The People of Central Oregon Don’t Want a New Factory Farm

A cow looks down at the camera through the bars of a pen near the milking parlour at a dairy farm. A large number of cows stand crowded together in this area as they intently observe other cows being milked ahead of them.

Julie LP/We Animals

The People of Central Oregon Don’t Want a New Factory Farm

Julie LP/We Animals

A new mega-dairy, Columbia River Ranch, is being proposed in Central Oregon. We need your help to stop this factory farm before it’s built!

If approved, this factory farm would confine 3,500 cows and use up to 35,000 gallons of water daily in an area already suffering from drought and water scarcity. To make matters worse, it’s proposed near Cove Palisades State Park, where Oregonians swim, camp, and enjoy the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers.

Thanks to SB 85, environmental legislation that the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition spearheaded and passed, another Oregon community, in Linn County, recently blocked a factory farm. The facility would have supplied Foster Farms, one of the nation’s largest poultry producers. Now is the time for Central Oregon residents to join the fight against factory farming, too.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has the authority to reject the permit for Columbia River Ranch based on its inadequate water plan, which relies on purchasing water from Deschutes Valley Water District instead of securing actual water rights. Public input can help tip the scales, so let’s raise our voices loud and clear! 

“Oregonians do not want more factory farms in our beautiful state,” says Miranda Eisen, an Oregon resident and Farm Sanctuary’s senior manager of outreach & state policy. “Allowing the Columbia River Ranch to be built would put animals, people, and our shared environment at risk. Please stand with Farm Sanctuary, Food & Water Watch, and all other members of the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition today in opposing this factory of cruelty and pollution.”

ODA is now accepting public comments, and your voice is needed. Tell ODA by June 18 to deny the Columbia River Ranch permit and protect Oregon’s farm animals, communities, and natural resources! 

If you live in Oregon and agree that a new factory farm must be stopped before it’s built, please take action below. We need your voice!

Know someone else who lives in Oregon and cares about protecting animals, people, and the planet? Share this article and ask them to take action! 

OR Residents: Take Action!

Rescued cow Diane lies with eyes closed in pasture at Farm Sanctuary

Submit your public comment by June 18! Ask the Oregon Department of Agriculture to deny the permit for a new mega-dairy. Feel free to use our sample email language below, but personalizing your message a bit will help it stand out!

Email Recipient: [email protected]  

Subject: Attn: Columbia River Ranch Comments

Body: 

Dear Oregon Department of Agriculture,

I’m writing to urge you to deny the permit for Columbia River Ranch.

This proposed 3,500-cow industrial facility would be located in the Upper Deschutes Basin, a groundwater mitigation area where additional withdrawals threaten instream flows and protected water rights. Approving this permit—based on a water supply plan that depends on purchased water from Deschutes Valley Water District, without guaranteed service—would be irresponsible and unsustainable.

ODA should not allow this facility to operate, as Columbia River Ranch would extract up to 35,000 gallons per day from an already strained watershed, pollute the air and water (threatening recreation areas like Cove Palisades State Park), harm thousands of sentient farm animals, and conflict with Oregon’s goals to protect water for fish, wildlife, and residents.

The threat to Central Oregon’s environment and public health is too high. I urge you to reject the Columbia River Ranch permit and protect Oregon’s precious animals, communities, and environment from unnecessary and harmful industrial expansion.

Thank you for considering my comment.

Sincerely,
 [Your Name]
 [Your Address]
 [City, State ZIP]