BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Farm-labor advocacy groups are furious after a District Court judge in Bellingham slashed the fine to $36,500 on Tuesday for a blueberry farm accused of unsafe working conditions, after a worker there collapsed and died last August.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries previously found Sarbanand Farms not liable for the death of Honesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old father of two, but it found the company failed to offer enough rest and dinner breaks.

Rosalinda Guillen, executive director of the nonprofit Community2Community Development, said the farm had people working 12- to 14-hour days, despite thick smoke from a nearby wildfire. She charged that managers ignored Ibarra's request for medical help until it was too late.

"He did have diabetes, but his death was caused by overwork, by not enough food, but also extreme dehydration and overwork outside in the fields, during a time when that smoke was covering all of Whatcom County," said Guillen.

The state originally considered a fine of $145,000, but settled on $73,000. Then the district court cut it in half. However, state law allows the district court to charge an assessment, which could bring the final number up to almost $75,000. The company did not accept responsibility for Ibarra's death and argued the fine should be lowered because managers kept good records and cooperated with investigators.

Ibarra was hired in Mexico to come to Washington on an H2A visa held by the company, not the worker. Guillen said that means workers can't flee to another job if working conditions are unsafe.

"For us it's immoral, the fact that the life of a farm worker has been negotiated down to $35,000. And the reason they bring in these H2-A workers is because they are exploitable," she said. "It's like slavery. It's like the value of a worker is actually being calculated. It's disgusting."

She said she's convinced that farm work should be done by union workers with proper breaks, salaries and benefits, and said her group will continue to protest working conditions on farms in Whatcom County.


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JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- The beef or chicken you buy from the grocery store is often processed by the same small number of companies.

Advocates for farmers and ranchers said it hurts producers and consumers, but they are encouraged by new federal efforts to steer the supply chain to smaller plants.

The Biden administration recently announced sweeping plans to bolster competition among a range of industries, including agriculture. Tied to that is a USDA investment to increase production capacity among non-corporate processing plants.

Donald Rude, a rancher from northeastern North Dakota, said it is hard to make a profit when the markets are dominated by only a handful of operations.

"We're making, say, $1.20, $1.50, and they're selling the meat in store for, say, $6, $7 a pound," Rude explained. "I mean, that's a big gap. And their gobbling up all the profit is not fair to the consumer."

He said the potential to shop their livestock around paves the way for better prices, and less sticker shock for consumers.

The USDA said because of consolidation, federally inspected meatpacking plants have declined by roughly 40% since 1990. Currently, there are only 18 licensed local slaughter plants in North Dakota for ranchers to consider.

Industry groups criticized the federal initiative, saying it will lead to unintended consequences for customers and producers.

Nathan Kroh, scientific information coordinator for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture's meat and poultry inspection program, said the 18 slaughter plants that offer inspections are the first step in getting a rancher's product to the masses.

But he noted the local plants often are overbooked, leaving producers in a bind.

"A lot of our ranchers will actually just sell through the auction market for the larger facilities to take, and then they're at that price," Kroh observed.

That means they have to take what they can get, versus looking for a better price structure on the local scene.

Kroh added the federal rollout includes a new $55 million grant program for plants trying to be certified for inspection status.

North Dakota has more than 70 sites that are currently custom-exempt, meaning the meat they take in can't be sold for retail.

BOISE, Idaho -- Supporters from both sides of the aisle are touting a $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework taking shape in Washington, D.C.

Backers said it will be a boon for rural states such as Idaho, promising to deliver 100% broadband coverage to communities and fix crumbling roads and bridges.

According to a White House fact sheet, it would also invest $52 billion to help communities build resilience to wildfires and floods, through forest management and infrastructure upgrades.

Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, said the need for improvements came into sharp focus during the Northwest's recent heat wave.

"We're talking about building the kind of resilience that we need to build now because we're seeing such extreme heat and drought, as well as wildfires," McCarthy explained. "Wildfires no longer have a season."

McCarthy added nearly all the West is facing some stage of drought, and investing in water storage for the region will be critical as well.

But the infrastructure framework faces criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. Liberal members of Congress argued it doesn't invest enough to counter climate change, while conservatives countered 2017 tax cuts shouldn't be undone to pay for it.

McCarthy believes the package would mean long-term changes for rural communities.

"There's been disinvestment in some of the poorest rural areas, and it's time to rebuild those areas and to build the kind of good-paying union jobs that helped us grow the middle class before," McCarthy asserted.

She also wants young people to be part of the solution, helping with the management of forests, so they're less susceptible to wildfires, for instance.

"We want to get a new civilian climate corps started," McCarthy remarked, "So that young people can be out in rural areas and on our public lands getting an understanding of how they can do an apprenticeship with some of the unions and learn new career paths."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recently said the Senate may work into the August recess in order to get infrastructure legislation passed.

INDIANAPOLIS -- There's good news for soil conservation efforts in a new survey by the Indiana Conservation Partnership: Farmers in the state planted roughly 1.5 million acres of cover crops this past year.

Cover crops, which can be grasses, turnips, brassicas, rye grass, or other plants, can help prevent soil erosion by anchoring roots in place and providing a food source for beneficial organisms. They can also reduce runoff from fields that leads to nutrient pollution in waterways.

Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, hopes to see more cover crop acreage as the years go on.

"We're not carrying things like nitrogen and phosphorus off of those soils," Kettler explained. "We keep them on the field where our crops, whether it's corn, soybeans, wheat or other crops that we grow in Indiana, can benefit from it."

Kettler noted it is estimated cover crops prevented 1.6 million tons of sediment from entering Indiana waterways, including more than four million pounds of nitrogen and about two million pounds of phosphorus.

Drinking water with high nitrate levels can increase risk for what's known as "blue baby syndrome," and is linked to some cancers and thyroid conditions.

Kettler pointed out as weather patterns have changed in recent years, the issue of sequestering carbon in the soil has greater significance for farmers, and cover crops also help protect the soil in planted fields from washing away when there's too much rain.

"You can talk to about any farmer that's been around for a long time, and they'll tell you that things have changed," Kettler observed. "They really have the opportunity here with things like cover crops, reduced tillage, maybe no tillage in some cases, strip tillage, there's a renewed interest in that."

He added the amount of sediment kept in the soil in the last year could fill more than 450 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The report said cover crops covered more acres than any other commodity crop, with the exception of corn and soybeans.