(CSA Newsletter: Summer Week 17)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
In the last few newsletters, we’ve written about fall: the changes on the farm and in our lives. But we thought we should take one week to address another part of the season: November’s upcoming election day and how it actually does affect our farm and Oregon agriculture as a whole. We’ve been thinking a lot lately about the election and how it will shape the future of farming in Oregon.
As you know, on this fall’s ballot, Oregon voters are presented with Measure 49, a ballot measure that responds to 2004’s Measure 37. We urge you to read the media coverage of the issue for more details, but as a quick summary, Measure 37 essentially dismissed all land use laws for Oregon landowners who purchased their land before those laws were enacted. That means that farmland and forestland that had been previously protected through restrictions and tax exemptions can now be developed without community input or consideration.
Yamhill County alone has received over 452 development claims under Measure 37, spread evenly across the entire county. Many of these are for one or two additional houses, but a significant number are for 100 or more homes (one claim is for as many as 850 new homes on current forestland near the water sensitive town of Sheridan!). As the Yamhill County Farm Bureau pointed out in a recent newsletter, ‘Fill in the gaps from the claims to the current growth boundaries. That is exactly what will happen if proposed development goes forward.’
Measure 49 is a hopeful compromise to the real complaints raised by Measure 37. It attempts to meet the need for some landowners to build up to 3 houses on their properties, but it does not allow for subdivisions to be built far from current growth patterns or on prime agricultural land. It also mandates that such growth account for issues such as water availability, something Measure 37 ignored.
For us, and for farmers across the state, Measure 49’s passage has become loaded with significance for Oregon’s agricultural future. Every farmer we know has Measure 37 claims pending near their farm, all of which will affect their livelihood through decreased water availability or other impacts on shared resources. At this point, it is not an exaggeration to say that most farmers are holding their breath, waiting to see what Oregonians choose: a future with farms or without.
This may seem like hyperbole, but we know from experience that it is not. As you know, we moved to Yamhill County from Washington State early last year. Like Oregon, Washington is known for its agricultural bounty, so why did we leave?
Washington has no comparable land use laws to Oregon’s to protect farmland. In 2006 — the year we left — farmland was being sold (and taxed) at ‘highest use value,’ which most often means development rates. Farmland near population centers is routinely parceled into luxury homesites and sold for $100k or more per acre. Not only does this create a huge obstacle for new farmers, it also creates an environment in which farming is constantly challenged by development pressures. We know farmers who have watched tourist communities grow around their farms over the last few decades and now struggle simply to pay their property taxes each year.
Seeing established farmers struggle and realizing that we could never afford farmland in Washington, we moved to Oregon, where land-use laws have maintained farming communities, kept farmland taxes low, and preserved land prices. In Yamhill County, we found a community where agriculture thrives in many forms: vegetables, fruit & nut orchards, vineyards, nursery stock, dairies, and seed crops all co-exist here. You may be accustomed to driving on roads where you pass farm after farm after farm … for us, this is still amazing. Even in agricultural counties, Washington farms are dispersed among subdivisions.
And Washington farms are continually disappearing. We spent a year living in central Washington, which was once one of the most productive apple growing regions in the world. The year we lived there, every time we drove through the tight river valleys, we watched as more orchards were pulled out and burned to be replaced with vacation homes. When apple prices dropped, farmers no longer had incentive to hold out or to plant a new crop — especially with development pressure at their door.
That is the future we see when we see maps of Measure 37 claims. In contrast, we believe that Measure 49 offers a hopeful conservative compromise. Measure 49 will not stop growth; it will stop unintentional, unplanned growth. As communities we need to be intentional about how and where we grow.
Farmland is a shared resource, for today and future generations. Let us be grateful for the gift of good land. Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers,
Katie & Casey Kulla
Oakhill Organics
CSA Open House this Sunday, 1 – 4 pm!
We hope you can make it out to our final CSA open house of the season, this Sunday from 1 to 4 pm. Unlike the previous two open houses, it’s looking the weather should be perfect for walking the fields, watching the chickens, visiting over warm drinks, and picking out a pumpkin. (This week’s weather might even inspire more of our pumpkins to turn orange in time.)
Directions to farm: From HWY-18, head south on Lafayette Hwy. Turn left (east) onto Fairview Rd (there will be a sign for Hauer of the Dauen winery). Stay on Fairview as it crosses Hwy 221-Wallace Rd, at which point Fairview will turn into Grand Island Rd. Stay on Grand Island Rd as it crosses the bridge. Turn right at the first intersection (there will be grapevines on your left & a cherry orchard on the right), onto Upper Island Rd. Our property is the second on the left, but we share our driveway with the first neighbor, so turn into the first driveway on your left (at the ‘Yes on M49’ sign). You can park on the grass on the right side of the driveway, and look for signs directing you to the open house. Call if you have questions: 503-474-7661.
Reminder about Nov. 6’s move …
We have one more week of pick-up at the church parking lot, and then we’ll be moving down 1st street a few blocks to the YCAP Food Bank warehouse, beginning on Tuesday, November 6 (Election Day). See last week’s and next week’s newsletters for more specific details, but in the meantime, mark the move on your calendars!
