AgLink
Growing Oregon Agriculture through Education and Promotion
APR-JUN 2019
Spring Feature:
Adopt a Farmer
PRST STD US Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 5
President’s JOURNAL
Passionate About Growing As I thought about what to write about for my first AgLink column and how I want to define the year ahead, I kept coming back to the phrase “Passionate about Growing.” This line resonated with me and the way I describe both Oregon agriculture and Oregon Aglink in particular.
Oregon agriculture grows such a diverse number of commodities and crops throughout a state with its fair share of different climates. Wherever you are — mountains, desert, Columbia Gorge, valleys or coast — and whatever title you use to describe yourself — farmer, grower, rancher, forester, fisherman — you are passionate about growing your products. Like all industries, agriculture has its share of challenges ahead (political, social, and climate to name a few), but I feel by working together and tapping into our shared passion that we can get through issues in spite of our smaller differences. Even if the network of agriculture is a small percentage of the Oregon population, this community is developing a strong and very passionate voice. We all must find opportunities to share our story, and Oregon Aglink helps this voice through networking and education. The Adopt a Farmer program continues to grow and propel the mission of Aglink of “growing Oregon agriculture through education and promotion.” With nearly fifty farm to classroom matches helping reach thousands of hundreds of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, the program helps educate Oregon youth about how passionate farmers are about growing food and fiber. The farms and ranches in this program are directly working toward the vision of Aglink. You can learn more about some of them in this issue’s feature article. This promotion of agriculture also comes through loud and clear as our board and members continue to be passionate about the crops they grow. Maintaining a lively and vibrant group of producers and processors over the years has been essential to keeping Oregon Aglink a relevant force in our state’s agricultural industry. Over the last year, the Oregon Aglink executive committee has reviewed its strategic plan, added staff, and made some changes with relocating events such the Annual Meeting and the Denim and Diamonds auction and dinner. The work put in on paper and around conference tables can yield real-world and long-term results! With those successes squared away, I feel that Oregon Aglink is poised in such an amazing place for this year of continued “growing.” Finally, the last way I viewed “Passionate about Growing” was looking internally. How can I make a difference and continue to improve? If it’s a question you ask yourself, too, let’s plan together: set goals, get involved, seek out continual learning and networking. Everyone has different skills, strengths that can help continue the forward message of Oregon agriculture. There are so many different organizations all passionate about growing Oregon agriculture. Find one or more that you believe in and get involved. Every little bit helps.
Megan Thompson Oregon Aglink President 2 AgLink
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Growing Oregon Agriculture through Education and Promotion
VOLUME 14, ISSUE 1 7360 SW Hunziker St., Ste 102 Portland, OR 97223 503-595-9121 | fax: 503-595-4560 www.aglink.org www.oregonfresh.net OFFICERS Megan Thompson, President Sage Fruit Fred Geschwill, Vice President F & B Farms Michelle Markesteyn, 2nd Vice Rootopia Abisha Stone, Treasurer SEDCOR Terry Ross, Secretary Integrated Seed Growers, LLC Pamela Lucht, Past President Northwest Transplants STAFF Mallory Phelan Executive Director Allison Cloo Director of Membership & Programs Cate Stuart Community Engagement Coordinator Leah Rue Program & Events Coordinator Susan Davis Director of Finance
CONTACT US TO ADVERTISE IN OREGON AGLINK ADVERTISING AND GUEST FEATURES: ALLISON@AGLINK.ORG ©2019 Oregon Aglink. All rights reserved. Nothing contained within may be reprinted wholly or in part without the written consent of the publisher, Oregon Aglink. The opinions and perspectives published herein are those of the authors and should not be construed as those of AgLink® magazine.
