TL:DR (but we hope you will!)

• The Oregon Legislature was in session 2.2.26-3.5.26
• Land Use was a major topic of conversation. FoFF opposed 2 major initiatives: 
  • HB 4153 (Farm Store Bill) – This bill passed. We believe this goes too far and opens up our farmland to non-farm event and retail businesses, while not opening the fixes we discussed to all farmers due to acreage and income caps. We will continue to bring the nuances and competing needs of our diverse farmer base to the table.
  • SB 1586 (Tech tax cuts and Hillsboro UGB expansion) – This bill failed. FoFF does not support the annexation of prime farmland for industrial use. Re-development of unused land within UGBs should be the priority for tax cuts for industries not dependent on natural resources and soil health.
• Budget cuts were not as extensive as anticipated.
  • The governor originally requested budget reduction options from agencies representing 5% cuts to general funds usage.
  • A more favorable revenue forecast during session and some re-organization led to fewer cuts than anticipated.
  • There were NO cuts to OSU statewides (including Extension) in the final budget despite more than a 7% cut proposed at the beginning of the session.
• The Anti-Hunger Package had mixed success:
  • Big Wins!
    • $2M dedicated to refugee and asylee support from groups who lost access to SNAP through federal legislation last year (HR1)
    • $111M dedicated to protecting Oregon’s SNAP program. This includes upgrading card security to prevent benefits theft, increased measures at the state level to prevent errors and avoid penalties from the federal government down the road.
  • We will have to come back in the future for:
    • School Meals for All (SB 1581) did not pass this session. Although 95% of Oregon schools provide some universal school meal option, the legislature chose not to appropriate funds to bring that to 100% free breakfast and lunch despite bipartisan support.
    • No additional support for the Oregon Emergency Food Network. This was a request for $5M for the food bank networks around the state to cope with the steep increases in demand for emergency food assistance Oregon has seen in the last 18 months.

Land Use

HB 4153 – The Farm Store Bill

What is in the bill?

This bill has had a long and winding road and we want to set the record straight about the many iterations this concept went through during the session. Confusingly, the version of the bill that the public hearing was held on was not the version that passed, so if the last time you read an update was during the call for testimony, things have changed!  Here is an outline of the bill that passed the legislature:

• HB 4153A KEEPS the existing farm stand statute untouched and ADDS a new type of permit called the farm store permit. Here is what you can do with each:
  • Farm Stand (current law, unchanged)
    • Open to all farmers
    • Requires that only 25% of revenue (at max) can be made up of fee-based activity (event and attraction ticket sales) and incidental retail sales (non-farm products such as tote bags, t-shirts or artwork)
    • All other sales must come from agricultural product: both your own farm’s produce, meat, eggs, wool, etc AND from the local agricultural area (defined as the entire state of Oregon and neighboring counties if you live on the border)
    • Subject to current vague county permitting structure with no consistent or clear lines on when a permit is required (although fee-based events, new permanent structures, and sale of incidental items usually signal to the county you need a permit)
  • Farm Store
    • Only open to farms based on their size and acreage in production. The applicant for this permit must be situated on a tract of: 
      • At least 80 acres with at least 45 acres employed for farm use; 
      • Less than 80 acres but at least 40 acres and with at least 25 acres employed for farm use
      • Less than 40 acres but at least 20 acres and with at least 15 acres employed for farm use
      • Less than 20 acres if
        • At least 10 acres are employed for farm use
        • The farm store operates in conjunction with a farm operation, including a farm operation on a separate tract from the farm store, that earned at least $10,000 in gross farm income in the preceding two years;
    • No limits on the amount of revenue you can generate from ticket sales or incidental item sales. Although you have to have farm product for sale, there is no requirement that it make up even 5% of the total. Under this permit operations can now be 99% event venue or roadside attraction with no meaningful farm production.
    • Limits the square footage of incidental item sales to 25% of the area of the farm store. Again, there is no limitation on the revenue that can be earned from these non-farm products.
    • Clarification on educational tours and farm to table dinners. These are things FoFF farmers want and have asked for, but now they have to qualify for a farm store permit to do them. New event types in the bill include:
      • (i) Farm tours;
      • (ii) Educational exhibits or classes;
      • (iii) Crop mazes;
      • (iv) Play structures;
      • (v) Farm-to-table meals;
      • (vi) Animal petting and feeding exhibits;
      • (vii) Hay or tractor rides; or
      • (viii) Other seasonal or holiday events.
    • Prepared foods for immediate consumption (hot food) are now allowed in unlimited quantities. You can also have a certified kitchen facility on site for your farm to table dinners. But the law also states that there cannot be a restaurant, cafe or drive through as these are not allowed uses of EFU land. This seems contradictory to us, and we are not sure what compliance looks like.
    • Allows up to a 10,000 sq ft structure to be built to house the farm store. While only 25% of this can be used for incidental retail item sales, the rest can be used for the sale of farm products, event space or prepared foods sales.

Why is FoFF opposed?

