Jefferson County farm efficiency impresses city tour goers
Amid the rumble of pollinators (farmer-speak for honey bees) a crop of floppy hats droop to examine fluffy white umbels (translated: carrot blossoms.)
About 30 people, most of them from Bend, took three to four hours out of their schedules Wednesday afternoon, July 12, to visit Fox Hollow Ranch, Marty and Kevin Richards’ farm south of Madras.
“I have a lot of climate change anxiety,” said Laurence LeMercier, originally from France. “I want to know what farmers are doing to cope and what we can do to help farmers.”
“Water is a huge concern. We can learn from people who are doing it right,” said Makensy Venneri from Bend, in her first year as a realtor. “I have a background in farming and want to help the next generation of farmers get access to farmland.”
Kevin Richards described how farmers rotate their crops and bunch their water rights to make the most of their land and every drop of water.
“I used to measure by how much I could produce per acre,” said Richards. “Now I measure by how I’m doing per acre foot of water.”
Richards said farmers cope by earning income off the farm, shifting to crops that use less water, or focusing on custom harvests, niche crops.
Josh Bailey, general manager of the North Unit Irrigation District, described the challenges facing irrigators. “We are the second largest irrigation district in Oregon, and one of the most efficient districts in the nation.”
The Deschutes River Conservancy sponsored the tour as part of its Raise the Deschutes seminar series. DRC’s Program Manager Lisa Seales explained that by the time Jefferson County applied for water rights in 1913, all the water had already been allotted to other irrigation districts. “The river wasn’t even considered in that equation.”
Tour-goers learned how in the early 20th century workers hand-dug 34 miles of canal to create a gravity fed system because irrigators then couldn’t pump water from the canyon to the fields.
Because the authority that delegated water in 1913 over-allocated the water, North Unit built Wickiup Reservoir south of LaPine to store water specifically for irrigation in Jefferson County.
Farmers in Jefferson County have earned a reputation for water efficiency out of necessity.
“We have a lot of value at risk. I have about $7,000 to $8,000 invested in this field,” Richards said, pointing to the expanse of umbels starting to form seeds.
North Unit uses a metered system, delivering farmers exactly the amount of water they order when they need it. Many farmers use drip-lines, delivering water only to the root of the plants. Growers invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in pivots, or in sprinkler systems that deliver the water lower to the ground which cuts down on evaporation.
It costs money to save water.
“Why wouldn’t the other districts follow this example?” asked one member of the tour. Because they don’t have to, was the answer. Farmers who have enough water can’t justify the expense of investing in more efficient equipment.
“Necessity and scarcity drives conservation,” said Richards.
“Pressure makes diamonds,” is how Venneri put it after taking in all the information. “It’s phenomenal what they do with so little. They should be a template and a beacon to other districts.”
Sue Ann Alleger of Bend liked learning about efficient farming methods. “I’m glad to hear that they’re not being frivolous.”
Mike Sokol of Redmond said, “I’m blown away by the antiquated water systems the country is using since the turn of the century when most of these issues didn’t exist.”
Matt Higgins of Bend got to hear a part of the water story he hadn’t heard before. “We hear that water is going to farmers and then the story drops off. We don’t hear how the farmers are using it. I don’t know how many other farmers share (the Richards') water-focused philosophy.”