This article was published on: 09/16/21 3:49 PM
Brewer Seth Klann and other farmers in Jefferson County are struggling as a record dry irrigation season comes to a close
Seth Klann makes beer from scratch from his base of operations at Brad Klann Farm near Madras. That is, he actually grows the ingredients he uses to produce the beer sold at his tap house. That’s a challenge for any brewer, but it has become especially hard with drought ravaging his wheat and barley fields.
Klann said the farm, home to the Mecca Grade Estate Malt, overproduced grains last year so he has enough barley to keep the operation going for now. He uses the barley for the ales, lagers, and IPAs he sells at his malthouse and other tasting rooms in Central Oregon. The malt he produces is also sold to other breweries in Oregon and California, including Worthy Brewing, Crux Fermentation Project, Bend Brewing Co., and Boss Rambler Beer Club.
While the grain stored in his silo could last two more years, Klann worries about his future supply because the irrigation water needed to grow the crops is getting cut each year. The farm also sells grass seeds, which are also in short supply after the dry summer.
“We are going to be able to use up what we have with the hope of having enough water to plant barley next year,” said Klann, who produces about 50 barrels of beer a year. “It’s going to get pretty short here in a couple of years.”
The water shortage at Klann’s farm is endemic across Jefferson County. North Unit Irrigation District, which supplies irrigation water to farmers in the county, ran out of water last month and stopped delivering water to patrons. In midseason, after a very dry spring, the district informed farmers that it was cutting 20% of this year’s water supply.
Agricultural activity in the county has stalled at a time when farmers are typically ramping up their business in preparation for the autumn crops. But instead of bountiful green fields, the landscape around Jefferson County is a lot of bare earth and tan-colored fields.
A combination of factors emptied Wickiup Reservoir, which stores water for North Unit.
There’s a severe drought that has been growing worse over the past three years. There are tougher environmental regulations in place to protect the Oregon spotted frog, which results in less water for farmers. And there are leaky canals and inefficient irrigation systems that waste large volumes of water.
Many are abandoning their crops while some are paying large sums to purchase water for their crops. Either way, there is no easy solution. As for Klann, if his silo does eventually empty out, he could purchase grains from another farm, but that would go counter to his personal effort to grow his own ingredients.
“In a worst-case scenario, I guess we’d have to (buy barley),” Klann said. “We are one of the only malthouses that sources from our own acreage, and I have kind of committed to that. I think it’s important.”
For Klann, sourcing in-house is about preserving his brand. Others worry about not being able to earn an income or pay workers.
Evan Thomas, another North Unit patron, doesn’t anticipate making money this year, but he does hope to pay his workers, some of whom have worked on his farm for over 30 years. Over the past decade, the drought has forced him to reduce his workforce by nearly half. He has also cut the number of acres upon which he can grow crops.
“That’s the gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, how-do-we-get-out-of-this-situation. They are family. What do you do?” said Thomas. “Decisions have to be made that are hard, and you don’t know what your future is.”
Thomas, who grows carrots, wheat, and timothy hay, said the drought is making many farmers question how long they can stay in business.
“There is not one farmer that can really survive this if it’s going to continue on without help,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.”
Richard Macy is growing several crops this year on his farm near Madras, including sweet potatoes, carrot seed, grass seed and peppermint for oil. But the acres he can plant on are limited and there are other challenges along the way.
A recent problem he has incurred is difficulty in getting his sweet potatoes out of the ground because the soil is too dry, and there is no water to loosen it up. He has resorted to buying expensive water from Deschutes Valley Water District.
“It’s an emergency deal this year. We had to do something to harvest,” said Macy. “We are hoping to make enough money to stay in business another year, but the income level is affected immensely.”
For Klann, hanging on has been a little easier thanks to being part of a multigenerational farm — a good chunk of the startup costs and land use fees are already paid for. But he feels for newcomers, first-generation farmers who are trying to get their businesses off the ground but face high rental or mortgage costs.
“Our family has been here long enough, we don’t have a bunch of rental payments. But if you are a young farmer and you have to rent ground, there is just no way to make it work financially,” said Klann. “I think it would be a fool’s errand to want to start a farm here.”
A variety of options have been bandied about to help Jefferson County farmers get more water but many of them are infrastructure-related and will take years to build and carry price tags in the tens of millions. There is always hope for a strong winter with lots of snowpack buildup, but climate change makes that less likely each year.
For now, farmers like Klann, Macy, and Thomas are taking it year-to-year, crossing fingers for snow. Then waiting and watching. But when asked for his outlook for improvements next year Klann had a less-than-rosy picture of what’s ahead.
“Next year it will be the same,” he said. “If not worse.”