Farm Sanctuary Stands Up to Factory Farms at Oregon State Capitol

Coalition members hold up a sign that reads "Stop Factory Farms" outside the Oregon State Capitol

Photo: Food & Water Watch

Farm Sanctuary Stands Up to Factory Farms at Oregon State Capitol

Photo: Food & Water Watch

On February 27, with fellow members of the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition (SUFF), Farm Sanctuary lobbied lawmakers at the Oregon State Capitol in support of SB 80. This critical legislation would ban new and expanding factory farms near Oregon’s most heavily polluted waterways.

Nearly 30 individuals participated in the day of advocacy action, including representatives from the Center for Food Safety, Oregon Rural Action, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Pro-Animal Future, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, 350 Eugene, and students of Lewis & Clark Law School. 

Farm Sanctuary’s Miranda Eisen (Senior Manager, Outreach and State Policy) supported lobbying training to prepare a group of dedicated volunteers. This was followed by meetings with Capitol staffers and legislators, the vast majority of whom responded with interest and engagement to our message—informed by extensive work with our constituents.

Coalition members lobby lawmakers at Oregon State Capitol in support of SB 80.

Photo: Food & Water Watch

“For over three decades, Oregon has failed to take action to address the sources of pollution in [Groundwater Management Areas] GWMAs, particularly the Lower Umatilla Basin GWMA. [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or factory farms] CAFOs are a significant source of groundwater nitrate pollution because they generate large quantities of wastewater. While the work to ensure communities have access to clean drinking water is ongoing, it is a common sense step to prevent new CAFOs and the expansion of existing CAFOs in areas with existing groundwater contamination,” writes SUFF.

The introduction of SB 80 marks another victory for the SUFF coalition, which has worked for many years toward a factory farm moratorium. In 2023, the coalition helped to enact SB 85, Oregon’s first factory farm regulation in decades, establishing stricter requirements for water usage permitting.

Farm Sanctuary joined SUFF in 2023, and we are excited to build on this coalition’s success as we support SB 80 and fight for a moratorium in areas heavily impacted by factory farming’s environmental harms.

Oregon residents: Please act now by contacting your state lawmakers and urging them to support SB 80 to protect Oregon waterways and communities from factory farm pollution. You can find your legislators and their contact information here. 

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