Oregon gives $5M for farmworker housing projects to target compliance

In 2023, Oregon lawmakers approved spending $5 million to improve on-farm housing with grants.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture awarded 108 grants to 66 different farm operations around the state in 2025, including 12 farms that had Oregon Occupational Safety and Health violations for housing penalties in the last two years.

The criteria for awarding the grants included registration with Oregon’s OSHA and using funds on existing housing. But ODA confirmed there was no consideration given to whether grants should be given to farm operations that had recent OSHA violations.

The grants — from a $36 million housing bill the 2023 Legislature passed — are part of a broader effort to address longstanding concerns about substandard and overcrowded housing in the agricultural sector.

A 2023 Oregon Housing and Community Services report estimated there are more than 100,000 farmworkers in Oregon and more than 531,000 jobs connected to the state’s $42 billion agricultural sector. A fraction of those workers rely on agricultural workforce housing.

Since 2023, Oregon OSHA has cited registered agricultural housing units with 321 violations.

How many Oregon farms applied for and received funding to upgrade housing?

To assist in meeting new standards of the ODA law, ODA awarded funding to 66 different companies through the Oregon Agricultural Workforce Housing Grant program.

The new ODA rules around farmworker housing include, for example, an increase in square footage required per bed and requirements around kitchens and bathrooms.

Grant requests totaled $7.8 million according to records released to the Statesman Journal but $4.9 million was awarded for projects such as enclosing kitchens, improving showers and toilets, and enhancing the structural integrity of buildings.

Individual awards ranged from $1,827 to a site in Hood River to $148,652 to a site in The Dalles. One cherry producer in The Dalles, which Oregon OSHA had cited for two serious violations in 2024, was awarded 17 grants totaling more than $1.1 million.

A 2023 study of farmworker housing in Hood River, Marion, Morrow and Yamhill counties found that most farmworkers earn low wages and have few housing options, which means living in poor and crowded conditions.

Oregon OSHA has cited 101 agricultural housing units since 2023, according to records released to the Statesman Journal. The citations resulted in 321 serious and “other than serious violations,” which are described as violations that relate to employee health and safety but aren’t likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Oregon Farm Bureau spokesperson Jenny Dresler said that while farmers are wary of the ODA rule changes, “nobody disagrees” that workers deserve protection.

The updated rules were intended to address “long-standing concerns about worker living conditions while maintaining practical implementation strategies,” OSHA wrote in its 2025 summary of the decision.

“By aligning state requirements with federal standards and incorporating stakeholder feedback, Oregon OSHA has developed a balanced regulatory framework that prioritizes occupational safety and health for occupants of employer-provided housing,” OSHA said.

What were Oregon farm grant recipients cited for?

ODA did not specifically look at whether any applicants had violations related to agricultural housing in the past five years, according to an ODA spokesperson. But ODA did have OSHA review whether the applications would help bring them into compliance with OR-OSHA requirements.

Of the 66 different companies awarded funding, 12 were cited in the last two years, three of them for “serious violations.”

Decker Farms Inc. in Hillsboro received $380 in penalties for two safety violations at one of their units: two different instances where occupants were provided less than 100 square feet of living space per occupant and an electric light fixture without a cover to protect the bulb. They received $16,535 to go toward “walkway lights, shower doors, changing room, handwashing, toilets/door.” There were two “other than serious” violations issued during that same inspection.

McNerney Farms Inc. in Hood River was fined $6,224 in 2024 for three “serious” violations, including a unit with gas appliances and gas piping not in compliance with building code and a dryer plugged into an improperly installed outlet. Another unit had evidence of a broken glass in a window, a damaged deck board, ceiling separation with warping from moisture, and a leaky, damaged or deteriorated roof. The company had nine “other than serious” violations related to the inspection.

McNerney Farms Inc. received $39,875 from the grant program to improve their roof and sheetrock, make electrical upgrades, and change their cooking facilities.

Orchard View Inc. in The Dalles had two serious violations in 2024. According to OSHA records, both violations were related to units where the employer did not provide cooling areas for occupants when the heat index outside was at or above 80 degrees and units were unable to maintain an indoor temperature of 78 degrees or less.

Nine or more employees were exposed to potential heat-related illnesses while residing in certain units, according to records. The company was issued two $3,458 penalties. Orchard View Farms received 17 awards from the grant program, totaling $1,128,500.

The awards went to heat illness prevention, insulation and drywall, bathing facilities and handwashing facilities, mattress covers, carbon dioxide and smoke alarms, cooking facility upgrades, and water testing.

Recipients did not respond to requests for comment.

