture, and deliver emergency water supplies to livestock.

For forestry practices, NRCS will help landowners with wildfire prevention measures, such as creating fuel breaks, multi-purpose water impoundments and other fuel reduction activities. These actions reduce excess vegetation in a forest so that wildfire has less fuel to spread higher into the canopy, where it causes the most damage. NRCS is partnering with the Oregon Department of Forestry to focus the funding on areas with a higher risk for catastrophic forest fire.

Applications will be ranked for funding based on the drought level, resource concern, conservation benefit and, if applicable, the wildfire risk factor.

I read with great interest in the May 18 edition of The World about the Wilderland School in Langlois and their monthly field trips. Not only do these trips highlight the local economy and his…

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

COOS BAY — At 99, Wilma Jensen has created a lot of things on her sewing machine. She's made quilts. Dance costumes. Wedding dresses. Then there are things she's knitted, furniture she's finis…

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

Agricultural researchers at the three Northwest land grant universities are hosting a series of train-the-trainer workshops on integrated pest management in June.

The series includes two three-day workshops:

• At the Oregon State University Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center on June 8, 9 and 10.

• At the Washington State University Whitman County Extension Center in Colfax on June 24, 25 and 26.

Two more will be held in 2016, said Silvia Rondon, OSU Extension entomologist specialist.

The workshops are designed for extension field faculty, agency professionals and crop consultants. They will include presentations on monitoring techniques, pest identification and pest management techniques.

“It’s all about increasing use of IPM in the region,” Rondon said. She added that the workshop are “very region specific.”

The land grant universities have offered short courses on IPM for control of insects in years past, Rondon said, but this is the first year the universities are adding diseases and weeds to the course agendas.

As part of the courses, participants will be provided materials for collecting weeds, insects and diseased plant tissue.

Participation is limited to no more than 20 per session, and the workshops “are very hands on,” Rondon said.

All sessions will also be available on line, she said.

Online

More information is available at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/umatilla/ipm

HERMISTON, Ore. — Grass seed growers in the Columbia Basin, Grande Ronde Valley and Central Oregon this year are able to stay abreast of ergot spore production thanks to the introduction of an Ergot Alert Newsletter.

Detection of ergot spores in grass seed crops can help growers minimize the disease’s yield impact and avoid unnecessary fungicide applications, according to Union County Extension agronomist Darrin Walenta.

Walenta informed growers about the newsletter at a May 19 field day at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

The newsletter is being put out by the Ergot Research Team, a group of Oregon State University and USDA Agricultural Research Service researchers. It contains spore-count data collected from traps that capture airborne spores at seven monitoring sites, and ergot management recommendations.

The first newsletter, issued May 13, reported that airborne ergot spores were collected at four sites, two in perennial ryegrass seed fields and two in Kentucky bluegrass seed fields. The first ergot spores were detected on April 19 and 22 in two Umatilla County perennial ryegrass fields. On April 26 and May 1, spores were detected in two Union County Kentucky bluegrass fields.

A second newsletter, issued May 18, reported that additional spores were counted in the two Union County bluegrass fields.

The second newsletter included an advisory that fungicide applications recently made for control of stripe rust and powdery mildew will not provide protection from ergot. Those applications, the alert states, were too early to provide ergot suppression.

The newsletter also states that no action is needed at this time (on May 18), because spore density is “very, very low and flowering has not begun yet.”

Grass seed crops are most susceptible to damage from ergot during flowering.

“However,” the newsletter states, “it is very important to monitor fields closely and track crop-development progress.” The alert also stresses the importance of timely fungicide applications and that growers should keep particularly close watch “in fields that had some level of infection in 2014.”

“If you had an issue in a field last year, prioritize your monitoring efforts there,” Walenta said at the field day, “because you know there will be inoculum in that field.”

The research team has been working to identify methods to manage ergot since OSU Extension plant pathologist Phil Hamm first formed it five years ago. The disease, considered one of the oldest known diseases of grasses and cereals, continues to create problems in grass seed crops, particularly in perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass seed crops, where it can lower yields and render straw unusable for animal feed.

The disease infects the flower of grass plants, which then exude a sticky substance referred to as honeydew, which attracts insects that spread the disease.

The disease eventually replaces seed with black fungal sclerotia.

Managing the disease takes a combination of cultural and chemical management, according to the May 13 newsletter. Among cultural management techniques recommended in the newsletter are to plant ergot-free seed and to rotate fields out of susceptible grasses.

The alert advises growers to consult the Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook for fungicide products available for ergot suppression in Oregon and Washington.

At the field day, Walenta also encouraged growers to participate in an ergot survey that is designed to assess the value of the electronically distributed newsletter and to help identify more effective tools for ergot disease management.

Walenta asked growers to contact Jeremiah Dung at the Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Madras, 541-475-7107, for more information on the survey.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown has issued drought declarations for eight more Oregon counties, bringing the total to 15.

The action allows increased flexibility in how water is managed to ensure that limited supplies are used as efficiently as possible.

Brown said Friday that hot, dry weather this summer will likely lead to a difficult fire season and water shortages.

It applies to eight counties in central, southern and eastern Oregon. They are Deschutes, Grant, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Morrow, Umatilla and Wasco counties.

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.