The Importance of Agritourism in Oregon
There has been a lot of recent press about the decline of family farms and the challenges of farming in Oregon. A few articles (listed below) do a great job of spelling out some of the issues.
We have only been able to stay in business and keep our staff employed because we are an "agritourism" farm. An agritourism farm simply means we are allowed to sell directly to the consumer in our farm stand. Grocery stores can sell produce for far less than we can grow it. As a small farm, being allowed to sell directly is huge, and shockingly not allowed unless the county has issued you a farm stand permit.
There are only a handful of farms in Multnomah County that have been issued farm stand permits, and each permit lists different allowed activities. In our case, we are allowed to do a lot more than most farms because we've been grandfathered to do so. For example, we are allowed to have farm-to-plate dinners. In fact, we are permitted to have 45 farm-to-plate dinners per year, while another farm down the road is only allowed 22, and many others are not allowed to have any. The rules are not equitable and are negotiated with individual land use planners. Our first experience "negotiating" with a planner was when we were told we weren't allowed to have any lawn games on the farm. We made our case that cornhole and horseshoes have ties to agriculture and she allowed us to have those activities. But if you've been here and we've asked your kids to put away their balls or frisbees, one of the reasons is because we are not legally allowed to have them.
When the farm stand permits were initially created, the goal was to ensure that farmland didn't get all bought up and used for non-farm uses. This is a good thing in theory, but a lot has changed in the 50+ years since the laws were written. We have big chain supermarkets receiving food shipped from other states and countries at prices far lower than our small family farm can compete with; less people cook at home and services like Uber Eats continue to negatively affect retail produce sales. By just selling produce alone, we aren't sustainable, nor could we pay our workers living wages.
Agritourism gives us the ability to bring more folks to the farm, who can come for a dinner, hear live music, walk through the sunflower fields, pick their own pumpkins, take a hayride, or grab grilled food and a beer. We give locals and visitors a connection to a farm, a chance to see where their food comes from, and a place for kids to see the livestock or pick their own berries. All these activities are allowed because we have been grandfathered a farm stand permit.
Jim and I bought the farm as the retirement phase of our life. We'd like to think we're going to be here for a while, but the truth is, we need to make things better for younger folks so they too can grow food locally and give people a connection to where their food comes from. The average age of a family farmer is 60, and family farms are shrinking at an alarming rate. More than 2,000 family farms in Oregon have gone out of business in the last five years.
This past year, we watched as Oregon cherry farmers had to let fruit stay on the trees unpicked because the fruit buyers were getting fruit from other states and countries for less money than it cost local farmers to pick the cherries off the trees.
The good news is that there is a lot of press right now, and many people are working to revise the Oregon rules to help everyone. We are optimistic that many people want family farms to survive. The biggest thanks go to you; thank you so much for supporting our farm. It means the world to us.
Modern Farmer:The Business Behind the Farm Visit
OPOA: The Difference Between Protecting Farmer and Protecting Farmland