Meet Keith Nantz of Dillon Land & Cattle Co.
1) How did you get involved with the Adopt a Farmer program? I got involved with the Adopt a Farmer program during the 2013-2014 school year. It actually started through the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and other groups that partnered together for the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” assembly at Yamhill-Carlton Middle School last year. […]
Meet Jeff Freeman of Wilco
How did Wilco, and its name, come to be? Wilco’s name originated from Willamette Consolidated. As agricultural supply cooperatives began to merge and consolidate 50 years ago, the roll up of many individual cooperatives became the core of Wilco. What defines Wilco and sets it apart from other coops? In a word…diversity. Fundamentally, cooperatives are owned […]
Meet Myron Miles of Miles Ranch
What do you do? Everything. We have a ranch that’s right up against North Powder, and we have 1,400 acres in two separate places. At Miles Ranch we run a little over 200 cows, a cow/calf operation. We also grow corn silage and premium alfalfa hay. On the side my son and I have an […]
Meet Dale and Julie Bystrom and Don Sandberg of Bystrom & Sandberg Trees
Interview with Julie Bystrom. What do you do? We plant, cultivate and grow Christmas trees to sell to wholesalers and retailers. How did Bystrom and Sandberg Tree Farm get started? Dale Bystrom and Don Sandberg started out as friends over 60 years ago when they met as kindergarten classmates in Molalla. Later on in 1980 […]
Meet Tom Pape and Scott Harer of Columbia Seeds Inc.
Name: Tom Pape and Scott Harer, Vice Presidents of Columbia Seeds What you do: We focus our resources on marketing and brand development of varieties, while facilitating the flow of seed from the producer to the marketplace. How did you get into the seed business? We both grew up on the family farm and […]
Meet Randy Kiyokawa Owner of Kiyokawa Family Orchards
What you do: We grow apples, pears, cherries, peaches, strawberries, plums and a few other crops here in the beautiful Hood River Valley. We sell our apples, peaches, plums and strawberries through our fruit stand, farmers markets, small stores and directly to restaurants. We market most of our pears and cherries through Diamond Fruit Growers, […]
Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas: Running a Family Business with Family Values
With a single 25 x 96-foot greenhouse, Bob and Jeanne Fessler started Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas in 1967. Today, the multi-generational operation includes 400 acres of nursery production, including 100 acres dedicated to greenhouse production. Along the way they’ve had their share of successes and growing pains that led the operation to focus on efficiency. […]
Oregon Shepherd Natural Wool Insulation
Ten years ago when the wool market was depressed, Margaret Magruder decided to come up with an alternative use for wool to turn the market around. Magruder has been a sheep farmer at Magruder Farms the last 30 years in Clatskanie, Oregon, the farm she grew up on started by her grandfather in the early […]
Baumgardner Pickling Company
When Judie Jamison was a child, pickle making was a family tradition. She grew up eating her grandmother’s pickles, a recipe brought over from Germany by her great grandmother. Her father continued the tradition, and every year he would choose a couple of days for the whole family to get together to make a few […]