FoFF loves farmstands. We have members with farmstands. Our staff visit farmstands and have operated them on their own operations. We know they are a vital part of connecting people to the food they eat and the land that produces it. The farm stand law needed updates and changes. This bill went FAR beyond any of the conversations FoFF has engaged in during the last 18 months, was drafted without our input, and seemed to be pre-determined for passage since the beginning of the session despite more than 1100 people (farmers and community members alike) putting their opposition on the record. We know that this benefits some farmers and land owners in the state greatly, but it is FoFF’s job to look out for the system as a whole, and all the people that we serve, not only a few individuals.

First and foremost, this bill was sold to the public and lawmakers as a way to simplify the permit process. By the end of the session, not only did this bill not clarify anything about current law, leaving it untouched, but it also created an entirely new permit for similar businesses that counties are going to have to parse out. This will create additional strain and bureaucracy at our counties and create more work for farmers when deciding between and understanding the differences in these two similar sounding permit types. It also uses the language of agritourism, which is already defined elsewhere in law and already has a separate permitting process associated with it. This has the potential to confuse and complicate an already frustrating system. It is clear that the goal of this process was not ease or clarity, but the real goal was to provide a pathway for unlimited event income on EFU zoned land at all costs.

We wanted improvements for ALL farmers

But we have heard our farmers loud and clear that some things about current law are not working and need to change. We were excited to see some things that FoFF Farmers have been asking for included here. The things we like about the farm store proposal include:

• The inclusion of educational events (like farm tours, workshops, and speakers) in farm related fee based activity. This is something that FoFF farmers have been asking for over many years. Part of helping people understand why supporting local agriculture is so important is helping them understand the impact of the choices farmers are making in production, distribution, conservation practices, and community participation.
• The clarification that products made under the farm direct producer processed exemption are farm products, not incidental. A processed farm product is just made into a more usable form. We worked hard to provide the opportunity for our farmers to expand their offerings through the farm direct marketing law. These products should be included in the definition of farm products.
• Inclusion of farm to table dinners in fee based events. This is also something that FoFF farmers have told us loud and clear is a priority for them. Our one caveat is that the bill does not currently require any of the food at the dinner be produced by the host farmer, only in the local agricultural area (defined as the state of Oregon and adjacent counties). We proposed amendments that were not taken up to stipulate that at least one ingredient had to come from the farm hosting the dinner. We were told that was not possible and could not be included.

But under the bill as passed, these new advantages both only apply to land owners who can meet the production and revenue requirements and also come with a HUGE expansion in unpermitted events and agritourism activity on EFU zoned land in Oregon. 

This means that for large farms, the area in production could be 56% if the property is only 80 acres, but the same static acreage number is applied to all properties above this threshold, it could be as little as 1% if a landowner with thousands of acres chose to take advantage of this.

For properties 40-79.99 acres the percentage in farm use varies from 31%-62%. For properties 39.99-20 acres the 37%-75% in farm use and for all properties under 20 acres the percentage of farm usage starts at just over 50% and could be more than the total land they have. Making it very, very challenging for a property under 10 acres to ever qualify for a farm store. We heard from farms of all sizes about why they don’t qualify for the new permit with these rules. Some owned more than 20 acres, but only had water rights for 5. Some owned 45 acres, but more than half of it is in forest, steep slopes, or wet lands, and they are farming the only viable 7 acres. 

The different crop and management types make these standards much easier for livestock grazers to meet than labor intensive annual crop farming. Not only are these acreage requirements arbitrary and place a higher burden on smaller properties, it leaves the door open for someone who happens to own a lot of land to do nominal farm production and unlimited agri-tourism activity, which is not in the spirit of this law.

There is already a permit for agritourism

We already have permit structures that allow folks to host events and attractions on farms. These are called agritourism permits and they come with stipulations from the counties on how often, how large, and what types can occur. By putting unlimited fee-based events into this legislation, we are leaving the door open for abuse of our farmland. 

As stated before, the current law restricts the total of fee-based income (ticket sales) and incidental item sales to 25% of the revenue from the farm stand. This bill removes this requirement for farm stores and the only limit imposed on non-farm product sales is to limit the footprint of the incidental items in the farm store to no more than 25% of the square footage. The purpose of a farm stand or farm store should be to sell agricultural products. This bill removes that requirement. The farm store permit is a way for larger land owners to circumvent the current agritourism permit requirements.

FoFF believes that accountability for farm stands (and farm stores) should be in what commercial activities are conducted, not the size of production or amount of sales. By focusing on the size and scale of businesses to legitimize their farm stores we are fundamentally changing who is allowed to have on farm sales and putting small farms at a disadvantage.

Incentives for large structures on farms

This bill also introduces the 10,000 sq ft number for farm store footprints. The current law does not technically limit the size of a farm stand, it just stipulates that at minimum 75% of the revenue must come from the sale of your, and Oregon raised/grown, farm product. This is the limiting factor in current law. The farm store permit sets a goal of a 10,000 sq ft building for those seeking this permit. While folks can disagree about market forces and what farmland is worth we know some things unequivocally drive up property prices when land comes to market. Building a 10,000 sq ft building that is permitted for public use will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the purchase price of a farm. This means that this farm will likely be out of reach of any farmer who has to rely on traditional farm loans in the future to purchase property. 

