OWGL adds position to help wheat growers access federal conservation programs

The job was created in partnership with — and partially funded by — the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, which offers grants and technical assistance for producers to enhance soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat, among other initiatives.

In his role, Flowers will meet with wheat growers across the state to learn how they are using NRCS programs and ways they can be improved.

For example, many farmers have already entered into contracts through the Conservation Stewardship Program or Environmental Quality Incentives Program to make positive changes to their operations, he said.

That might involve reduced tillage, or purchasing “smart sprayers” to more efficiently apply pesticides.

“The hard thing is, once they get into the program once, it’s hard to either renew it or get into the program again,” Flowers said. “There’s only so much funding to go around.”

Amanda Hoey, CEO of the state Wheat Growers League, said the timing is especially beneficial with the Inflation Reduction Act pumping nearly $20 billion into NRCS programs to help farms offset climate change.

“We need to make sure we are able to access (those programs),” Hoey said.

Flowers was chosen to lead the effort based on his experience as a farmer and participation in organizations such as the state Farm Bureau, which lobby government agencies on agricultural policies, Hoey said.

“It was a nice match for us,” she said.

Flowers grew up on his family’s farm in the Klamath Basin, where they raised mostly hay, grains and cattle. He eventually took over the operation, while assuming several leadership positions within the industry.

Like his father and grandfather, Flowers was president of the Klamath-Lake County Farm Bureau. He was also president of the Klamath Drainage District and a board member of the Klamath Water Users Association, representing irrigators in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project.

“It definitely makes it difficult to run a farm,” he said of wearing so many hats. “I have a hard time saying no to those kinds of positions.”

Flowers recently moved from Klamath Falls to Hermiston in northeast Oregon, and will work out of the Wheat Growers League office in Pendleton.

Farmers in the region — which spans Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco counties — produced nearly 85% of the state’s wheat crop in 2022.

“I love the area,” he said. “There’s something about the beauty of Eastern Oregon, the rolling hills and wheat fields.”

In addition to continuing his outreach related to NRCS programs, Flowers planned to join the Wheat Growers League during a trip to Washington, D.C., at the end of January. While there, they were to meet with lawmakers to discuss the new farm bill and other legislative priorities.

“The thing I enjoy about advocacy,” Flowers said, “is being able to make a difference, not only for my own farm but other people’s farms and ranches, and helping them be able to carry on into the future and pass on their legacies to future generations.”

Hoey said their conversations on Capitol Hill would focus in part on maintaining crop insurance, preserving federal funding for the wheat research programs at the USDA’s Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center north of Pendleton, and investing in infrastructure for the Columbia-Snake River system of dams and navigation locks.