Agriculture

Agriculture has long been a staple of Oregon’s economy, providing the nation and the world with a wide variety of products including onions, wheat, and cattle from Eastern Oregon; salmon and cranberries from the Oregon Coast; berries, hazelnuts, and nursery products from Willamette Valley; and pears and apples from the Columbia Gorge.  Our state’s farms provide good jobs and drive the rural economy.

Merkley: Forest Service Dangerously Unprepared for Wildfire Season

Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued the following statement after a hearing with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the agency: “Forest Service Chief Schultz’s testimony only underscored the immense, serious challenges facing communities

Merkley Remarks at Forest Service Budget Hearing with Chief Schultz

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—the Ranking Member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee—delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery at the hearing reviewing the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service with Chief Tom Schultz: Senator Merkley’s remarks, as prepared for

Heinrich, Murray, Klobuchar, Merkley Slam USDA for Evasive Response on Wildfire Mitigation Projects, Workforce Cuts, and Funding Freezes

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley

Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Slam Trump Administration’s Attacks on Senior Nutrition Programs

“The cuts will exacerbate hunger, poor health, and social isolation” Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore, said today they have joined fellow Senate leaders to call on Republicans to reconsider disastrous cuts and attacks on programs and agencies that support seniors with food assistance among other necessities. “We are writing today to express our

Senator Welch, Oregon Governor Kotek, Sens. Klobuchar, Luján, Wyden, and Merkley Host Press Call on Republicans’ Attack on SNAP, Nutrition Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Nutrition and Specialty

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