Time to Connect BY ALLISON CLOO
Oregon Aglink welcomed new president Megan Thompson at its annual membership meeting at the Northwest Ag Show in January. Currently based in The Dalles at Cascade Cherry Growers where she works as a field representative, Thompson originally hails from the Mt. Tabor neighborhood of Portland. Her early experiences with Outdoor School and the Green Thumb program took her to different greenhouses and environments that had her looking beyond the four walls of a regular classroom or office. A major in horticulture and a minor in crop and field sciences at Oregon State University led Thompson to internships with food processors, including a stint in Hermiston with potatoes. “I fell in love with field work and being outside,” says Thompson, and her current work in The Dalles allows for her to pursue that passion. While winter months may mean more office work and keeping up to date on industry research, the growing season sees Thompson putting plenty of miles on her truck as she drives between orchards and processing facilities. As a field rep and director of field services, she is a bridge between the branches and the packing boxes: “What does the quality look like? What sizes are coming up? When is that load due? What’s coming next?” Cherries were actually what brought Thompson to the Oregon Aglink board of directors and executive committee—at least in a roundabout
way. She met fellow board member and past Oregon Aglink president Molly McCargar through their connections at Oregon Cherry Growers, and McCargar convinced her to join the team of people that support and develop programs to educate Oregonians about agriculture.
For Thompson, programs like Adopt a Farmer made a lot of sense: “it resonates with being a city kid and coming to agriculture” as opposed to being born into a multi-generational heritage of farming. That story of arriving at agriculture rather than being born in agriculture is not all that uncommon, though, and programs like Adopt a Farmer expose more students, teachers, and parents to the realities and possibilities of farming and ranching in Oregon. Where Adopt a Farmer-style education has branched into adult outreach and farm tours with the newer Farmers Share program, Thompson sees Oregon Aglink making the right moves. “It’s really intriguing to me,” she says, “How do we now take it to the adult level of how to teach Portland what farmers really do? How do we show what other options are out there for high schoolers and people looking for different careers?” And she sees work to be done on
bridges within agriculture as well. The Oregon Aglink board of directors, for example, is big and diverse. So while “some people know each other and grew up with each other,” creating some connections through past experiences, Thompson also wants to know, “how can we network beyond the board meetings?” There are members from many different industries, Thompson emphasizes, and there is room to learn more about each other. Going into her year as president Thompson is looking at ways that agriculture can reach out to consumers but also break down internal siloes. Her time in the first class of the REAL Oregon program led to many new connections with others in agriculture, fishing, and forestry. Thirty participants from different regions and industries within Oregon attended five sessions around the state to learn more about the state of natural resources and agricultural management. At REAL Oregon, it was apparent that struggles in one industry or region, like bans on aerial spraying, can foreshadow legal challenges elsewhere. On the other hand, solutions for one group might be shared to benefit many. So, while Thompson balances her work in The Dalles with her year of service as president of Oregon Aglink, she’s hoping that other producers and processors also find the means to learn more about each other and the Oregonians they’re trying to reach. As tough as it can be to find the time to connect, there’s always a need. WWW.AGLINK.ORG
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Guest Speaker seeks a “Win-Win-Win” for Oregon Agriculture Solid attendance at the membership-only Annual Meeting turned into a packed house when the doors opened to allow in other NW Ag Show attendees to hear Chad Higgins present on “Farms of the Future: Practical Tech for Oregon Ag.”
Oregon Aglink President Pamela Lucht reads the results of the 2019 board elections.
Familiar Faces, New Setting at Annual Membership Meeting BY ALLISON CLOO
In 2019 the Oregon Aglink Annual Membership Meeting relocated from its recent home in Wilsonville to a new spot: the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem at the revamped Northwest Ag Show, produced by EO Media. Members from all around the state were invited to attend the annual meeting on Thursday in between visiting vendor booths and attending seminars. The annual membership meeting this year included an Oregon Aglink financial report from treasurer Fred Geschwill and executive director Mallory Phelan offered a review of the year’s fundraising and outreach. President Pamela Lucht shared the names of board members elected for the upcoming year by the general membership (for a full list of board members now serving, see page 11). Members enjoyed a lunch bar catered by Better than Mama’s, courtesy of lunch sponsors Rabo Agrifinance and Papé Machinery. 4 AgLink
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An associate professor at Oregon State University, Higgins co-founded the NEWAg lab devoted to studying the “Nexus of Energy Water and Agriculture.” From monitoring microclimates in vineyards to using artificial intelligence in irrigation, the NEWAg lab and Higgins find places where data and technology exist already or can be developed to help agriculture. Among the central questions they ask of any technology, Higgins says they always pursue the practicality angle for farmers: “How do you make it cheap? How do you make it rugged and repairable?” In the case of “agrivoltaics”—or solar panels installed above and along cultivated land—the technology may also prove to be profitable for farmers in Oregon and elsewhere. At Oregon State University, some unexpectedly lush grass under solar panels installed in a sheep pasture prompted Higgins to record data on temperature, plant growth, and moisture under the panels and in a control plot under direct sunlight.
