The Easterday family has sold its Boardman, OR, dairy to the former landowner after failed attempts to reopen the dairy, and Easterday bringing a lawsuit against the owner, alleging breach of contract.
According to the Tri-City Herald, the parcel was sold back to Canyon Farms, one of the parties named in the lawsuit, for a reported $15.2 million.The sale follows an undisclosed settlement in March between Easterday Dairy LLC and Fall Line Capital LLC, Canyon Farm LLC and Canyon Farms II LLC in a lawsuit by Easterday alleging a breach of contract and trespassing.
According to court records, a motion for an extension of time was filed in May to settle outstanding matters. In the affidavit filed by Amy Edwards, a Fall Line Capital and Canyon Farms lawyer, certain aspects of the settlement filed with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and other government regulators would not be settled by the May 15 deadline and a 30-day extension was requested.
Judge Andrew D. Hallman of the U.S. District Court of Oregon extended the deadline to July 14 to have the order of dismissal set aside and the action reinstated if the settlement was not consummated. No additional court documents were filed after the hearing on May 18.
History
In March 2019, Canyon Farms purchased the Lost Valley Farm from Greg te Velde after he declared bankruptcy. The terms of the bankruptcy agreement were for te Velde to remove all animals and complete remediation efforts to the satisfaction of ODA.
The property was split into two parcels, a 736-acre dairy parcel and a 6,452-acre farm parcel. Easterday purchased the dairy parcel in May 2019 through a $16 million promissory note through Canyon Farms.
Court documents said Easterday Dairy leased the farm parcel and assigned it to Easterday Farms, owned by Cody Easterday and other family members. Cody Easterday pleaded guilty to wire fraud for the ghost cattle scheme that defrauded Tyson Fresh Foods Inc and another company of $244 million, and is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison. Easterday Dairy LLC was transferred to Cody’s son, Cole.
Easterday intended to secure a concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) permit for 28,300 head from ODA. The ODA refused to issue a new CAFO permit until the nitrate levels in the groundwater were brought back into compliance and a plan for maintaining safe levels was approved.
Canyon Farms and Easterday Dairy entered into a forbearance agreement after Canyon Farms provided events of Easterday defaulting on the loan agreement. Canyon Farms alleged that Easterday failed to maintain insurance, deliver financial information and comply with the permits issued by ODA.
After repeated attempts to address the nitrate levels, the farm parcel lease was terminated in March 2021, and a new lease was signed with Walther Farms LLC, a Michigan company. Easterday brought suit, seeking $14 million in damages and to either reinstate the easement agreement or be released from the purchase agreement.
After Easterday Dairy’s several attempts to comply with the issues brought by ODA, in April 2023, the agency issued a notice of noncompliance documenting 36 times of failure to maintain control of irrigation water and fertilizer applications and numerous other violations. ODA issued required actions to remedy the situation and stated it may issue a notice of civil penalty assessment and possible revocation of the CAFO permit if the dairy did not comply.
Months passed of legal wrangling between the two parties. In that time, a falling out between Easterday and the manager of Walther Farms resulted in a protective order issued in January and a preliminary injunction ordering Easterday Dairy from removing or interfering with a pump on the farm parcel. A hearing was scheduled for March 22 for the motion for a partial summary judgment, but the settlement occurred beforehand.
Reaction
For years, the environmental group Food and Water Watch has advocated against issuing a CAFO permit and reopening the dairy.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Food and Water Watch Legal Director Tarah Heinzen said, “Oregon agencies should have denied the permit outright. This years-long fiasco shows that Oregon’s environmental regulations are far too lax.”
Environmental organizations have cited Lost Valley Farms and the Easterday purchase as the impetus for stricter regulations and Senate Bill (SB) 85.
Gov. Tina Kotek (D) recently signed SB 85 into law, which applies stricter rules for CAFOs by requiring a multistep process for water-quality permitting, including a water-supply plan for any new large-scale feeding operations, and forbids using drinking water for their livestock without a permit. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
