SALEM — Agriculture groups expect to play defense during the upcoming special legislative session on Oregon’s budget, when natural resources spending will likely go under the knife.

In light of dropping tax revenues caused by the coronavirus shutdowns, it’s inevitable that lawmakers will reduce funding for natural resources program during the second special session, which begins Monday, Aug. 10, said Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of public policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

“No matter how you slice it, there will be cuts affecting agriculture,” Cooper said. “We hope to stave off the worst of those cuts.”

According to Oregon’s most recent June budget forecast, the state stands to collect $19.5 billion in general fund revenues for the 2019-21 biennium, down by nearly $2 billion from a forecast earlier in the year.

Oregon Farm Bureau was recently joined by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, the Oregon Association of Nurseries and other groups in urging lawmakers not to decrease funding for Oregon State University’s Extension Service, Agricultural Experiment Station and Forest Research Laboratory by more than $7 million, as planned.

The reduction amounts to about 5% for the entire biennium, but since only the 2021 fiscal year is affected, the impact actually double to 10%, according to a letter the groups sent to the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education.

The Extension Service has assisted farmworkers during the coronavirus pandemic and helped with contact tracing, social distancing and hygiene information, the letter said.

Meanwhile, a pause in agricultural research could cost years of work that’s needed to support food production, the letter said.

Fire threats don’t go away due to the outbreak, so forestry research is also needed to allow “land managers make informed decisions,” the letter said.

“They’re facing a cut that’s disproportionate to what the rest of higher ed is getting,” said Cooper of the Farm Bureau. “A lot of the critical research work they’re doing wouldn’t happen.”

The Farm Bureau has also urged against recommended cuts of $400,000 for predator control, $280,000 for the Oregon Invasive Species Council and $185,000 for rural fire protection associations.

A recommended $323,000 decrease to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s wolf program will impair technical assistance and non-lethal deterrence to livestock owners, Cooper said.

“What’s already low support will become non-existent,” she said.

The Oregon Water Resources Department is also facing nearly $1.3 million in cuts to field services and data collection, which are needed to better manage water resources but are already underfunded, according to Farm Bureau.

It’s possible the special session will be broadened beyond the budget to include policy bills, such as potential liability protections for farmers and ranchers whose workers are infected with coronavirus, Cooper said.

Hopefully, though, consideration of such protections would not open the door to other proposals that could be damaging to agriculture, she said.

Since some reductions to agriculture-related programs are unavoidable, the Farm Bureau will focus on prioritizing funding those with the most on-the-ground impacts, Cooper said.

“We picked the most critical of those, recognizing there were going to be cuts,” she said.