The data showed a positive feedback loop between the plant matter and electricity production. The shade slowed evaporation and prompted the grass to grow more slowly but ultimately more productively than the control plot. In turn, the solar panels above grass converted light into electricity more efficiently than if they were stationed on hotter rooftops, gravel, or pavement.
NW Ag Show Returns
In Higgins view, that’s a “win-win-win”: crop productivity is up, captured electricity is up, and potential profits are up for whoever is selling either product. Unlike previous schemes where solar panels replace farm land, this model shows an alternative route where farmers keep their soil in production even as it serves an additional purpose of harvesting sunlight. According to Higgins, not every farmed acre would need to host solar panels, which fits with the fact that not every crop would thrive with this model. However, based on the wattage produced with this method, using agrivoltaics on 0.5% of cropland would offset Oregon’s energy demand. Beyond waiting on USDA funding cycles to experiment with other crops like berries and barley, Higgins acknowledges there are other barriers such as permits, zoning, material shortages of steel, and even social resistance. For example, “sustainability” can be a sensitive topic for many in agriculture, calling up a mindset that may prioritize conservation at the expense of production. Recent years have shown farmers and ranchers warming to the term though, looking at sustainability as something they already do: operations must be economically sustainable to stay in business, and must take care of their soil to pass it on to the next generation. In coming years, agrivoltaics may be part of that solution.
In January, Oregon Aglink hosted a booth at the revamped Northwest Agricultural Show, presented by EO Media at the state fairgrounds in Salem, Oregon. For three days, attendees could stop by to learn more about our programs, pick up some news stickers or Landmark of Quality pins. Two survey questions were posted on easels at either side of the booth, asking how farmers and ranchers connect with Oregonians. The biggest takeaway? Producers are reaching out online and in person, but there’s always progress to be made! Oregon Aglink hopes to keep helping make those connections in the decades to come.
Following his presentation on agrivoltaics, Higgins answered many questions about the logistics and potential for the new technology.
The Oregon Aglink booth at the Northwest Ag Show aimed to engage attendees with giveaways and conversation starters. WWW.AGLINK.ORG
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PERENNIAL PARTNERS:
Adopt a Farmer All-Stars BY ALLISON CLOO
Now in its eighth year, Adopt a Farmer has broadened its reach at the same time as it broadens the horizons of students who may have never visited a working farm or ranch. As we celebrate growth and plan for more, looking to some of the longestrunning school matches reminds us that returning volunteers deserve as much fanfare as the newcomers. Pearmine Farms was one of three operations that piloted the program during the 2011-2012 school year. In the next school year, the number had grown to nine, with three of those operations — Pugh Seed Farms, Victor Point Farms, and Gray Farms — falling into a rhythm that has brought them back year after year. While the number of matches has hovered between forty and fifty for the last couple years as some farms take breaks and new ones get involved, the continued participation of long-running matches is an important measure of success. The farmers themselves speak highly of their experiences. “I feel like I’m the winner in this relationship,” says Skip Gray of Gray Farms near Albany. “The school and teacher I work with are amazing. She has absolute control of her classroom yet has a lot of fun with her students.” Gray has been paired with Michelle Heuberger of St. Mary’s School since his first year. It’s a smaller group of students — usually twenty to thirty students in one class period — and the size means they frequently end up driving together on the bus while Gray navigates and then brings students out into the field to see work underway. Other school-farm matches come with a bigger crop of students each year. Twice a year at Pearmine Farms in Gervais, 6 AgLink
