| | Oregon Bill to Support Climate Friendly Farming Practices - Your Action Needed Now The Oregon Legislature meets from just February 5 through early March this year. But they will be considering two major bills to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, while creating a fund to address the impacts of climate change and support climate friendly farming practices. You might have heard these bills referred to as 'Clean Energy Jobs' or 'Cap and Invest.' While the amount of money available is unknown at this stage, the bills have the potential to support a wide range of activities and practices on farms that sequester carbon in soils, reduce energy use, encourage irrigation efficiency, and protect both working land and natural areas on farms and ranches. Farmers are not only on the front lines of experiencing climate change impacts like extreme weather and uncertain water supplies, as land managers we can also be part of the solution. House Bill 4001 and Senate Bill 1507 are scheduled to receive their first public hearing at 3pm on Wednesday, February 7 in Salem before a joint meeting of the Senate and House Environment Committees. At this hearing, members of the public can testify, and FoFF will be there to advocate for smaller and mid-sized family farmers and ranchers. These bills are a step in the right direction and acknowledge the important role that farms and ranches can play in addressing climate change. But they are facing strong opposition. We need you to raise your voice and help us ensure that socially and environmentally responsible small and mid-sized farms are able to access the programs the bill will ultimately set up. Unfortunately, the bills contain a significant loophole that would allow a handful of Oregon's largest mega-dairies to be exempt from any requirement to reduce, or even report, their annual methane emissions, continuing the lax oversight of an increasing number of these large industrial farming operations in our state. Please take action today by sending an email to your State Legislators to encourage them to strengthen the bills for the benefit of Oregon's small and mid-sized family farmers and ranchers. You can find more information on the incentives for agriculture in these bills and sample text for emails to your Legislators at our website. | |  | FoFF's 2018 Farm and Rancher Listening Sessions Underway We are traveling the state in the coming months for our biennial Farmer and Rancher Listening Sessions. The first was in mid-December in Salem, with farmers from the mid-Willamette Valley attending. Our next stops are Philomath on February 28, Beavercreek on March 7, and Gresham on March 8, with more being scheduled for the north Coast, southern Oregon, the Gorge, central Oregon, and more. Check out our Farmer and Rancher Listening Session page for all dates, locations and details on how to RSVP. Come make your voice heard! We also have surveys we are asking FoFF supporters to take to help us determine our policy and program priorities over the next few years. One survey is for farmers and ranchers, and the other is for everybody else. Please take the survey that applies to you, help us track emerging issues, and make a positive impact for family farmers, ranchers and local food systems in Oregon. | |  | Looking for a Farm Job, or Farm Workers? Friends of Family Farmers' Oregon Farm Link is a great online tool that has been connecting landowners with beginning farmers and land seekers since 2009. It is also full of links to a wide variety of educational resources to help you start, or sustain, your family farm. But did you know that Oregon Farm Link also has a 'Jobs' page? Whether you are a farm looking for employees for the upcoming growing season, or looking for rewarding work this spring, summer or beyond, the Jobs page on Oregon Farm Link is a great resource. Current listings include: Farm crew positions on farms in Stayton, Hillsboro, Gresham and Noti; on-farm internships and apprenticeships in southern Oregon, Springfield, Colton, and Sandy; farm management positions in Monmouth, Oregon City, and Portland, and many more. More jobs are added all the time. Click here to search for jobs, or to post your job listing. | | Go Solar with Friends of Family Farmers and Energy Solutions! Friends of Family Farmers is teaming up once again with Energy Solutions, an Oregon solar installation company, to offer our supporters FREE solar evaluations and financial analyses for their homes and farms in 2018! Anywhere in the state, buildings with good solar access or farms that have areas for roof-top or ground-mounted solar systems can easily qualify for a variety of incentives and tax credits. This makes paying these systems off easier, and can help save significant money on energy costs over time. For every project installed by FoFF supporters, Energy Solutions will make a significant donation to our organization. It's a triple win! Sign up for a free solar evaluation today! Visit our Go Solar page. | | | | | | | | Contact Us Friends of Family Farmers
249 Liberty St NE, Suite 212
Salem, 97301
503-581-7124
info@friendsoffamilyfarmers.org
www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org | | | | We bring together farmers and citizens to shape and support socially and environmentally responsible family-scale agriculture in Oregon. | | | | | | | |
