“An Organic Farm Under Threat. An Urgent Message from Azure Standard.”
Those are the words that greet viewers of a Vimeo video posted by Azure Farms, a certified organic farm located in central Oregon. Watching the video, viewers learn from David Cross, the farm’s marketing director (there’s your first clue), that Sherman County, where 2,000 acres of the farm is located, has recently changed its statutes to require the eradication of certain noxious weeds. Mr. Cross claims that Azure Farms could certainly work to control those noxious weeds through organic methods, but would only be able to eradicate them by spraying “toxic and poisonous substances” on its certified organic farm. Obviously, the idea is abhorrent to him. The County is ready to force the farm to spray the “poisonous muck” on their farm and put a lien on the farm for the cost of labor and materials to do it. Azure Farms begs viewers to email, call, and inundate the court with requests to rule in the farm’s favor.
As a last ditch effort to convince viewers, Mr. Cross appeals to the fact that he is a father of 6 and his family had decided to stop eating non-organic and GMO foods to protect themselves. Because, you know, the stuff those conventional farms are raising is super icky, nasty, and dangerous. Oh, and Round-Up is Agent Orange.
As you might imagine, contrary to Mr. Cross’ emotional and ridiculous plea, there is another side to this story.
The Rest of the Story
Under Oregon law, Chapter 569 establishes the requirements and authorities for controlling noxious weeds. Pursuant to the law, individual landowners are required to eradicate or control the spread of noxious weeds, as that term is defined by the State Weed Board, on their property. If landowners are derelict in their duty to do so, authority is granted under the statute for the county to take action and may charge the expenses for doing so to the landowner.
In early March of this year, Sherman County contacted the Ecclesia of Sinai at Dufur, which apparently owns Azure Farms, and informed them that they were in violation of the county ordinance because certain noxious weeds were found to be running “rampant and unchecked” on their property. The County gave the farm 30 days to submit a Weed Management Plan, which explained how the farm planned on destroying the weeds and keeping them under control throughout the growing season.
But instead of submitting a management plan and complying with the ordinance, the farm instead claimed they had a religious exemption, were not subject to the County’s authority because they only answer to a higher power, and were prohibited from using “toxic chemicals” as part of their faith. Furthermore, and for good measure, the farm claimed that it avoided using chemicals because it wanted to protect future generations from the use of all those horrible pesticides.
At the end of April, the County responded and informed Azure Farms that the management plan was insufficient and suggested several methods, only one of which included the use of herbicides, to control the noxious weeds on their property. If no action was taken by May 22, 2017, the Weed Control District planned to move forward with taking care of the noxious weeds and charging the farm with the costs.
That’s when Azure Farms took to the internet to plead with the public to intercede on their behalf.
“Control Your Weeds”
So, what’s the big deal?
Scott Dahlman of Oregonians for Food and Shelter, a grassroots organization promoting the efficient production of food using modern technology, explained that this has been hurting other neighboring farmers. Sherman County is a mostly rural, agricultural part of the state. Because Azure Farms has failed to control the noxious weeds on their property, other farmers have been forced to use more herbicides to make up for it.
There are also wheat seed growers in the area that have to worry about contamination of their crop at harvest. If the noxious weeds are not properly controlled, their seeds can end up in the wheat after harvest and negatively impact the value of that seed.
As Scott said, Sherman County is simply asking Azure Farms to control their weeds.
These laws are meant to be a shared responsibility that benefits all agriculture. Even organic farms are required to follow local laws and be good stewards of the environment. They have to control weeds on their property and have organic-certified options available for doing so. Azure Farms has made the decision to harm their neighbors, not to follow the law, not to correct the problem when given the opportunity, and to make a mockery of the entire legal system. For them to turn to the public for help when they knew they were wrong and were given opportunities to fix the problem is disingenuous.
Also, as an officer of the court myself, I am appalled that a farm would turn to the public and beg them to inundate the court with spam emails and phone calls demanding that the judge rule in the farm’s favor. Not only is that a waste of judicial resources, it makes a mockery of the law. The law is not decided by spam marketing campaigns.
In the same vein, Azure Farms’ social media message here is clear: tell the County to shove it. If they get enough support, the County will decide it just isn’t worth the negative publicity and forget about the whole thing. And in Oregon, where the issue of pesticides and genetically modified crops is so sensitive, they knew exactly what they were doing. Unfortunately for Azure Farms, social media works both ways and it’s time for the other side of the story to get out.
Azure Farms needs to do the right thing and control the noxious weeds on their property. If they aren’t willing to step up and do it, then I sincerely hope the County will follow their own laws and do it for them.
