Just six months after Linn County commissioners thought they’d voted to limit large-scale poultry farms, the commission is now revisiting its decision, after learning other livestock operations could also be restricted.
In December 2023, Linn County was the first county in Oregon to make use of a rule through state Senate Bill 85. That bill, signed into law last year by Gov. Tina Kotek, added more state oversight and new requirements for large Confined Animal Feeding Operations in Oregon. Environmental advocates said the bill was the first in decades in the state to reform large poultry and livestock facilities, known as CAFOs.
The law also gave local governments the authority to require setbacks, or buffers, between a proposed large-scale CAFO facility and neighboring properties like residential buildings.
At issue is a confined animal feeding operation, or CAFO permit, granted to J-S Ranch by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality. Environmental groups and farmers argue the operation would produce harmful air and water pollutants.
A CAFO permit is intended to protect surface and ground water by limiting the amount of manure, wastewater and nutrients that can be discharged from a farm.
But the permit issued to the farm only addresses groundwater. Kendra Kimbirauskas, a Scio farmer and a member of Farmers Against Foster Farms, a group opposing J-S Ranch, said it should have included stronger requirements to protect surface waters.
“We contend that the site for the operation is a terrible site. It basically has standing water all winter long,” Kimbirauskas said. “It’s approximately 400 yards from the North Santiam River, which is a beautiful river that so many people recreate on. And it’s a drinking water source for communities like Jefferson and the city of Albany.”
If allowed to move forward, the J-S Ranch would build 11 large barns, and expects to produce 4,500 tons of manure per year, which would be sold to other farmers as fertilizer.
A petition filed in Linn County is asking the county circuit court to reverse the state’s decision to grant a permit, or to have ODA and DEQ add stronger requirements. The case was supposed to go on trial in early May, though the state’s temporary permit withdrawal gives the agencies a pause, said Amy van Saun, an attorney for the Center for Food Safety, representing the petitioners.
“It means that they take a pause and a timeout to look back and reconsider, ‘Did we make the correct decision?’” van Saun said. “An Oregon law gives them expressly this ability, if they’re taken to court on an action, to say ‘Time out, we want to think about it more and we might affirm, do the same thing or modify what we did or we might totally reverse what we did.’”
The decision means J-S Ranch cannot yet begin construction on the site. In a brief response to OPB, Eric Simon, the owner and operator of J-S Ranch said the decision is frustrating. Simon added he was getting ready to begin construction this summer.
“I’m disappointed,” Simon said. “And I’m not sure how we’re going to move forward.”
The state has until Oct. 31 to decide whether it will make any changes to the permit, like keep it as it is, amend it or revoke it.
Kimbirauskas said for now, she and other farmers in the area can let out a sigh of relief.
“We are going to remain vigilant and we are committed to fighting any proposal of this magnitude on that location,” Kimbirauskas.
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