Farming is considered a risky business. There are natural forces outside your control that dictate how your crop does, whether your animals thrive, or whether you are able to meet your goals. This means farmers have traditionally relied on guaranteed and government backed loan products from sources like the USDA Farm Service Agency. FSA only takes your farm production into account when determining how much they will loan you. They want to see what your farm business plan can produce on a given amount of land. FSA rarely and minimally allows agritourism and event income to be included in the calculation. Building event facilities on farmland drives a wedge between what the land can produce and what the market says its worth. If we see a proliferation of facilities like this, while it may be good for the people who currently own the land, a working farmer doesn’t have a good chance of being able to get enough capital to purchase that land in the future using farm loans. This means that only wealthy investors or those with independent means will be able to afford farmland near our population centers in the future. This is not good for Oregon’s community food system. We need more farmers, not less in the future. We need pathways to get people on land, not encouraging large buildings for public events that will drive up prices and put farmland out of reach. Farmland needs to be accessible to those who want to produce food because eating will never be optional and we need to maintain our natural resources to feed Oregon in the future.

Did FoFF propose an alternative?

Yes. FoFF worked to craft an amendment to the current farmstand law that would have expanded event types, revenue from fee-based and incidental item sales, and kept reasonable standards for counties to ensure that there are safeguards to keep our ag lands in production and ensure neighboring operations can keep farming.

Read a summary of FoFF’s -6 Amendment here

Unfortunately, the House Ag committee did not even allow our amendment to be discussed during their process. Lawmakers have the power to give time to policy ideas to improve bills during committee hearings and work sessions. It was a conscious choice not to debate or discuss the solution we put forward. Since this bill was referred to Ways and Means after the House Ag Committee, despite requiring no state funds to be implemented (usually a requirement of Ways and Means), no more debate or discussion of amendments was allowed.

What happens now?

This bill was passed through the legislature and has been sent to the governor. The governor can choose to sign the bill and solidify its passage, she could choose not to sign it and it will be considered law after a waiting period, or she can veto the bill and block it from becoming law. The governor has been supportive of this effort from the beginning, has not answered any communications from us asking to meet with her team on this topic, and has not acknowledged any of the opposition from the farming community. It is truly disappointing to see an elected official completely ignore a large portion of the community that feeds our state.

If the bill is not vetoed, it goes into effect on Jan 1, 2027. There will need to be a rulemaking process at the Department of Land Conservation and Development to implement the bill. FOFF will continue to push for representation on that committee and bring our stakeholders to the forefront. We are not going to back away from the process just because the outcome was not what we think is best for Oregon. It is our duty to continue to engage and keep bringing our community’s voice to the table.

SB 1586 – Tech Tax Cuts and Hillsboro UGB Expansion

What is in the bill?

This bill was a lengthy package of tax cuts for the Advanced Manufacturing industry which included the annexation of a 1,700 acre parcel of prime farmland outside the Hillsboro UGB. Considering FoFF’s expertise is not tax law or high tech industry, we have limited our comments on this bill to the use of our farmland. Oregon’s land use system is very specific and seeks to keep the best farmland in production and close to urban centers where the people who need fresh, Oregon grown food live. This is one of the reasons for our thriving community food system in Oregon. While some other states have sprawling suburbs, no farm land in sight of their big cities and a heavier reliance on the centralized food system, Oregon has more than 160 farmers markets, hundreds of CSA farms and a thriving community of people who believe feeding people is not just a business. This is not an accident, a quirk of our Oregon personality, or simply a cultural choice, this is due to the land use system that was set up in 1955 to limit urban expansion and the re-development of natural resource lands. Part of that agreement is the process in place for land to be taken out of natural resource use and incorporated into a city’s urban growth boundary.

This parcel of land is currently designated rural reserves. In 2014, when the City of Hillsboro was given 1,000 acres of formerly EFU zoned land for industrial purposes, the agreement was that this land would remain untouched in the rural reserve until 2065. This is why the legislature has to get involved if it needs to be rezoned, because a bargain was already struck with the legislature for its preservation. At the end of the session, the bill had morphed to not bring all 1700 acres in at once, but to immediately annex about 300 acres and place the rest in urban reserves so that it could be brought in more easily in the future.

Why is FoFF opposed?

There have been attempts in 5 previous sessions to bring this particular parcel of land into the UGB of Hillsboro. There is little evidence to show that this particular piece of land is needed to attract high tech jobs to Oregon, in fact there were no committed companies at the time of the bills debate and no guaranteed jobs. There are plenty of available lands in surrounding communities, and nearly 500 acres of vacant industrially zoned land within Hillsboro’s UGB that could be used instead.

