A 43-year-old woman who refused to get off of her cellphone despite a Portland police officer's order for her to stop talking was correct when she told the cop that she didn't have to hang up, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

Michelle Renee Bennett of Sweet Briar Farms in Eugene wasn't breaking the law by holding her cellphone to her ear while talking and driving because of an exemption that allows farmers or people engaged in agricultural business to use their hand-held cellphones while on the road, the Appeals Court ruled.

The encounter unfolded more than three years ago in May 2014 while Bennett was driving in bumper-to-bumper afternoon traffic on Interstate 5 south, approaching the Fremont Bridge.

Officer McCageor Byrd pulled alongside Bennett and told her through Bennett's unrolled driver's side window to put the phone down, according to a citation written by the officer.

Bennett yelled back, according to the officer: "I'm doing work. You can't give me a ticket.”

The officer wrote that Bennett didn’t stop talking on her phone. Byrd pulled her over and Bennett explained that she was talking to her father about making some pork deliveries in the Portland area for the family business, according to an Appeals Court summary of the case. The officer didn’t accept Bennett’s reason, ordered her to stop using her cellphone and wrote her an $80 ticket.

Bennett, who represented herself, fought it to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Reached by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday, Bennett said she generally doesn’t think it’s safe to talk on a handheld cellphone while driving and she doesn’t normally do it.

But on that particular day, the traffic was moving about 5 mph and she thought it was safe to make a quick phone call. She said she wanted to find out from her father where she needed to meet him so she could pick up some more product for her next delivery, and she didn’t want to miss her exit and get stuck in even more congestion.

“I did not call him until traffic had slowed down,” Bennett said. “That’s when I decided to make my call, and I felt it was safe. ... It wasn’t a long call.”

Multnomah County Circuit Referee Jon Ghastin sided with the police officer, finding that Bennett’s use of her cellphone didn’t comply with the agricultural exception.

Bennett, now 47, said she appealed the ticket because it was important for her to clear her driving record.

According to the Appeals Court summary, Oregon legislators approved an agricultural exemption to the cellphone driving law in 2007 because they didn't want to hinder the ability of farmers to conduct business. That included using a handheld cellphone while driving a tractor or while driving to and from the store for a bag of feed.

But that sentiment has changed in the past decade.

State legislators in June approved significant changes to the law, effective Oct. 1. For one, they have thrown out the exemption that allows agricultural workers to talk and drive while holding their cellphones.

Lawmakers also have made it illegal for most anyone -- with exceptions for police officers and a few others -- to touch their cellphones while driving. That includes for texting, surfing the Internet or using Google Maps. The fine for a first-time offender is $260.

So Bennett has less than six weeks to continue using the agricultural exemption -- if she so chooses.

But she said the changes to the law are perfectly fine with her. She hasn’t made a practice of holding a cellphone while driving, she said.

Bennett said the car she regularly uses is equipped with a hands-free calling device, but the pickup truck she was driving that day in 2014 didn’t have a hands-free device installed.

“I didn’t have, 'Screw you, I’m-a-farmer attitude,’” Bennett said, “Because I do think distracted driving is a problem.”

Wednesday's opinion was made by a three-judge panel of the court: Joel DeVore, Erin Lagesen and Bronson James. Read the opinion here.

-- Aimee Green