Dickman Farms – I am Oregon Agriculture

From left to right, my dad, Mike Dickman, me, and my uncle, Mark Dickman of Dickman Farms in Silverton, Oregon.

I am Oregon agriculture.

My name is Corey Dickman and I am a part of Dickman Farms, a fourth-generation farm in Silverton, Oregon. Dickman Farms was started by my great-grandfather, who bought the home place while working at the mill in Silverton after coming from Germany. Today I farm with my dad, Mike Dickman and my uncle, Mark Dickman. We grow sweet corn that is turned into powder, sweet corn, green beans and cauliflower for local processors, storage onions that go across the country as well as the world, soft white winter wheat and turf grass for seed.

Rows of sweet corn coming up at Dickman Farms.

Dickman Farms is part of the farmer-owned co-op NORPAC, and our cauliflower and the balance of our green beans go to them for processing. Other processing involves our sweet corn and the rest of our green beans. Our sweet corn that’s turned into powder is largely used as a flavor base in things like soup. The rest of our sweet corn, and some of our green beans, go to national frozen foods. Then there’s our other crops, which have both local and global destinations. Many of our storage onions stay local, but a large portion go to Pacific Rim countries such as Japan. Turf grass seed generally stays domestic, but some makes it all the way to Europe. Soft white winter wheat goes into making noodles and pastas all around the world.