This conversation brings up yet again, what Oregon considers prosperous. Oregon’s agricultural sector produces $42 B of economic activity for the state with existing businesses, but land use choices in the legislature continue to view our ag land as an untapped resource. Why are we choosing to attract multi-national tech companies for the sake of prosperity, when we are not willing to invest in the infrastructure and intermediate businesses like meat processors, food manufacturing, and ag services like seed cleaning and feed mills to support existing industries? When we prioritize temporary investment from big companies that can afford to move their operations when tax breaks run out, we are sacrificing home grown businesses that are dependent on natural resources in favor of those who could be located anywhere. It does not make sense to sacrifice the soils, and water resources needed for ag to an industry that does not require those resources and has not guarantee of staying in Oregon to invest in our communities long term.

What happens now?

This bill did not pass. No further action is needed, but we will be sure to let you know if a proposal to bring this acreage into the UGB comes up again! Proponents of this misuse of our ag land may think the 7th time is the charm.

Budget outcomes were better than anticipated

Natural Resource Agencies

At the beginning of the session, FoFF joined many other advocates in bringing forward a list of crucial programs that we wanted to protect from cuts in the unfavorable revenue forecast that brought us into the short session. The governor asked agencies to prepare lists of 5% cuts across the board. This would have been the worst case scenario and we are happy to say it has not come to pass!

Thank you to everyone who helped us make the case to support our natural resource agencies and keep vital programs intact. Here is a list of the programs we highlighted and their outcomes:

Oregon Department of Agriculture

Vacancy savings in the Agricultural Water Quality Program and Vacancy Savings in Organics Positions

Outcome: There were ~$236,000 listed in vacancy savings in this agency budget, but this is far less than projected. More details on specific programs soon.

Oregon Farm to School Infrastructure and Equipment Grant

Outcome: No cuts listed!

Pesticide Stewardship and Monitoring partnership reductions

Outcome: No cuts listed!

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Reductions to the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program

Outcome: No cuts listed!

HECC 

Oregon State University Extension Service

Outcome: No cuts listed!

Oregon Water Resources Department

Water Measurement Cost Share Program

Outcome: No cuts listed! BUT there was a line item for some “reductions in services” so we will keep you posted if this program is included therein.

Food for All Oregonians’ Anti-Hunger Package

oFF is a proud member of the Food for all Oregonians Campaign because food producers know how crucial it is to be able to afford and access adequate food for your family to thrive. We have been involved with this campaign for several sessions and we proudly supported the policies and budgetary requests they put forward this year. 

Here are the outcomes for the 4 priorities:

• Big Wins!
  • $2M dedicated to refugee and asylee support from groups who lost access to SNAP through federal legislation last year (HR1)
    • This will be distributed through established refugee resettlement groups who already have relationships with this group of people.
  • $111M dedicated to protecting Oregon’s SNAP program. This includes upgrading card security to prevent benefits theft, increased measures at the state level to prevent errors and avoid penalties from the federal government down the road.
    • This includes staff positions at ODHS, additional protocols, and switching all Oregon Trail cards to chip cards for safety.
• We will have to come back in the future for:
  • School Meals for All (SB 1581) did not pass this session. Although 95% of Oregon schools provide some universal school meal option, the legislature chose not to appropriate funds to bring that to 100% free breakfast and lunch despite bipartisan support.
  • No additional support for the Oregon Emergency Food Network. This was a request for $5M for the food bank networks around the state to cope with the steep increases in demand for emergency food assistance Oregon has seen in the last 18 months.
    • There was discussion that legislators though the emergency appropriation for the delay in SNAP benefits last fall may cover this gap. The food bank networks say that the temporary infusion of funds at that time, while helpful, does not meet the increased demand they continue to see. We will have to think about Oregon based solutions to keep everyone fed if the federal government continues to roll back assistance.

Here we are again – it’s SURVEY time!  Every even numbered year, Friends of Family Farmers calls on our supporters to give us feedback on how our programming, advocacy, and services can better support Oregon’s small and medium socially and ecologically responsible farmers and the food systems they exist within. Our goal is always to be working on the most pressing and necessary issues for our farmers across the state, and we are SO proud to be an organization directed by farmers.

The Oregon Family Farm Survey is open to EVERYONE who supports the vision and mission of FoFF. Whether you are a farmer, rancher, local food supporter or food system advocate/professional, your voice is valuable to us when we are prioritizing our efforts for the future.  We have designed this survey to take you to the questions that most reflect your place in the food system based on your answers. All of our stakeholder questions lead to actions for our programming and policy work, so we value all of the responses to our survey. The survey is available in English and Spanish and we will be accepting responses through March 31st.

February 23rd – March 4th

12-1:30pm

Friends of Family Farmers envisions a local, diversified, and interconnected agricultural future built by family farms where ecosystems and communities thrive, and equitable policies improve lives and land for Oregonians. We are proud to be a nonprofit organization that is directed by farmers for farmers. Since 2009, we have held biennial Listening Sessions with Oregon’s family farmers and ranchers, hearing from thousands of producers over the years. 