[UPDATE: The Sherman County Court released this statement via Facebook: Today, May 16, 2016 [sic?], Nathan Stelzer submitted a Weed Control Plan to the Sherman County Weed District. A plan was originally requested on March 2, 2017. The plan is under review, and the court is working on keeping lines of communication open with Azure Farms/Ecclesia of Sinai at Dufur to continue working towards a resolution to this issue.]
I find your statement extremely disingenous both in its inclusion of a totally questionable inference and in its attempt at character assassination of the people at Azure Farms. The inference involves the false assumption that spraying toxic herbicides is the solution to dealing with weeds, despite the fact that global agriculture did just find without them for thousands of years. The character assassination involves allegations of “spam emails” etc. Obviously you, and the county officials behind this support for poisoning the environment (and support for the chemical company criminals) are not aware that there is legal certification for organic farms in the USA and that spraying an organic farm with toxic herbicides will not stand up in court.
Did you even read the article? Chemicals aren’t the issue here. This is a person making an ideological stand over nothing, then going to the public to misrepresent the situation and try to make the State look evil.
“At the end of April, the County responded and informed Azure Farms that the management plan was insufficient and suggested several methods, only one of which included the use of herbicides, to control the noxious weeds on their property”
The article also points out that multiple courses of action were suggested, and only a few of them required the use of chemicals. As an “earth dweller” we must not destroy our neighbors to benefit ourselves.
If you read the article you obviously skipped part, the part that stated only one of the many plans advised included herbicides. So stop, pay attention, get educated on facts before spouting your ignorance. You are probably not a farmer or you would understand the seriousness of this situation. Farmers work together not try to destroy each other’s livelihood.
Absolutely. Everyone operates within a system, and our institution of law is an unequivocal asset. The energy and technology Azure farms used to stake its righteous claims and uses to make a living just how it chooses IS PREDICATED ON AMERICA’S SYSTEMS OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE. We all have to play in this sandbox and we are so lucky we have systems that let us do that with relative freedom. Demonizing governance wastes a huge opportunity to nurture an asset that could benefit us all.
Than you, Amanda, for your comments. As usual, you are right on target. You, correctly, pointed out the ORS 569 says both “eradicate” and “control.” Part of “control” is defined as not allowing the noxious weed to go to seed. While that is difficult, it can be attained without chemicals.
Also, you pointed out that there is a lot of anti-chemical sentiment in Oregon, but the Cascade Mountain range does more than separate the State geographically. The western part (Willamette Valley) is where the fruits and nuts are grown and reside (mainly Portland, Salem, and Eugene.
The eastern part of the State (the dry/desert side where Sherman Co. is located) is much more conservative.
There is pretty universal support for noxious weed control, but other “organic” operations have been problematic. It is certainly an area that is contentious. Fortunately, cooler heads usually prevail.
Amanda – great article. Thanks for “The Rest Of The Story”.
In your UPDATE at the end, you need to fix typo of May 16, 2016 to 2017.
Not that I agree with Organic farming because it’s based on misinformation and scare mongering tactics, but I don’t know how they can control these noxious weeds during the growing season if there is a crop in the field. So many weeds escape the traditional methods of hand hoeing, inter-row cultivation and become a mess in the field. Case in point Thistles.
I would have been nice to see the links to the actual notice the county gave Azur to see what their suggestions included other than a herbicide.
As for Azur using the religious angle, why??? when they could easily indicate that applying any kind of non-organic control product would jeopardize their organic designation which would in turn put them out of organic production for 3 years.
Well, they have to manage it and there are ways to do it. The law has been around for quite some time now, so it isn’t a surpise. As for the actual letter, I don’t have permission to share that at this time. 🙂
Here’s a link to another AG group that appears to have the notices posted:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/694281934016818/permalink/1158396487605358/
Where is this concern when GMO seeds spread to organic farms? No one should have to submit to poison on THEIR property!
Considering that is an extremely rare thing, that is not a concern. And organic farmers in Oregon have tried that line in many, many of their propaganda campaigns over the recent years. Also, GMOs are not poison….
For Canada thistle, in Oregon, they can grow hemp for 2 years and totally shade out the thistle. Managing soil chemistry and biology will help tremendously to manage many weeds. The info and know how is out there if you care to research it. Good management using biology is generally more successful long term than constant herbicide input that disrupts the biology and perpetuates many weed problems.
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Then Azure should have done something like instead of just sticking its middle finger to the County.
Rural Grubby, actually, under the National Organic Program is they are forced to spray, they will not lose their organic certification….that is section 205.672. Any grain the spray touches could not be sold as organic but they would not lose their certification.
Also, no one seems to be mentioning that there are herbicides approved for organic production.
Just wanted to toss those out.
