The 2025 long session of the Oregon State Legislature came to a close on June 28, 2025. This was a session that broke some norms and had more federal influence than the FoFF team has seen in recent memory and while that meant a lot of disappointment in the budget realm, we had one of our biggest wins for small farms ever this year. The 2025 session is a testament to breaking the odds with grassroots support and making the case for movement building as a function of community. But here’s what happened in the realm of small farms:

FoFF’s Priorities

FoFF had 2 bills this session that were our top priorities in 2025. These were bills that we knew covered issues that were incredibly important to the people we serve and were not being addressed in coalition. We definitely didn’t ONLY work on these two things but these were the ones that we pitched to legislators, helped to draft and were the primary contacts on. 

State Meat Inspection Program: Campaign page here

What were we trying to fix?

We have known that meat processing infrastructure in our state is a bottleneck for farmers for decades. Because meat needs to be slaughtered and processed in inspected facilities in order to engage in most retail markets, including selling meat by the cut directly to consumers at outlets like farmers markets, it is essential that small, independent farmers have access to processors who can meet their needs. Meat processing is one of the most vertically integrated industries in the country, with the majority of the infrastructure for all types of processing (beef, poultry, etc.) owned by giant multi-national corporations who only allow those who raise animals on contract to them access to the facilities. This coupled with economic disincentives for independent processors to work with small scale growers means that the farmers in our network report 12-18 month wait times for appointment slots. 

In 2020, the Oregon legislature authorized ODA to create the state meat inspection program. This is a counterpart to the USDA program and would afford farmers the ability to sell their product at all retail locations allowed by USDA planrtsa, as long as the product does not leave the state of Oregon. They got their cooperative agreement with USDA up and running in 2022, and devoted $11M of state funds to a meat processing infrastructure grant fund which assisted dozens of new and upgraded facilities across the state. But, because this was a new program, staff time for inspectors at ODA for the program were not included in continuing service level and have not been added due to budget restrictions, leaving the program without the necessary personnel to operate effectively as more facilities come on line.

What is the solution proposed in 2025?

HB 2164. We worked with ODA to propose 2 FTE for inspectors which can be spread to positions across the state to allow consistent and reliable coverage for inspectors. This would have cost the state about $275,000 per biennium.

What happened? 

In committee upon adjournment, no funding in reconciliation.

This bill had a very early and overwhelmingly positive hearing in the Oregon House Ag committee and was sent down to Ways and Means. We are grateful for the bipartisan support shown to this issue and were heartened by the desire to close the loop on this state investment. But this bill did not pass and the funding was not awarded. We will continue to talk about how important these services are and keep fighting for access for our farmers in future sessions.

Commercial Garden/Small Farm Water Access – Campaign page here

What were we trying to fix?

Since 1955, watering crops for sale from a domestic well has been illegal, but watering crops for yourself on a ½ acre with no water limit, and pursuing other commercial activity with 5,000 gal/day is allowed. This has been enforced on a complaint driven basis for decades and many small farms thought that if they were operating within the existing exemptions (½ acre foot print or 5,000 gal/day) they were following the law. 

This has gotten more attention in the last few years. As farmland prices in Oregon continue to rise at the fastest rates on the West Coast and at more than 3 times the national average (according to American Farmland Trust), more small and beginning farmers are looking toward nontraditional or non-prime farmland to start their businesses. Communities are also looking for ways to sustain themselves and many people are interested in either sharing the excess from their home garden at the farmers market to make a few extra dollars, or creating new ways to feed their communities on small parcels. Changes in enforcement in Fall 2023 highlighted the hypocrisy in the law. Water masters, acting with new authority and resources granted to combat the ongoing drought in Oregon began proactively targeting small farms for this type of illegal water use, although in many cases the only thing making the water use illegal was the fact that vegetables were being sold. We wanted to make sure that small farms had the same opportunities as other businesses using domestic well water and other small scale growers using city water on urban farms. We all benefit when our communities have the ability to feed themselves. 

What is the solution proposed in 2025?