How do you as a small farmer fit in? Friends of Family Farmers has always had systemic change at the heart of our mission. We need your help and want to hear from YOU! It is SO important to gain insight from our small and mid-sized farmers in our network to help drive our work. 

In addition to our statewide survey, this year we are hosting 8 policy priority focus groups, each with a specific topic focus, with our farmer members. We are currently looking for 10-12 farmers to attend one of our focus groups so we can reconnect with our farmer base and make sure we are working on the things most pressing to farmers, that our solutions will work for our community, and that we are identifying active folks in communities around the state who would be willing to testify in committees, talk to legislators, and further engage in the legislative and regulatory process.

You would be part of one of FoFF’s Policy Priority Focus Groups which will be a 1.5 hour conversation in late February or early March of 2026. We want to hear directly from the farmers in your community about the barriers they face on a day to day basis and gather information to help advocate to decision makers on behalf of these small farmers for equitable legislation.  If this sounds interesting to you, please reach out for more information! This is a great way to get involved with on the ground work to help move our local food system in the right direction and support Oregon farmers building a better food future. 

REGISTRATION BELOW 

POLICY PRIORITY TOPICS

2/23 Climate change

Farmers are already living on the front lines of climate change. Unpredictable weather patterns, extreme heat and cold, and worsening natural disasters can all wreak havoc on a season and cost a farmer or rancher their livelihood. Help us craft solutions that support farmers in Oregon through the gathering storm.

2/24 Land access/ Land Use

Oregon’s land use laws and planning process are based on a system created in the legislature in 1955. From housing to infrastructure, and commercial zones to county permitting, this system can be difficult to navigate. There have been more cries in recent years that reform is needed, but many argue this system is essential for the Oregon way of life. Where do you stand and how should we keep farmland in production?

2/25 Agritourism

The need to diversify farm income is clear, but farmers disagree about what are acceptable uses of farmland, what counts as keeping lands in production and how much say counties should have in how farmers make money. How do you want to make a living on your farm? Are you worried the activities of your neighbors will impede your harvest?

2/26 Water Resource Resilience

Water is a finite and public resource in Oregon. Building resilience in the face of drought conditions, changing aquifer levels, and an outdated allocation system has pushed Oregon’s ag community and water managers in new ways in recent years. What water struggles is your farm facing? How is your community responding to changing conditions?

2/27 Workforce Issues

Labor is often the highest cost on a farm. Finding and retaining skilled workers can be a tall order for a small operation. Let’s address concerns and discuss solutions related to about you are concerned about workforce shortages, H2A visa processes, affording competitive and legally compliant pay and benefits, or even worker housing. 

3/2 Capital access

Farms are businesses, and small businesses need investment and capital to grow. Are you able to access the appropriate loans and grants for farmland, infrastructure, or equipment purchase? Are operating lines of credit within your reach? Do you know how to find funds for advancing conservation projects or breaking into new markets? Join us for a discussion of opportunities and gaps in capital access for farms and ranches in Oregon.

3/3 Industrialization and fair competition – Canola and CAFO stockwater exemption

FoFF’s farmers raise their animals or steward their land in direct opposition to the industrialized factory farm system. When operating with a triple bottom line (environment, community, and business viability) means you are squeezed out by those who adhere to the old addage “get big or get out”, we need to discuss ways to level the playing field. We will touch on CAFO reform and the Canola Protected district.

3/4 “Emerging Issues”

Stay tuned! This session will be used as overflow for the other topics or designated as a new topic based on the feedback gathered through FOFF’s survey. Want to talk about the hottest thing in small farms? Sign up now and save your spot for whatever is the most NOW.

SIGN UP FOR ONE FOCUS GROUP

February 23 

Climate change and extreme weather

• Disasters, drought, heat domes and wildfires.

https://secure.everyaction.com/-fBwxs95vUKWhNqw-ScLOg2

February 24

Land access/ Land Use

• Conservation easements, land ownership, land security and operating capital.
• Zoning, UGB expansion, building permits and farm worker housing.
• Succession planning 

https://secure.everyaction.com/tL1jYk00qk-wdqlddNkqFQ2

February 25

Agritourism

• Farmstand restrictions, u-pick farming, tours, workshops, farm dinners, and community events.

https://secure.everyaction.com/TgzMakGCm0uP0Mkf_SqZng2

February 26

Water Resource Resilience

• Water rights rules and availability as a factor in land access, water infrastructure and water quality.
• Impacts on water availability due to climate change, natural conditions, or water quality concerns.

https://secure.everyaction.com/nnqIJ3gxjkaH-edjSa20Pg2

February 27

Workforce Issues

• Issues for farmworkers and employers 
• wages and labor shortages
• Hiring, training and housing employees
• Ag labor standards

https://secure.everyaction.com/H5Zc0t2lJ0-ZCJ4BqCI1dA2

March 2

Capital Access

• Accessing loans, grants, leases and land trusts.

https://secure.everyaction.com/u1zxGVF5UUGwCsHK7qPh8w2

March 3

Industrialization and Fair Competition (CAFO stock water exemption and canola sunsetting – canola a focus group or stakeholder group with seed growers?)