Great points! Its nice to hear there are others who actually stop and think about these issues versus getting all pissy while standing in a swamp of ignorance.
Thank you, Amanda! And thank goodness they came to their senses before it came to something like the situation around Burns! There are some very radical people following this issue. And they don’t have a clue what it’s really all about!
On the update, is the date May 16, 2016 or May 16, 2017????
Should be 2017. Looks like someone in Sherman County forgot about the new year! Lol
I think you want check your dates on the “update”. It currently looks like time travel is involved.
That was the County’s date and mistake, not mine. I noted it though.
Thank you for your work on this issue. This story will help inform those who don’t understand these Farm issues.
There are many organic control options.
Mow, burn, graze, pull. There are even organic herbicides. I’m sure one of those options fits in with their religious beliefs.
Hey, if they want to do it the “organic” way, give all six kids a shovel and get after it!
How simple would it have been for Azure to bring in goats for their weeds. It seems they never had any intent of complying and now are using this add a fund raising event
If you are reading this, then you should read the updated FAQ from Azure- as one item mentioned is the question about religion. It is addressed in the FAQ. https://hl.azurestandard.com/healthy-living/info/azure-farm-faq/
Yeah, not buying it, sorry. As a person of faith, I honestly feel as though they’re using this “religion” as an excuse to try and skirt the rules. Just another angle to make them look like the victims.
As a self described “person of faith” it seems odd to me that you are assuming you know their minds having never met them. What makes you think you know what their motives are? You’re bad opinion of their feelings on pesticides and GMOs seems to be coloring your judgement. This blog pot would come across a lot more credible if you were not displaying obvious disdain for those who do not care for GMOs and biocides.
No, nothing is clouding my perspective here. It does annoy me that the marketing director has chosen to use lies and bad information and inflammatory statements about herbicides (really, this has nothing to do with GMOs). That makes the company lose credibility and shows their hand here.
Azure use bible quotes on the receipt and I requested them not to do so. They never replied to me so I assume they are religions organization.
sounds like a little hatred going on to me.
something is fishy.
Well, I do hate when people lie and put our misinformation, so I suppose there is that!
I feel like both of parties (Azure and Amanda) are going a little too far. Noxious weeds are a tricky thing. Most in South Georgia (A huge Produce and row crop area) can’t be controlled with Round-Up. Take Pigweed. It is almost totally resistant now. But even if it wasn’t it grows and seeds so fast that hardly anyone can keep up. couple that with most produce crops cannot be sprayed with a broad leaf herbicide. Watermelons are a great example. Once they vine out you just have to let them go. Hand pulling is precluded because workers would damage the vines. So I guess Oregon can’t grow vinning habit curcubits?
Also in regard to what “spam” is and isn’t. Concerned persons using legitimate means to contact an authority is not SPAM. That is communication.
I’m sure both parties have done a great PR job on this, driving lots of traffic to your prospective sites. Bet those Google analytics are looking pretty good.
I’m not sure how you think I’m going too far. I reported that the farm is breaking the law, which they are, and have no interest in fixing the situation. Assuming that you’re right, then they should have tried working with the County to fix the problem instead of giving them the middle finger.
And yes, it is spam when you ask a bunch of people to overload the court or county with garbage “communications,” as you want to call them.
Hmmm your family farms corn and soybeans…2 of the most GMO crops in Amerika. I smell Monsanto.
Yes, we grow GMO corn and soybeans. I’m not sure how you “smell” Monsanto. Farmers actually choose to grow genetically modified crops for their environmental and economic benefits. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/04/20/why-farmers-buy-omg-gmo-seeds-from-wtf-evil-corporations/
Yep Monstersanto all the way.
You people really need a new insult. It’s so old and stupid.
OMG, this is so old. Ellen and Nina, do you even know the difference between corn and a soybean. I am getting so freaking tired of being told how to farm, what I am doing wrong and that I am an evil person who will die from cancer any minute now because I dare, gasp, to use chemicals!
Do you even know the other companies that produce GMOs? Do you even know the market share that Monsanto has for glyphosate? It is interesting that everyone talks about Roundup with great knowledge, but Roundup is nothing more than the brand name.
Watching this whole Azure issue has been strangely fascinating. The comments on their facebook page consists of two types. The first are from farmers who live, breath and eat agriculture everyday. They try and explain the real world implications of noxious weeds and the challenges they present. The second are comments from people who probably have never stepped foot on a farm but yet, their 10 second google search makes them experts on farming. They do not know shit from shineola but they sure can tell farmers and ranchers what they are doing wrong. And when they come face to face with someone with superior knowledge they are quick to retreat to the standard talking points of “Monsanto” and “Roundup”. It gets really tiring.