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Molly McCargar spreads out the 180 students from Rachel Carson Environmental Middle School over four days of field trips at a time in fall and then spring. This is how a very large group is broken down in to forty-five students, and that number gets even smaller when students are split into groups to rotate through “stations” on the farm. “It can be anything as simple as climbing in an out of tractors, combines, and other big equipment to giving them a chance to experience jobs like moving irrigation pipe or just digging in the soil,” says McCargar, who has become adept at breaking down big farm jobs into hands-on activities that make farming real to the students. “Maybe head out to the fields and learn to scout for pests, how to identify them, what actions you might need to take or not. Take soil samples, talk about soil health, different soils and how all of this plays a part in production.” Inviting along guest speakers can spread the work around and expose students to other professions involved in farming. “There are so many jobs connected to agriculture,” says McCargar, “it’s important for kids to see and understand they can have a future in agriculture, even if it’s not as a farmer” At Victor Point Farms in Silverton, a group of anywhere from 145 to 190 students comes during one big field trip, but is split into five groups to rotate through stations that vary from year to year. Co-owner Jesse Rue has run an equipment station for several years, with students climbing in and out of cabs while they match different vehicles and implements to their functions on a worksheet. His brother and Victor Point co-owner Lucas almost always runs a station about soil profiles, drainage, and erosion. Depending on who else they can arrange to be present, the students might talk with a field rep about precision agriculture or tour neighboring Ioka Farms’ grass seed cleaner in a bus. Even with smaller groups, like the thirty students from St. Paul Parish School in Eugene who drive to Pugh Seed Farm in Shedd, having guest speakers helps students understand how farming takes so many different skills. Owner Denver
Pugh might not even be able to keep the field trip all to himself if he tried: “I have a warehouse manager, Allen, who completely embraced the fall tours and sets up diagrams and demonstrations for the students.” In spring, when students return for a special second trip to see the fields in bloom, Pugh may invite an agronomist or his bee keeper to explain their roles in keeping the crops productive. Pugh has dialed in the routine of the field trips and what works best for his students and him, including when it comes to class visits. “Because I’ve done this a number of years now, it’s gotten way easier speaking to the students in the class. Way less intimidating now than when I first started.” Skip Gray is another farmer who makes sure that class visits are part of the contact he has with students. Part of it is greeting them on their own territory and bringing the farm into the school environment. “It’s also way easier for those who make arrangements for field trips,” he says, “Since I’m merely a guest speaker and my visit to school doesn’t necessitate transportation and supervision.” There are always challenges to work around—rain can lead to some muddy field trips, and snow days at the schools have forced a rescheduled visit or two—but the Oregon Aglink staff, teachers, and farmers are always finding ways to make it work and reasons for participants to come back year after year. The farmers all have a similar story about why they stay involved. Take Denver Pugh, for example: “It still is totally worth it. It gives
me a chance to show others what an actual working farm is like. Many kids these days don’t get these opportunities, and if I can show them what all it takes to run a farm and how important we are to the health of our society, then I’m all for it.” Jesse Rue knows his favorite part right away: “Just seeing the kids’ reaction outside of the classroom is rewarding when they get to be on a farm and see firsthand what we do.” Skip Gray also comes back to the curiosity and imagination he finds with a new group of middle school students each year. “At their age, there is so much variation in physical development and maturity, so getting out on the farm or even having laughs in the classroom while we talk farming is really fun for me.” For the farmers and ranchers who feel like they might not have enough to share to hold the interest of a classroom during one trip, let alone two or three, Molly McCargar has encouraging words: “If someone thinks it’ll only take one trip to share their farming operation, they aren’t giving themselves enough credit for everything it takes to farm.” What about the farmers and ranchers who worry about getting bored with the same material? Well, McCargar has an answer for that too: “If there’s anything consistent in agriculture, it’s that every year nothing ever stays the same.” Luckily for Adopt a Farmer, it’s clear that the value of these farmers and their experience stays consistent for every new student who comes through the program.