• Factory farming, canola, stock watering, meat processing access, etc

https://secure.everyaction.com/0ZskZLgbtkWaJJQLMgtkJA2

March 4

“Emerging Issues” – open ended topic 

https://secure.everyaction.com/JLSjYT9mr0aeN10wmt9WfQ2

Ongoing – watch the recording on our Youtube Channel HERE

Advocacy at FoFF takes many forms. One of the things we are famous for is our legislative advocacy. We develop priorities for our work based on feedback from our farmer members every two years. When there is a clear solution that can be achieved through new legislation, we engage in advocacy in Salem. We support bills that further our mission every session, when appropriate, spearhead specific policy solutions with the help of legislative partners, educate all legislators about the reality of small farms, give testimony at committee hearings, and most importantly bring farmers directly to their lawmakers to give them perspective on how their choices impact small farmers.

The 2026 Legislative Session began Monday 3/2/26 and let me tell you this short session will move FAST! We will be hosting a weekly Muckboots in the Capitol: Legislative Session Weekly Update every Tuesday from 10-10:30am throughout the session to keep you in the loop. Don’t forget to set a weekly reminder!

WEEKLY ZOOM LINK –

Friends of Family Farmers is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Muckboots in the Capital: Weekly Session Update
Time: Feb 10, 2026 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Tue, until Mar 10, 2026, 5 occurrence(s)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83651919533

Meeting ID: 836 5191 9533

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+12532158782,,83651919533# US (Tacoma)
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Join instructions
https://us06web.zoom.us/meetings/83651919533/invitations?signature=l6ztCxHc9dqhXE0NMWEwyFUgrFJBrE1rn5PS5cVXiFA

TL:DR (although we hope you do read!)

• Oregon has a biennial legislative schedule.
  • Even numbered years (like 2026!): Short Sessions are about 35 days long. There is not much time for debate so new legislative concepts, those that require a lot of discussion and lengthy arguments are often not tackled during these years.
  • Odd numbered years: Long Sessions run from Mid January to late June. This is where substantive debate happens, legislative work groups can be convened, and new programs have a better chance of being implemented.
• All legislative sessions follow the same formula, but short sessions have a much shorter time frame:
  • Bills are introduced in either the House or Senate and assigned a committee in that chamber.
  • Bills are given a hearing and work session (vote) in their committee 
  • Bills that are voted out of committee go to the chamber floor for a vote by the full membership.
  • If they pass out of their first chamber they go to the second and do the process all over
  • Only after passing both chambers can they go to the governor for signing.
• Public testimony can be given during committee hearings only, but there are lots of ways to get involved:
  • Giving testimony verbally on the record (in person or remotely via video)
  • Writing testimony to submit on the record
  • Writing to or calling your legislator to tell them about your experience or concerns with a particular issue
  • Meeting with your legislator to tell them about your experience
  • Signing a petition or sign on letter (like this one for the 2026 budget reduction packages!)
  • Working with an organization like FoFF to tell your story to educate the community on the impact of a policy or inaction.
• Sign up for updates and info:
  • Weekly updates Tuesdays from 10-10:30am – Muckboots in the Capitol
• The bottom line is that law makers always base decisions on the information they have. The more info you share with them about how a policy will impact you, your farm, or the food system means the more opportunity they have to act in your interest. Many legislators have little to no experience on farms, we need to tell them how their decisions impact us.

Legislative Mechanics in Oregon

Oregon has a bicameral (two chamber) legislature just like the national congress. We have the Oregon Senate and the Oregon House of Representatives. Each person is represented by both a House Rep and a Senator. You can look up who represents you here. 

Each chamber has “Leadership” which are Senators or Representatives that are elected internally to these positions and have extra authority to determine committee placement, chamber priorities, and more. The Senate has a President (currently Senator Wagner), a President Pro Tempore (currently Senator Manning), a Democratic Leader (currently Senator Jama), and a Republican Leader (currently Senator Starr). The House has a Speaker of the House (currently Rep. Fahey), a Speaker Pro Tempore (currently Rep. Gomberg), a Democratic Leader (currently Rep. Bowman), and a Republican leader (currently Rep. Elmer). Leadership are always important in activism because of their ability to influence other legislators and elevate an issue in the session calendar. It is really important that we make sure they know about our issues, who they impact, and why they are important.

Committees

Each of these chambers has committees that are split up by topics. Bills are assigned to a committee based on the type of issues that it covers. Bill assignments are done by leadership and always start in the chamber where the bill is introduced. If a bill is introduced by a lead sponsor who is a Senator, that bill will be assigned to a Senate committee.

