Or. Admin. R. 603-095-5010
For the purposes of these area rules unless the context requires otherwise.
(1) “Agricultural activities” means engaging in any generally accepted, reasonable and prudent method of raising or producing livestock or livestock products or growing or harvesting agricultural crops or commodities.
(2) “Agricultural land” means land in agricultural use.
(3) “Agricultural operation” means:
(a) All agricultural land, whether or not contiguous, that is under the effective control of a landowner engaged in producing livestock or livestock products or the growing or harvesting of agricultural crops; or
(b) A “farm” as defined in ORS 30.930(1).
(4) “Agricultural use” means the use of land for raising or producing livestock or livestock products including poultry or poultry products, milk or milk products, fur-bearing animals; or for growing crops such as, but not limited to, grains, small grains, fruit, vegetables, forage grains, nursery stock, Christmas trees; or for any other agricultural or horticultural use or animal husbandry or any combination thereof.
(5) “Agronomic application rate” or “agronomic rate” means the application rate or range of application rates of fertilizer required to achieve estimated crop yield with no or minimal leaching of nitrate beyond the crop root zone.
(6) “Area Plan” or “Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plan” means a plan for the prevention and control of water pollution from agricultural activities and soil erosion in a management area that has been designated under ORS 568.909.
(7) “Area Rules” means OAR 603-095-5000 – 5080 adopted by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Oregon Board of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, for the implementation of the area plans referenced in these area rules.
(8) “Certifier” means a qualified irrigation and nitrogen management plan specialist as provided in OAR 603-095-5060.
(9) “Compost” has that meaning given in ORS 633.311(5).
(10) “Department” means the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
(11) “Estimated crop yield” means the near-maximum or optimum crop yield estimated for each field according to sources such as recommendations by land grant universities, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, commodity groups, Certified Crop Advisers, or according to site-specific knowledge based on previous experience.
(12) “Fertilizer” has the meaning given in ORS 633.311(12) except that for the purposes of these area rules, fertilizer includes “Exceptional Quality Biosolids” as that term is defined in OAR 340-050-0010(14), includes “compost” as that term is defined in ORS 633.311(5), includes manure, and includes “agricultural amendments” as that term is defined in ORS 633.311(1).
(13) “Field” means an area of land that is used for agricultural activities and enclosed or otherwise distinguished by physical characteristics of the property such as roads, fences, topography or other barriers and is characterized by a uniform irrigation system, crop type and system of nutrient management measures. A center pivot is one field.
(14) “Field capacity” means the content of water, on a mass or volume basis, remaining in a soil two or three days after having been wetted with water and after free drainage is negligible.
(15) “Groundwater” or “groundwater of the state” means water that is in a saturated zone or stratum beneath the surface of land or below a surface water body.
(16) “Irrigated agricultural land” or “irrigated agriculture” means agricultural land irrigated to produce crops or pasture and including land that is planted to crops that are not yet marketable such as vineyards and tree crops. Irrigated land includes nurseries.
(17) “Landowner” includes any person or public body as defined in ORS 174.109 shown by records of the county to be the owner of land or having such land under contract to purchase and includes a “land occupier”, “occupiers of land” or “operator.”
(18) “Land occupier” or “occupiers of land” includes any person who is in possession of any agricultural land, whether as lessee, renter, or tenant.
(19) “Manure” means solids or liquids excreted from an animal.
(20) “Nitrate” means a readily soluble form of nitrogen, easily taken up by plants, but also prone to leaching, with the chemical formula NO3 (NO3-N).
(21) “Nitrogen Management Measures” means measures to match fertilizer and nitrogen applications to agronomic demands and includes a determination of the appropriate agronomic application rate. Nitrogen management measures include those measures in Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Practice Standard Nutrient Management Code 590 (2019).
(22) “Operator” means any person, including a landowner or land occupier engaged in any commercial activity related to the growing or harvesting of agricultural crops or the production of agricultural commodities.
(23) “Pasture” means land that sustains vegetative growth in the normal growing season that is primarily used to grow forage for grazing livestock where the livestock are not confined in pens or lots or on a prepared surface and where waste is not managed using a wastewater control facility.
(24) “Plant Available Nitrogen” means a form of nitrogen in the soil that plants can readily absorb and utilize for growth, with the chemical formula NO3 (NO3-N) and Ammonium NH4 (NH4-N).
(25) “Pollution” or “water pollution” has the meaning given in ORS 468B.005.
(26) “Saturated soil” means soil with all available pore space filled that it is at or exceeding 100 percent of field capacity.
(27) “Synthetic Nitrogen” means a fertilizer, agricultural mineral, or other material containing ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, urea nitrogen, other water-soluble nitrogen, or water insoluble nitrogen manufactured through human controlled chemical reactions. Synthetic nitrogen includes both dry and liquid formulations.
(28) “Waste” or “wastes” has that meaning given in ORS 468B.005 with the clarification that “waste” or “wastes” includes but is not limited to fertilizer, pesticides, fumigants or nitrate (NO3-N) that enters groundwater.
(29) “Water” or the “waters of the state” has the meaning given in ORS 468B.005.
ORS 561.191 & ORS 568.900-933
ORS 568.900-933 & 468B.025(1)