Ioka Farms – I am Oregon Agriculture

The Doerfler & Duerst families who some, but not all, are a part of Ioka Farms, Inc.

I am Oregon agriculture.

My name is Michele Doerfler-Fennimore and I am a fifth generation farmer/family member involved in Ioka Farms, Inc. I returned to the family farm 26 years ago and am currently the office manager and head of HR. Don, my brother, manages our farm production division assisted by our cousins Doug, Alex and Trevor. My cousins Bruce and Rob, along with Rob’s wife Mindy manage our seed cleaning and marketing division. Dave and Rita Doerfler, my parents, are both still active in the day-to-day operations as well as all important decision-making processes.

New Holland combines harvesting a perennial ryegrass field at Ioka Farms.

Ioka Farms employs 32 full-time employees and an additional 15 seasonal workers. We produce turf and forage grass seed, wheat, oats, meadowfoam, specialty forage crops, Christmas trees, timber and hazelnuts. Our turf grass is used in lawn blends and sports fields, including golf courses, in the West, North and Northeast United States and in Europe and New Zealand. Wheat that we produce is mostly used for seed to produce more wheat in the Northwest, and is also used in forage mixes for livestock in the U.S.

Our processing facility where we clean, package, custom blend and ship.

The oats we produce are mostly for seed stock, but some is also used in forage mixes for livestock in the U.S. and Korea. Specialty forage crops we produce are used in the U.S. and New Zealand, and our Christmas trees all go to California or Mexico.

Our family farm operation consists of approximately 5,000 acres of both owned and leased land on which we produce this diversified mix of crops. Our operation is vertically integrated which allows us to process, package, market and ship crops worldwide. My family has been farming in the Silverton Hills since 1877 and we are proud to be a part of Oregon agriculture.