Ken Bailey, Cherry Grower, The Dalles
2008 Sesquicentennial Award
Family
“I am very optimistic about the
role agriculture will play in the future of Oregon.
Agriculture is one of the essential parts of what is the
vision of Oregon. Much of the “Green” of Oregon is
agriculture, the vistas of agriculture make up a great
part of the livability of Oregon and we have not
even started to talk about agricultural products.”
All of my father’s side of the
family came to Oregon by wagon on the Oregon Trail; my
mother’s side came by land and by sea with some taking
the southern route around South America. My mother’s
family homesteaded in The Dalles in the 1800s on Seven
Mile Hill where they had a small dairy. They ran short
of water (who would have thought?) and moved down to
Chenowith Creek.
My family has been farming our
current location since 1923 when my grandparents on my
father’s side purchased the “Home Place”. At that time
the farm consisted of a variety of fruit crops including
cherries, apples, apricots, peaches, prunes, plums and
grapes. Prior to coming to the The Dalles, Grandpa
Bailey had graduated from the University of Oregon and
spent several years in the Philippines where he was
employed by the United state government to set up and
run school systems. My father and his older brother
were both born there.
In 1918 they moved to Centralia,
WA, then to Hood River, where Grandpa Bailey was
principal of the high school. They moved to The Dalles
when they purchased the farm we now operate and live on
and purchased additional land in 1929-31. Grandpa Bailey
(Walter) and my father (Don) were not just farmers as
they were also instrumental in establishing and then
managing a local fruit cooperative (Columbia Fruit
Growers) where they handled cherries, peaches and
apricots.
My brother Bob and I have been the
first of the family to be full time fruit growers. As
we were in high school our father began to more rapidly
expand the orchards to where there was plenty of work
for us to take care of. During the 1960s we converted to
orchards the majority of the land our grandfather had
purchased in 1930.
During the 1980s we began
developing orchards in non-traditional areas around The
Dalles. The first of these was in the Dufur Valley and
then east of Dallesport, WA then to Boyd, then 8 Mile
and then it was on to other counties after the turn of
the century. We have added an orchard in Parkdale (Hood
River County) and orchards in Sherman County at Wasco
and Moro. In the beginning the farm had several fruit
crops but over time we have concentrated on fresh sweet
cherries and now only have a few acres in pears with 98%
of what we do being fresh cherries that we pack and ship
all over the world.
Our farm is very dependent on our
valuable employees, both full time and seasonal.
One story I like to relate is about
a family that came to pick cherries for us for many
years. This family was from Arkansas where they had a
small farm and used their trip to The Dalles every
summer as an opportunity to get some extra income to
support the family. They began coming in the late 1930s
and continued to the early 1960s. In the early 1980s we
received a call from one of the boys that had picked
cherries during the ‘50s and early ‘60s and he asked if
he could bring his family to pick cherries that summer.
He indicated that he would like his teenage children to
experience what he had been telling them about for
years…doing migrant farm work picking cherries and
earning money for college. They did come and had a great
summer experience. As it turned out he was then a vice
president for Union Oil out of San Francisco.
Many of our current full time
employees began as seasonal workers many years ago. We
have some employees who are third generation employees
and their grandparents were migrant workers for us over
40 years ago.
Why do I volunteer and why am I
involved? It is very important to have farmers
volunteer because the farmer will always be the most
respected representative for farmers. Paid staff and
lobbyists are essential but we must have real farmers
involved with getting messages out. I have the
opportunity to represent the industry and I think that
those of us who can take the time needs to do so. I
belong to many organizations and I believe that I have
gained as much as I have given with the association of
farmers around the country.
Why am I passionate about Oregon?
Having been born and raised in Oregon it is hard to
image some one living here and not being passionate
about Oregon. Oregon’s diverse but moderate climate is
always changing and even though we occasionally get our
own big storms they are never what we see in other parts
of the country or the world. Oregon’s history, the
diversity of Oregon’s agriculture, geology, climate,
people, industries and everything else makes it hard to
not be passionate abut Oregon.
And, I am very optimistic about the
role agriculture will play in the future of Oregon.
Agriculture is one of the essential parts of what is the
vision of Oregon. Much of the “Green” of Oregon is
agriculture, the vistas of agriculture make up a great
part of the livability of Oregon and we not even started
to talk about agricultural products.
Farmers markets and local food will
become very much more important to Oregon and the
economic contribution of agriculture to Oregon’s
viability is essential.
We need to protect and promote
Oregon agriculture as if Oregon depends on it because it
does! |