A (Hemp) Sign of the Times BY ALLISON CLOO
Whether you call them Road Crop Signs or Crop ID signs, the white and green signs posted along roads and highways across Oregon are part of Oregon Aglink’s oldest continual outreach and education efforts. One of the most popular sign varieties in recent years? Industrial Hemp. As many farms seek to diversify with hemp, we reached out to a recent sign customer to learn more about how they are embracing the crop. South of Oregon City, Craig Collins and his son Sean have expanded on past experience with research and crop consulting to start a new venture: 100% Oreganic Grown. The label covers a variety of services that may expand in years to come. In addition to organic certification for hemp grown around Oregon, the business is growing its own production field of hemp that doubles as a research farm. Most other hemp producers are dealing with the challenges of growing from seed, a method with some drawbacks of genetic inconsistency and producing male plants that have to be rogued out. Oreganic Grown, on the other hand, works with tissueculture plants. According to Sean, the tissue-culture plants have some distinct advantages: “it’s genetically identical, guaranteed female, and clean plant material that’s not infested with disease or insects.” That consistency matters when you consider the research at the property, says Sean, “we’re going to be looking at different kinds of fertilizers and doing efficacy testing on some of 8 AgLink
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the biocontrol products that are out there for insect and disease control.” A consistent product means an easier time isolating the variables during trials. “The difference between two samples will be the fertilizer,” for example, “and not the plant itself.”
for hemp harvest. The bottleneck with processing presents a similar challenge for farms that have already invested in the crop, and businesses with early investments in processing facilities are ahead of the game as others catch up.
“We also are selling in a limited amount the tissue culture varieties that we’ve developed,” says Sean, “Next year we’ll be able to meet a higher demand, but that will go up when we have a larger tissue culture lab.”
Along with the previously mentioned drawbacks of starting from seed, which tissue-culture could address, Sean and Craig agree that there will be challenges with pest management at some point. “So far it hasn’t been a major problem,” says Sean, “but a lot of growers are planting hemp on the same land several years in a row and that’s where you get diseases and pests building up.” That’s why wellresearched pest controls and possibly future residue testing will be valuable services for companies like Oreganic Grown to offer.
So how did fifty years of work with crops more familiar to Oregon expand into an interest in hemp three years ago? It’s all a matter of keeping a finger on the pulse of an industry. The experience with research had given them the opportunity to work with different companies that create products for controlling insects and diseases. The next step was figuring out where those products might need to be applied next. In Craig’s words: “The writing was on the wall that hemp was going to become a major crop in the US agricultural industry. We knew a lot of our clients were going to want to try those products on hemp.” The challenges ahead for Oregon’s hemp industry may be the source of opportunity for businesses like Oreganic Grown. Connections made via previous consulting means a chance to explore better mechanization
Many farmers in Oregon have already welcomed industrial hemp as a way to diversify. With the help of forwardthinking companies, the industry will be prepared to face any of the technical difficulties that come along with innovation.
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AgLink 9
2019 SPRING EVENTS APRIL 25
WELCOME NEW MEMBER! McKee Family Farms
Oregon Aglink Board of Directors Meeting Location TBD
APRIL 27-28 Oregon Ag Fest
State Fair and Expo Center | Salem, OR Come volunteer at our booth! Visit aglink.org
Know someone who should join? Share this magazine with them! They can contact us at info@aglink.org with questions or sign up for membership at www.aglink.org/membership
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AUGUST 9
Friends of Oregon Ag Golf Tournament
Chehalem Glenn Golf Course For more details see ad below.
