Growing Optimism

Oregon State University’s Extension has a magazine, Oregon’s Agricultural Progress. There’s a story this month highlighting the new generation of farmers.

We were one of those interviewed.

If you’d like to check out the story it’s here

Really nice article, aimed at OSU extension supporters that read the magazine. It’s good to let people know there’s a few of us (farmers) left. And Lynn Ketchum takes some amazing photos. He and Tiffany were really fun folks to talk with too.

The only downside to the story is the fact that the farming couples are profiled with the implication being the man of the team running the show. Or so it is presented. That’s somewhat frustrating to me. Our farm wouldn’t be what it is without Melanie or I. But time and time again (not just this article, but throughout the ag movement) it’s assumed that the man is running the show. This has been true more often in the past, but I really feel this has changed in the last 20 years or so. At least it has within the organic farming movement. Couples work together as a farming team. You almost have to. When a farm grows 50 or more different veggies there’s just too much to be tackled for one person. And I feel that men and women have a very different eye for certain aspects too. Whether it’s noticing a bug infestation, or a bunch of carrots that were bunched too big, it works really well to have multiple perspectives. So I just want to put it out there that we and many other farms owe great respect to our respective partners and how equal of a part they play in the madness we call farming.

After thinking about this for a few and rereading the article, maybe it’s not that it’s implied that the man’s running the show so much as the fact that the “team effort” side of things is a really important angle to be addressed and paired with this upcoming/future generation of farmers. That’s maybe a clearer picture of what would have made me more content with the article.