Bill would eliminate 'high-value' status for cranberries

Economic troubles in the cranberry industry have spurred a proposal to reduce the difficulty of building dwellings on Oregon farmland dedicated to the crop. Proponents of House Bill 2573 say it’s intended to allow farmers to live on the same property where they grow cranberries, which have severely dropped in price due to an oversupply in recent years.The bill would remove cranberries from the list of high-value crops under Oregon land use laws, effectively lowering the income threshold for building a home on farm property from $80,000 to $40,000 a year.Farmers want to be able to reside on the same land they cultivate, which often isn’t possible in the cranberry industry’s current downturn, according to supporters of HB 2573.