Committees are where the debate happens. During committee hearings members of the legislature and the public have the opportunity to give testimony for or against the bill, committee members can ask questions, amendments can be introduced and adopted, and the content of the bills take shape. Hearings are required for a bill to move forward and if there is broad support (or opposition), these can be pretty brief, i.e. a 15 minute agenda item for a larger meeting. If there is a lot of discussion on a bill, hearings can be long and multiple hearings are possible. Hearings are the primary opportunity for public involvement and testimony is accepted in person, remotely, or in writing. Keep in mind that testimony given in these hearings becomes a matter of public record and you must give your name and address when providing testimony.

Work sessions are the name for committee sessions where a vote takes place. This can result in a bill “dying” (being voted down and therefore not moving forward in the session), being sent to the House or Senate floor for a vote of all members of the chamber, or being referred to another committee (usually Ways and Means, Rules or Revenue) for further debate. Work Sessions do not have opportunities for public input, although all committee meetings are open to the public, broadcast online live, and recordings are available through the committee webpage.

All issue based committees are subject to the legislative calendar (which we will discuss later in this post, its SO IMPORTANT!) with deadlines for bills to have been scheduled for hearings and work sessions, and deadlines to make it out of their committees so that the session can move along. These deadlines do not apply to certain committees, notably the joint committee on Ways and Means, the Rules committees, and the Revenue committee. These committees have room for additional debate.

Special note on the Joint Ways and Means Committee

Any time a bill requires the state to spend money for its implementation, that bill has to be referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. This joint committee is broken up into topic based subcommittees where agency budgets and general funds are debated. Oregon has to balance its budget and the finite nature of state resources means that sometimes there is not enough money to go around. It is common for a bill with a price tag (also officially called a fiscal impact or “fiscal” in jargon) to go to Ways and Means, not pass, and then have the expense be included in another spending package or the “Christmas Tree Bill” also known as the end of session budget reconciliation bill. This makes advocacy in this committee tough, because there are often not the same opportunities or landmarks for advocates to look for. This is why we often request individuals and stakeholders to meet with W&M lawmakers directly to tell them of the importance of their bill.

Legislative Calendar

Short Sessions and Long Sessions have the same landmarks, but the short session is on a much shorter timeframe. You can view the legislative calendar with all dates and deadlines here. No matter how long the session is, bills must follow the same process to become law (as shown in the helpful graphic from the legislature.

Here is the general flow of the session with notes about how we might ask you to chime in:

• Bills populated in OR Legislative Information System (OLIS)
  • Normally happens 1-2 weeks before Session
  • FoFF Action: Review all bills and see what is coming up related to small farms and agriculture. Sometimes we find bills that we didn’t know about brought by groups we aren’t in coalition with.
  • Public Action: Look out for session preview webinars, hot lists from FoFF and other trusted partners, or sign on letters to show your support or opposition to something we know is coming in the session.
• Session starts!
• Bills are assigned to committees
  • Happens within the week surrounding the start of session
  • FoFF Action: Monitor the committee agendas and start alerting stakeholders and farmer experts about where to watch.
  • Public Action: Look out for updates, look for us to reach out to you for individual meetings if your legislator is on a committee with relevant bills.
• First chamber committee hearings
  • These can happen as soon as session starts and legally only require 2 business days notice. Watch out for urgent testimony requests.
  • Normally happens 1-2 weeks before Session
  • FoFF Action: Start lining up impacted community members (farmers, ranchers, farmers market managers, etc) and subject matter experts (researchers, folks with a lot of experience in a matter, etc) for hearings and drafting templates for folks to use to simplify testimony.
  • Public Action: Sign up for remote, in person, or written testimony. Look out for FoFF action alerts and templates to help you get started. This is your biggest opportunity for input on the record.
• First chamber work session
  • Major deadline, listed on the calendar.
  • If the committee doesn’t vote by the listed date, the bill is dead.
• First Chamber Floor Vote
  • This is a mid-point deadline for the session
  • No opportunity for public input, but floor votes are broadcast live on the legislature’s website.
• Assigned Second Chamber Committee
  • Done in the first week of the second half of session
  • FoFF Action: Start meeting with second chamber committee members and educating them on the importance of the issue. Circulate sign on letters and templates for legislator outreach (phone calls, emails).
  • Public Action: Look out for action alerts and meeting requests if your legislator is on a relevant committee! Meeting with people in their district impacted by an issue is the biggest way to influence a law maker. Also look out for calls to action for writing to or calling your legislator, FoFF has templates and technology to make it easy!
• Second Chamber committee hearing (just like the first chamber with a new audience)
  • These can happen as soon as the measure is assigned to a second chamber committee and legally only require 2 business days notice. Watch out for urgent testimony requests.
  • FoFF Action: Start lining up impacted community members (farmers, ranchers, farmers market managers, etc) and subject matter experts (researchers, folks with a lot of experience in a matter, etc) for hearings and drafting templates for folks to use to simplify testimony.
  • Public Action: Sign up for remote, in person, or written testimony. Look out for FoFF action alerts and templates to help you get started. Again, this is your biggest opportunity for input on the record.
• Second chamber work session
  • Major deadline, listed on the calendar.
  • If the committee doesn’t vote by the listed date, the bill is dead.
• Second Chamber Floor Vote
  • This must be done by the sine die (end of session)
  • No opportunity for public input, but floor votes are broadcast live on the legislature’s website.
• Sine Die
  • The constitutionally required end date of the session
  • Anything left undone by this date is gone and you have to start over next year.

