The Stand Up to Factory Farms coalition is now lobbying for a moratorium on mega-dairies.
The coalition fears the Easterday Dairy doesn’t have the resources to run a responsible dairy. They’re asking the state to deny Easterday’s application on the basis that it failed to disclose all relevant facts—specifically, that Cody Easterday has admitted to perpetrating a massive fraud and using the proceeds to cover his commodity futures trading losses, and that two other Easterday family enterprises, Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches, have declared bankruptcy.
“It’s a serious concern that an applicant would withhold information,” says Heinzen.
The application is still under state review.
Although proponents have repeatedly proposed legislation to block permits for new or expanded mega-dairies, and the most recent Senate bill got a public hearing, there will be no further movement in the 2021 legislative session.
Opponents of the bill say a moratorium on mega-dairies would have a negative effect on what Paul Snyder, executive vice president of stewardship at the Tillamook County Creamery Association, describes as an industry “success story.”
As far as the industry is concerned, Threemile Canyon Farms (TMCF) is the poster child for best practices. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy named TMCF as one of three dairy farms nationwide to receive its 2020 award for Outstanding Dairy Sustainability, citing TMCF’s closed-loop system and high standards of animal care. The farm has set aside 25% of its land as a wildlife conservation area, managed by The Nature Conservancy, along with the water rights for that land.
TCMF says it adheres strictly to its goal of wasting nothing. The farm’s wastewater is collected and injected into the irrigation system. The amount of water delivered to crops is tailored to each field, and soil moisture is monitored in real time to prevent overwatering. Hoses hanging from the center-pivot irrigation system deliver low-pressure water through nozzles close to the ground, minimizing evaporation losses.
“What we’re able to offer is a level of sophistication of water management that not every farm is able to bring to bear, just because of the scale that we have and the resources that we have,” says Tara May, spokesperson for Offutt, the farm’s parent company.
Threemile Canyon Farms has two groundwater wells, each permitted to produce 2.7 cubic feet per second; this water is used for drinking water, flushing manure and other dairy operations. Irrigation water is pumped from the Columbia River through 231 miles of pipeline at rates up to 482 cubic feet per second.