‘Right to farm’ law among targets in Oregon Legislature

Agribusiness groups have cheered the Trump administration’s vow to roll back federal regulations but they continue to fear overreach by the state government in Oregon. With Democrats controlling the Oregon Legislature and the governor’s office, farm lobbyists said they expect new threats to emerge during the 2017 legislative session. Despite optimism at the national level, the political climate in Oregon “sucks some of the air out of the room,” said Katie Fast, executive director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group. Though Republicans picked up one seat in the state Senate during last year’s election, they’re still a minority in both legislative chambers and several moderate-leaning Democrats have left their positions, Fast said during the 2017 Ag Summit, organized by the Dunn Carney law firm. One proposal to be considered during the upcoming legislative session, Senate Bill 499, would remove protections for pesticide usage from the state’s “Right to Farm and Forest Law,” which prohibits lawsuits and local ordinances against common farming practices, she said. “It’s a big attack on the whole program,” said Fast.