My family has used GMOs since their introduction in 1996. You know what we have? We have higher soil quality due to minimum tillage practices we can now use. We have almost no soil erosion because we can leave residue on the fields now which protects the soil from wind and water erosion. My kids get to see their grandfather now. We do not spend all our time on tractors. In the 80s, I remember basically saying “bye” to my dad in April, would get to see him again in August and then bye again in September and have to wait for November. Now, through technology, we are farming in a more sustainable fashion and my dad gets to spend time with his grandkids.
So do us all a favor, take your 30 second University of Google degree and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Until you actually put blood and sweat into a farm, you really don’t know what you are talking about.
and you live in michigan growing GMO corn and soybeans. what do you care about a farm in OR?
I care about agriculture and I care about people lying and spreading misinformation. That’s what this farm was doing. Agriculture is a national issue, hence the title of my blog. 😉
Ellen, I have a daughter-in-law like you. She knows exactly how I should farm my land and how I should market my crops but when she visits, she never steps foot out to see my operation and how it works. She only shops Whole Foods and hates Monsanto. (Also, I’m sure she thinks Roundup is Agent Orange!)
We buy a lot of certified forage seed, and most of it comes out of Oregon, from farms like those neighboring Azure. Those seed producers are now paying more for weed control, due to the inaction of Azure Farm, and they have no choice but to pass that added expense on to my family. And those noxious plants can end up in hay, which can have health impacts on horses or livestock. Azure’s actions extend far beyond their property lines.
I wish the supporters of Azure knew how Azure trrated thete workers! Peaple should also ask them selfs whe the owner didn’t drive his Tesla to court today.
Why not just get out in the field on hands & knees and pull the damn things like I do in my “Organic” back yard garden. I’m sure there are enough laborers just hanging out waiting for harvest. WELL GET YOUR ASS UP AND OUT IN THE FIELD. I have 4th generation Red Currant and 4th generation Gooseberry, 40yr old Marion Berry bush, Blueberries, rasp’s, boisn, figs, rhub, 40 hills of spuds, pees, beans, lettuce, squash(s), okra, onion, broc, caulif, cuc’s, tom’s, carrots, garlic, 8 diff herbs. And mind you, all on a normal lot. I have never used chemicals of any kind. In the words of my late father “Shit and Sand” that’s all you need…..and that’s ALL I have ever used! (plus knee pads)
Yeah, sure, you can do that in your backyard. But is your backyard 2,000 acres??
Thank you for this thorough review of the facts Amanda. Keep up the good work getting the truth and facts out and fighting the lies and intentional misrepresentations.
I appreciate the title of your article., most always there is the “other side” I’m not sure when in America it became so wrong to have a different opinion . Or when it was so wrong to try and see both sides of a position and then make a decision before reacting. Thanks for exposing the other side.
I worked for Azure for 2 years although for the most part they have a great long term vision for what they want their company to be. That being said the do have a long history of complacency. They haven’t had a history of keeping anything clean with the exception of the last 2 years. Whether it be their warehouse, the farm, the Mill or their farm ground. I know the owners to be very anti government. Almost cult like. But not a cult. Just a family. So just so you know these people are serious when they say they answer to a higher power. This is not an act. They really believe this. They really believe that they are on a mission from God. I know that they have had some filthy practices in the past, but they have made some huge improvement over the last few years.
What’s this? An attorney calling a marketer the black pot?! Methinks the lady doth protest too much. 🙂 I stand by all I said. If you’re ever out west I cordially invite you to visit us at Azure, take a look around, and ask any questions you like. All the best to you from Oregon.
Finally, a comment from Mr. Cross, the individual responsible for the firestorm. Your posting of misleading and incomplete information brought forth the bile from what I can only hope are the dregs of the organic community. You failed to mention that the County issued weed violation letters and requested a weed management plan in March, but received a dismissive response. You said you would post the email from David Stelzer, but never did. You brought the rabidly organic to a froth with use of the word “Roundup.” You may have succeeded in your duties as Azure’s marketing director, but in the process, I’m afraid you’ve harmed the image of the organic community nationwide. Congratulations on Azure’s “success” at the meeting by (finally) submitting the requested weed control plan. I am confident there are members of the organic community that are intelligent, articulate, reasonable, and socially capable, but their input was sadly lacking from the conversation.
Conventional farmers have to be extremely careful about any drift or contamination to an organic farmers’property- Why shouldn’t the organic farmers have to be just as careful about weed seeds from their property migrating to another property?
After working For Azure Standard for 10 years I never met a David Cross, The general manager is David Stelzer. I probably made him cross a few times but that is not his name.
You should probably click on the link then so you can watch the video of David Cross,who clearly identifies himself as the marketing director.