HB 3372 allows domestic wells to be used to water ½ acre of ground for any purpose (commercial or personal) with a limit of daily irrigation of 3,000 gal/day. In addition, this daily irrigation number plus any other commercial activity (washing vegetables for sale, making value added products, or an entirely separate business) must equal no more than 5,000 gal/day. In other words, you can use ½ acre and 3,000 of the 5,000 gal/day commercial allowance to grow vegetables, plants, or other farm products for sale.

This exemption does not apply in the LUBGWMA, an area of Morrow and Umatilla counties that is experiencing very serious groundwater contamination, and it cannot be used as a water source for an OLCC permit to grow cannabis. 

What happened? 

The bill passed and takes effect Jan 1, 2026!!!

This bill took a lot of negotiation, patience, input and fortitude, but because of all of you showing up, we did it!  Water concerns everyone, water belongs to everyone, and water is life. Therefore, there were many stakeholders to consider and consult in this process. We are very grateful to our champions Representative Mark Owens and Representative Ken Helm, for working with us to bring forward this bipartisan solution. Nearly 300 of you submitted written testimony in favor of this bill, and your continued and consistent support made all the difference. This was truly a grassroots campaign and we are so pleased that the outcome allows more small farms in Oregon to operate legally.

Other Bills We Watched

Bills that passed or programs that were awarded funding:

Good News:

• Oregon Farm to School: Awarded $10.2M in ODE budget
  • With local food purchasing programs under fire at the federal level it is great to see Oregon continuing to invest in the Farm to School program. This is a win for everyone involved. School children get to learn about Oregon agriculture and connect the farm to their food, they get more access to locally grown fruits, veggies, and proteins, and they get access to the awesome garden and farm education programs that go with them. Farmers get assured income from a community institution that they know is putting their product to good use, and they can use that security to scale their business or enter other wholesale markets. 
• DUFB: Awarded $4.3M in ODHS budget
  • The Double Up Food Bucks program makes local food accessible. By providing matching for SNAP users at farmers markets, farmstands, and some grocery stores, DUFB expands people’s access to local foods, brings people into community at these places, gives them access to other programming or education offered in market spaces, and puts more money in local farmers pockets. There is no down side! 
• OAHP: Awarded $2M in grants plus admin in OWEB Budget
  • The Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program provides grants for conservation management plans and conservation easements. Both of these programs are vital to the health and protection of our working lands in Oregon. Although more money here would have been great, keeping the doors open on this important program during this challenging budget time is good news.
• HB 2541: Protections for ag workers to take breaks for milk expression
  • Adding farmworkers to the list of types of workers required to have breaks and accommodations while breastfeeding and managing their milk supply is a good step forward. New parents have so many challenges in our country and the very least we can do is support their need for space and time to take care of this.
• SB 809: Includes Poultry in State Meat Inspection Program
  • This bill clears up a discrepancy caused by some nuance in the wording of the authorization of the State Meat Inspecition program in 202. Because of the wording of the original bill, USDA would not allow ODA to inspect poultry facilities under this program in addition to other amenable species. This bill fixes this and allows poultry processors to apply for State Meat Inspection to increase their capacity for farmers selling meat raised and eaten in Oregon.
• Water Well Abandonment, Repair and Replacement Fund at OWRD- $2M in budget reconciliation 
  • This program gives resources to rural residents struggling with well replacement and repair costs. This is an essential program because a new well can cost tens of thousands of dollars, an expense that would bankrupt many rural residents in Oregon. This strengthens the resilience of our rural communities.
• Marion Polk Food Share funds for new facility – ~$6M in reconciliation
  • This funding is secured for a new facility to strengthen the food distribution of the crucial programming of the Marion Polk Food Share. This investment in the community will help them keep feeding people for years to come.
• OR Farmworker Disaster Relief Fund – $2M in reconciliation
  • This funding is a renewal of an existing program that provides relief to farmworkers for lost wages and costs associated with extreme weather and unsafe conditions. This is a vital program that should continue.
• OSU Agristress Hotline – $200k in reconciliation
  • Mental health challenges in the agricultural world are often unsaid. Farmers have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession and it is vital that our community continues to have this vital life line.
• HB 2947 – OSU study on the impact of PFAS applied to land (due by Sept 2028)
  • We are very interested in the results of this study and the possibility of its results shaping policy in the long run.