Executive NOTES It’s Not Just Tomayto, Tomahto 2019 OFFICERS Megan Thompson, President Sage Fruit Fred Geschwill, Vice President F & B Farms Michelle Markesteyn, 2nd Vice President Rootopia Abisha Stone, Treasurer SEDCOR Terry Ross, Secretary Integrated Seed Growers, LLC Pamela Lucht, Past President Northwest Transplants DIRECTORS Nicole Anderson, Wilco Joe Beach, Capital Press Ryan Bennett, Northwest Onion Company Anissa Branch, Riddell Farms Dave Buck, Aldrich Advisors Cory Carroll, Papé Machinery Jeanne Carver, Imperial Stock Ranch Cindy Cook, Cook Family Farms Shelly Davis, Boshart Trucking Dave Dillon, Oregon Farm Bureau Amy Doerfler, Doerfler Farms Jeff Freeman, Marion Ag Service Bobbi Frost, Harrold’s Dairy Larry George, George Packing Justin Gutierrez, Columbia Bank Kathy Hadley, Hadley Family Farms Doug Hart, Hart’s Nursery of Jefferson Kerisa Kauer, MetLife Andrea Krahmer, NW Farm Credit Services Randy Lyons, NORPAC Margaret Magruder, Magruder Farms Molly McCargar, Pearmine Farms Jennifer McCarthy, Rabo AgriFinance Myron Miles, Miles Ranch Lori Pavlicek, 4-B Farms Karren Pohlschneider, French Prairie Gardens Kelly Ross, Oregon Fairs Association Dick Severson, Severson Farms Mark Shipman, Saalfeld Griggs Sam Taylor, Pacific Ag Solutions
Prior to working at Oregon Aglink, I took a one way flight to Peru. I worked in a hostel before finding a job teaching English at a local school. Having studied abroad in Mexico and been three credits shy of a second major in Spanish, I felt decently comfortable with communicating in Spanish. While my verb conjugations could always use some work, I felt confident in my vocabulary until I asked a man at the market where the aguacates were - his expression and lack of response made me question my pronunciation. I started to describe the black outer layer, soft green inside with a pit and he said palta! Come to find out, some countries in South America use the word palta instead of aguacate for avocado. If you’ve ever traveled to another English-speaking country, you understand this concept of the same language using different words depending on the country such as the Brits saying “rubbish” for trash or Aussies saying “brekky” for breakfast. You’ve probably even known of American English words that change depending on what part of our country you are from. Is a carbonated fountain drink a pop, soda, soda pop, or Coke? The first time I visited Kentucky, a server asked me what kind of Coke I wanted. Only seeing regular or diet on the menu, I didn’t even realize Coke was being used as the overarching term for all the flavors offered. When we look at our relationships with friends and family, the use of certain language becomes our own sub-dialect of sorts. Whether it’s inside jokes with your friends or the way you and your partner can communicate unlike any others, our word choice matters. We’re fairly good at deciphering what those close to us say and mean. Do you remember any words your kids used growing up that only you understood or maybe were slightly incorrect? A little girl I babysat called a popsicle, poppy-sicky-doo. Ultimately, we invest time and show compassion in understanding those we care about. Consider the disconnect between farming, ranching, fishing, and forestry with those who consume the products produced by those industries. While consumers and producers sometimes use words like sustainability and diversity with different intentions, there are other words those of us working in these industries use that are unfamiliar to the general public. It’s something that happens in the Adopt a Farmer program. We remind farmers and ranchers to explain terms such as variable rate application or that artificial intelligence isn’t the only thing AI stands for - even seemingly simple words like perennial or concepts such as cover crops are unknown to most people. It’s not only middle school students we work with, but sometimes their chaperones and teachers who are unfamiliar with common industry vernacular. Our use of these words common to us, but uncommon to the general public, can hinder our communication and understanding of how farms, ranches, fisheries, and forests operate. This isn’t unique to agriculture - many other science-based industries have to learn to do this including medicine, technology, neuroscience, and more. It benefits all of us to learn to speak with words digestible to consumers today. Committing ourselves to knowing what consumers understand and how we can better explain our industry takes time and to do it well, compassion - just like we extend to our family and friends. Instead of defense, let’s play offense by engaging in conversations now, including our very best listening, to understand better language to use and find areas of common ground with those who do not understand what farmers, ranchers, fishers, and foresters do.
Mallory Phelan Executive Director WWW.AGLINK.ORG
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