Bad news: Oregon farm numbers dropping

Just when we need more people to become food producers rather than just consumers, we've got the trend going in the wrong direction.  In large part this is a function of sprawl, as the many miles of pavement and McMansions reduce land available for farming and raise land prices to levels that make it impossible to start out unless you inherit the land.  (And at those land values, the greatest incentive is to subdivide and develop, rather than keep it for farm use.)

http://is.gd/jbVr

3. Number of Oregon Farms Drops 

The number of Oregon farms is falling, and fewer young people seem to be entering the business, according to figures from the latest Census of Agriculture. Eugene Register Guard 02/11/2009

A really intriguing alternative to be conundrum faced by young people (the need to get rich enough to be able to buy some land and start a farm) may be found here:

http://www.spinfarming.com/   (and it's slightly less-intensive counterpart http://www.spingardening.com/)

MEET SPIN'S CREATORS

Wally Satzewich and Gail Vandersteen

Wally Satzewich

Wally Satzewich operates Wally's Urban Market Garden which is a multi-locational sub-acre urban farm. It is dispersed over 25 residential backyard garden plots in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that are rented from homeowners. The sites range in size from 500 sq. ft. to 3000 sq. ft., and the growing area totals a half acre. The produce is sold at The Saskatoon Farmers Market.

Wally Satzewich and Gail Vandersteen initially started farming on an acre-sized plot outside of Saskatoon 20 years ago. Thinking that expanding acreage was critical to their success, they bought some farmland adjacent to the South Saskatchewan river 40 miles north of Saskatoon where they eventually grew vegetables on about 20 acres of irrigated land. "This was a site to die for," Ms. Vandersteen said. "It was incredibly beautiful, but the pestilence was incredible too! We couldn't believe what the bugs and deer could do. Not to mention the wind."

"We still lived in the city where we had a couple of small plots to grow crops like radishes and salad mix, which were our most profitable crops. We could grow three crops a year on the same site, pick and process on-site and put the produce into our cooler so it would be fresh for the market."

Farmer's Market

After six years farming their rural site, the couple realized there was more money to be made growing multiple crops intensively in the city, so they sold the farm and became urban growers. "People don't believe you can grow three crops a year in Saskatoon," observes Vandersteen. "They think it's too much work, but the truth is, this is much less work than mechanized, large-scale farming. We used to have a tractor to hill potatoes and cultivate, but we find it's more efficient to do things by hand. Other than a rototiller, all we need is a push-type seeder and a few hand tools."

Mr. Satzewich points out that city growing provides a more controlled environment, with fewer pests, better wind protection and a longer growing season. "We are producing 10-15 different crops and sell thousands of bunches of radishes and green onions and thousands of bags of salad greens and carrots each season. Our volumes are low compared to conventional farming, but we sell high-quality organic products at very high-end prices." The SPIN method is based on their successful experiment in downsizing which emphasizes minimal mechanization and maximum fiscal discipline and planning.

Brian Halweil, a food issues writer and researcher at the Washington-DC-based Worldwatch Institute, interviewed Mr. Satzewich and referenced his farming approach in Eat Here, which documents worldwide initiatives in building a locally-based food industries.