Good-ish News:

• HB 2548: 
  • This bill started out as farmworker labor standards board, ended as a comprehensive study of farmworker labor conditions in OR conducted by PSU. While FoFF remains supportive of both outcomes, it was disappointing to see the level of opposition this idea received from other farm groups. Farm owners working alongside farm workers to craft policy for our industry should be something we relish, not shut down.
• HB 1154: 
  • Governor’s groundwater bill to create more control of remediation of groundwater pollution areas. Bill was severely amended and ultimately lost the support of the community in the LUBGWMA. While this bill does not worsen the status quo, we are concerned its passage sends a message that the problem has been addressed when in reality, nothing meaningful has been done.

New Agriculture Statewide Celebrations 

• HB 3141: 3rd Tuesday of March is now Oregon Farmer and Rancher Day
• SB 584: February is Oregon Truffle Month
• SB 547: April is Oregon Native Plant Appreciation Month
• SCR 13: Designates the T-bone as the official Oregon State Steak

Bad News:

This session was a really difficult one for investment from the state government. This was due to many factors, but here are the main ones:

• The May revenue forecast showed a reduction of $744M in funds from where the state previously thought its budget would land. This is due to overall economic downturn and wariness about the economic impact of foreign policy at the national level. This limited new investment and scaled back continuing service level for agency budgets.
• The state is being more conservative in spending than the poor revenue forecast even suggests. This is widely considered a bracing for the impact of federal cuts to human services programs like SNAP and medicaid on the federal level. The state is holding onto funds it would normally spend to make sure it can intervene in the worst case scenarios.

Here is a list of things not funded this cycle:

• Cuts to agency budget CSL across the board
• HB 2979 – OCFSN and OFMA Food system resilience funds not funded at any level
• SB 611 – Food for All Oregonians did not pass or get awarded funding
• SB 887 – ODA Organic Policy Specialist did not pass or get awarded funding
• HB 3010 – Spanish Language pesticide application training, did not pass or get awarded funding
• SB 363 – Renewing the Meat processing infrastructure grant fund did not pass or get awarded funding

In addition to the cuts in funding, we also saw two policy efforts to curtail the impact of factory farming on our water quality be shut down:

• SB 80 
  • GWMA moratorium of large CAFOs did not pass. This was an attempt to close a loophole left by SB 85 which would have required an individual permit, but still allowed large CAFOs to apply for operation in sensitive groundwater management areas. These areas, already plagued by serious and well documented water quality problems, cannot bear the risk of a contamination problem from a new facility of that size. 
• SB 747 
  • Stricter reporting guidelines for fertilizer application in sensitive areas on parcels of 200+ acres did not pass. This was an attempt to get one step closer to illuminating the difference between agronomic application rates of fertilizer and pollution rates. When farmers follow prevailing wisdom and it still leads to water contamination problems, we all lose. This bill could have been a first step in understanding this crucial aspect of the problem but was summarily demonized by conventional agriculture groups.

Neutral News

• HB 3133 did not move forward after a legislative working group
  • Changes to farm stands – this is going through rulemaking now
  • This proposal is getting a lot of attention for the DLCD rulemaking process right now, read our blog post breaking down the proposed rules as of 7.24.25
  • Look out for more updates as information is released!
  • The public comment deadline for these rules is November 7 and they will not take effect until Jan 1.
• Various land use changes – None of these bills moved forward this year.
  • Non farm dwellings on farmland (SB 79)
  • Replacement dwellings (SB 78)
  • Home occupations (HB 2455 & SB 77)
  • Rezoning of ag land (SB 73)
  • Solar siting did not move forward. 
  • ****More discussion is needed on these topics. Future proposals are anticipated and we look forward to participating in the discussion.