Published 8:05 am Friday, December 4, 2015
ONTARIO, Ore. — Organic food companies are turning an eye toward East Oregon farmers to help them meet increasing demand in the fast-growing sector.
Oregon State University Extension agents are trying to match them with local farmers.
Twenty people, including representatives of organic production and seed companies, attended the 2nd Annual Organic Production Workshop Dec. 3 at OSU’s Malheur County Extension office.
About half the participants were farmers, said OSU Cropping Systems Extension Agent Bill Buhrig, who organized the event.
“I’ve been contacted by purchasers that are interested in organic crops that could be produced in this area and I have a lot of growers that are always looking for new ways they can diversify in this area,” he said. “The hope is to bring them together….”
James Henderson, farm liaison for Hummingbird Wholesale, a Eugene company that delivers organic products to Natural Foods stores and restaurant chains, said the company contracted 231 acres of organic crops with farmers in 2010 but that number will reach at least 4,800 in 2016.
Crops that farmers in this area could produce for the company include wheat, barley and dry beans, he said.
Organic teff, an African grain, is difficult to grow in the western part of the state, but “I think you could do it on this side, easily,” he said.
He said the company is paying growers 80 cents a pound for conventional teff but would pay significantly more than that for organic teff.
“There’s a lot of market opportunity,” he told Capital Press. “We’re just trying to assess the interest here because I know there are a lot of competent farmers here.”
Quenten Wahler, a production specialist with Albany-based Wild West Seed, said growers in this area could produce organic vegetable, flower, corn, bean and cover crop seed.
“If there is something you’re interested in growing, I can probably find a market and we can figure something out,” he said.
Because Eastern Oregon is a long way from large population centers in the western part of the state and Boise’s organic demand is being served by Southwestern Idaho farmers, agriculture in this region has been slow to catch on to organic production, Buhrig said.
“We weren’t positioned necessarily to be on the front of this wave demand-wise,” he said. “But now we’re seeing a large demand organically for things like wheat and dry beans. Well, those are things we can raise here. That’s what’s bringing in outside purchasers who are saying, ‘You guys can do this.’”
During the workshop, two Idaho organic growers discussed their foray into organic production and offered advise.
“Financially, it’s been a good move,” said Castleford, Idaho, grower Tim Cornie. But, he added, “there’s a learning curve and … you’re going to have less yields.”
Nate Jones, who began growing organic crops in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, in 1987, said it’s critical for new organic farmers to find someone to mentor them in the beginning.
