Editorial: It’s time for Trump to prove himself on trade
The sight of President Donald Trump making nice with Kim Jong Un, a sworn enemy of the U.S. who has threatened to nuke our nation along with Japan and South Korea, provided a jolting contrast to the...
View ArticleEditorial: Western governors offer prudent ESA proposal
Since it was passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has been all but untouchable by members of Congress, who consider amendments to the law with the same trepidation they would if they were...
View ArticleEditorial: The two Scott Pruitts
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders have a well-earned reputation for their unique and sometimes bizarre interpretations of how a federal agency should operate.There was the professed “spy”...
View ArticleEditorial: Avoiding Portland traffic at all costs
It doesn’t take a traffic engineer to determine that Portland is highway-impaired. Traffic in Oregon’s largest city is slow.How slow is it? you ask.A few years ago, the state Department of...
View ArticleEditorial: USDA offers help to farmers victimized by trade wars
Last week Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released more details about the Trump administration’s plan to help farmers hurt by ongoing trade disputes.While we appreciate the administration’s offer...
View ArticleEditorial: Christmas trees need a boost
“Got Milk?”“Beef: It’s what’s for dinner.”“Pork. The Other White Meat.”“The incredible, edible egg.”These and other slogans have long been part of popular marketing efforts to promote agricultural...
View ArticleEditorial: Lack of guestworker bill leaves farmers hanging
Caught up in the swirl of confusion surrounding the immigration issue on Capitol Hill is a guestworker visa program that serves as a lifeline for many U.S. farmers.Called the H-2A visa, it allows...
View ArticleEditorial: FDA head travels to farm country
It must have been the first time a head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ever visited a feedlot in Central Oregon — or anywhere else, for that matter.But there Scott Gottlieb was, at the Barley...
View ArticleEditorial: Agriculture’s ‘youth movement’
Finding enough workers for the busy season is a challenge for many farms, which try everything from recruiting local workers to hiring H-2A visa workers from overseas.A blueberry farm near Roseburg,...
View ArticleEditorial: WOTUS ruling muddies regulatory waters
The controversial Waters of the United States rule lives again, at least in 26 states — including Oregon, Washington and California.The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of...
View ArticleEditorial: Environmentalists stop state from managing wolves
We fully understand the role of the judicial system in society and how it provides all citizens with access to justice. It’s in the U.S. Constitution.However, we missed the part of the Constitution...
View ArticleEditorial: H-2A guestworkers help keep ag viable
Two quotes stood out in last week’s story about an H-2A guestworker we featured on the front page. One was “I do it because we need the money.”The speaker was Antonio de Jesus Bailon. He was one of...
View ArticleEditorial: Trump trade policies mostly promises
Last week Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released details of the administration’s response to trade damages from retaliatory tariffs by China and other countries.The plan includes nearly $4.7...
View ArticleEditorial: Beginning farmers join the most important profession
Hats off to Irina Schabram, Nicki Passarella, Emily Cooper and the thousands of other new farmers who are joining the world’s most important profession: agriculture.We do not exaggerate when we...
View ArticleEditorial: Mass timber movement aims high
A mass movement is underway in Oregon — a mass timber movement.Mass timber is cross-laminated timber — called CLT — mass plywood and other types of engineered wood that turn lumber into large, strong...
View ArticleEditorial: Gerawan case shows ALRB ineptitude
No matter where you stand on the unionization of farmworkers, you would have to agree that the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board did a disservice to Gerawan Farms and the United Farm...
View ArticleEditorial: Now we’re talking!
The past week marked three major breakthroughs for the Trump administration — and for the U.S. farmers who depend on trade relationships with Pacific Rim nations.First, the U.S., Mexico and Canada...
View ArticleEditorial: Washington oyster farmers need help
‘Neonic” is a word that sets off alarm bells among the anti-pesticide crowd, most of whom oppose the chemicals that farmers and ranchers need to protect their crops and livestock.Neonics — the common...
View ArticleEditorial: Protect ranchers, not wolves
Klamath Basin irrigators got a little help last week from Congress — $10 million tucked into a $6 billion bill to improve the nation’s ports, dams, harbors and other infrastructure.It won’t correct the...
View ArticleEditorial: Klamath Basin aid a small start
Klamath Basin irrigators got a little help last week from Congress — $10 million tucked into a $6 billion bill to improve the nation’s ports, dams, harbors and other infrastructure.It won’t correct the...
View ArticleEditorial: Budd-Falen top choice for Interior job
Judging by the knee-jerk reaction of some environmentalists, the Trump administration has chosen well in Karen Budd-Falen, its new deputy solicitor for fish, wildlife and parks within the Department of...
View ArticleEditorial: Farm Bureau’s loss is USDA’s gain
We’d like to take a moment to wish Barry Bushue well in his new position as Oregon state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.Bushue operates a small farm in Boring, Ore., where he and...
View ArticleEditorial: Marketing, big potato truck recipe for success
Last June 9, as participants in the Rose Festival Parade lined up in downtown Portland, a truck drew most of the attention. It wasn’t just any truck; it was the Big Idaho Potato Truck, a 72-foot-long...
View ArticleEditorial: What is, and isn’t, milk?
You have to hand it to the makers of “milk” made from soybeans, almonds, hemp and other non-dairy crops. It was a stroke of genius to label their products in a way that would cause consumers to equate...
View ArticleEditorial: Give thanks for the miracle of agriculture
The subject of food always sparks a lively conversation these days. Everyone seems to have a unique perspective on what’s right — and wrong — with our food. No matter how food is produced, someone will...
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