Agritourism could be a lifeline for struggling Oregon farms

Small farms are struggling to stay open and farmers in Oregon are looking to lawmakers for help.

Since 2017, Oregon has lost over 2,000 farms.

Now farmers, ranchers, and advocates are coming together to bring issues to Governor Kotek, and agritourism is on the list.

"Despite Oregonians really loving these activities, the law in this area is very complex, very confusing, and there’s actually a contingency of people out there that don’t want agritourism events to happen in the farm zone," Samantha Bayer, general counsel, Oregon Property Owners Association said.

According to the association, the campaign started when farmers ran into issues with local code enforcement.

Most farms are not able to have farm-to-plate dinners, field trips from local schools, or sell directly to the public.

KATU News spoke with one farm that is allowed to partake in those events.

"Because we have agritourism, we can now pay living wages to our field workers and we can have way more field workers. We can afford that. Without agritourism, our staff would be a fraction of what it was and we wouldn’t be able to pay them what we do," the owners of Topez Farm said.

Farms are already dealing with crop failure and this is just another thing to worry about when it comes to the future of small farms.

It’s not just farmers who can sign this letter, it’s Oregonians, especially people who will be visiting pumpkin patches this season.

"And so the idea is if we can get enough Oregonians and farmers on this letter to get her attention, that perhaps we can have a better conversation about what we need to do to support farmers during this time. The association has had conversations with Kotek’s team about the importance of agritourism," Bayer said.

The letter will be open to sign through the month of October. As of right now, there are about 500 signatures.

MORE | https://tinyurl.com/55cjpw8m

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: September 25, 2024, 3:03 am.

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