Lesley Tamura, board chair for the Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers, which represents producers in the Mid-Columbia region, said housing is critical for the industry and for the organization’s members which includes Orchard View Inc.

Tamura said she could not speak to individual companies and their circumstances but said the grant funding “helped operations of all sizes make the investments necessary to comply with the new OR-OSHA regulations. “

“If we don’t have housing available for our employees, then we don’t have availability for our employees,” Tamura said.

Housing in the Mid-Columbia region can be prohibitively expensive, she added, meaning on-farm housing can be one of the few options for farm workers.

“While we appreciate the money that the state made available, it’s not going to cover a lot of what we have to do, unfortunately,” she added.

Tamura and others who submitted comments opposed to the proposed rules estimate that updating existing housing to the new standards will require much more time and money than is currently available.

Applicants have until Dec. 1 to submit a final report that includes a summary of the project, evidence that their project met the approved description, a list of all expenditures with receipts and invoices, and documentation of the improvements they made.

What is the Oregon Agricultural Workforce Housing Grant program?

As Oregon OSHA discussed updating regulations for on-farm agricultural labor housing, the 2023 Legislature approved $5.5 million to help farmers upgrade existing housing.

Oregon’s Agriculture Workforce Housing Grant Program received $524,762 to develop a program to help farmers upgrade existing housing and administer grants to those who successfully applied.

Another $5 million was earmarked to award grants to eligible applicants to receive up to $200,000 per site, based on occupancy levels and project scope. Baseline awards were $10,000 and then scaled based on occupancy.

Applications for the grant opened on Jan. 17 and were due March 18. In May, 108 grants were approved.

The funding cannot be used for the construction of new units, routine expenses, purchasing land or existing properties, or for housing required under the H-2A program.

What is agricultural workforce housing?

Farmworker housing is regulated by the Oregon Occupation​al Safety and Health Division.

Oregon’s OSHA maintains a registry of sites that lists 419 agricultural labor housing sites in 2025, providing shelter to more than 12,300 workers as of Oct. 15. Of those, 122 are registered in Willamette Valley counties: Benton, Clackamas, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington and Yamhill.

Rules around labor housing were updated on Jan. 8, changing the requirements farm operators must meet when providing housing. The implementation timeline is phased in from March 31 to January 2028. As of March 31, employers are required to provide:

• Portable heaters at no charge if a site does not have permanent heating

• A mattress and a cover that can be cleaned for each bed or bunk

Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, employers providing housing are required to provide:

• A mattress that is at least 4 inches thick and a safe method to access upper bunks

• A working, approved carbon monoxide detector that is installed in sleeping areas

• At least 15 cubic feet of suitable storage, such as cabinets or shelves, for each family or occupant (some must be lockable)

• Outhouses, pit toilets, or privies will no longer be considered as fulfilling toilet facility ratio

Housing for workers at operations that produce nonfood crops is no longer exempt from registration. Rules previously applied registration requirements to only crops harvested for food.

Other farm housing requirements that must be met in 2026 include:

• Submitting water testing results to Oregon OSHA every year

• Posting water testing results in housing using employees’ language or a pictogram

• Properly marking forks in roads, driveways and each building and unit

• Providing a laundry tray or tub for every 25 occupants or a laundry machine for every 30 workers

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, requirements expand to:

• No longer allowing curtains as doors on toilets

• Requiring sleeping rooms to be maintained at 78 degrees or less when the temperature outside is between 80 and 94 degrees. If the heat index is 95 degrees or more, sleeping rooms must be maintained at least 15 degrees lower.

To see a full summary of new requirements, go to osha.oregon.gov/OSHAPubs/factsheets/fs105.pdf

The new rules reflect years of negotiations and were finalized following five public hearings and the submission of more than 200 public comments.

The Oregon Farm Bureau said the new rules represent unsustainable state policies for farmworkers and farm families.

A proposal during the 2025 legislative session, House Bill 2687, to expand the applicability of the grant to housing provided for H-2A workers and potentially inject additional funding, never received a public hearing. H-2A housing represents about two-thirds of the registered farm labor housing in the state, said Dresler.

Dresler said the bureau estimated farm owners would need to spend $400,000 to $1.5 million to make the structural changes required to meet new standards.

Reyna Lopez, executive director of the farmworker union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, said the organization welcomes the new rules as a step forward.

“These changes reflect years of advocacy led by farmworkers and will make a real difference for thousands of families who depend on employer-provided housing,” Lopez said.

PCUN is also committed to closing additional gaps, she said, such as overcrowded living spaces, unenclosed outdoor kitchens, reliance on portable toilets, and housing located feet from pesticide-treated fields.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon farms receive $5M for farmworker housing project upgrades