2026 Session

We are about to head into the 2026 session and we want you to get involved!  Now that you know when and how public input can be given, prepare yourself for all the hurry up and wait of the legislative process by getting updates from FoFF:

• Weekly updates Mondays at noon – Muckboots in the Capitol

TL:DR (Although we hope you’ll read!)

• FoFF’s FPAC is made up of active agricultural producers running their businesses across the state.
• We meet with them on a regular basis to get their input on how policy situations are evolving and how we make decisions in real time when new opportunities/needs arise.
• They are a crucial part of the policy setting process, but also serve as a gut check and accountability screener for our organization’s positions.
• Our FPAC is made up of producers from all over the industry (some organic, some conventional; some raising livestock, some growing crops, seeds, or flowers, etc.) and all over the state. We don’t always agree and the point of the committee is to find the common ground and add more nuance to FoFF’s approach.
• We are accepting applications for 2 new people to join the committee!  Read more and fill out the interest form here.

Context and Purpose of the Committee

FoFF has a lot of formal and informal ways that farmers and program participants give input on how we spend our time and how we direct our resources. We send you (a lot of) surveys, we ask for evaluations on our classes and programs, and we ask you to participate in focus groups and roundtables on all kinds of topics. This space is a little different. This committee was formed in its current iteration in summer of 2024. The goal here is to be much more explicit with our goals, and to have a group of our farmers, with lived experience with all types of agriculture and some skin in the game join with us to bring that perspective to political insider conversations. This group dives deep, gets information about the political forces we are encountering when we work to make change, discusses the real consequences of those forces and gets the inside scoop. 

If you have ever been on a policy update call with us and thought “Am I getting the short version of this issue/roadblock?” The answer is likely yes. As much as we would love to let everyone in our network know every twist and turn a campaign makes inside the capital building, we know you don’t have time for that and want us to get to the point and tell you what can be done. The FPAC is made up of farmers and ranchers who have committed the time and energy to going on that long and winding road with us and want to see the absolute nitty gritty and put their experience to work with us in the process. When members are voted onto the committee, they commit to a minimum of 1 year of service and agree to participate with the goal of advancing FoFF’s values and vision for the future. They might encounter topics they haven’t considered before, creative solutions, or specific issues outside of their agricultural focus or operation, but they are interested in seeing the whole picture of agricultural policy and how it is all connected.

Roles of the FPAC Members

Content Advisors – regional and industry input

The FPAC members first and foremost bring their experience and perspective into the policy program at FoFF. Many of these folks have no formal training in policy or law, but have been active in our campaigns in the past and have a deep appreciation/understanding of the importance of farmers engaging in policy work. We want them to bring their whole selves to the policy conversation and think about FoFF’s policy positions as they relate to these questions:

• How would support/opposition to this policy impact my farm business?
• Is there specialized knowledge in my type of farming that could influence the policy?
• Will this policy have a different/outsized impact in my area of the state than anticipated?
• Will this policy change my choices as a farmer positively or negatively?

We want to make sure that FoFF crafts and supports policies that are thoughtful about the realities of farming, the disparate climates, growing seasons and conditions in different areas of Oregon, and that reflect the input and needs of the farmers, farmworkers, and ranchers responsible for following the policy in their everyday lives. Involvement from our policy advisory committee helps us avoid unintended consequences for certain crop types, markets, or regions of the state.

Champions and spokespeople

The farmers and ranchers in the FPAC are also some of the best people to speak up on topics related to our policy work. Because of their deep involvement in the process and knowledge of the policy’s intentions, ins and outs, and impact, they can talk effectively about their support or opposition to the proposals both in legislative hearings, their communities, and in the media. The farmers who serve on our FPAC get a deeper understanding of issues being discussed and the dynamics behind policy, so they can make the case for or against a policy confidently and knowledgeably. Although we put out calls for all our farmers to get involved, FPAC members are often more comfortable giving testimony or speaking at community meetings.

These farmers are also more able to have conversations about these policies in formal and informal settings in their communities. FPAC members have told us that they have had conversations with neighbors and friends about policies they learned about through the FoFF committee and been able to help folks understand the full picture beyond the spin delivered on social media. This committee gives you the information to have powerful conversations and build understanding in your home town.

Community Connectors

A natural byproduct of our FPAC members having policy conversations in their community is that they also know which ones of their neighbors, friends, or fellow farmers market vendors might be interested or impacted by policies up for debate in Salem. This means that FPAC members can serve as a conduit for the people in their community to get more involved. Being able to bring the information back to their community and get the people most impacted involved helps improve policy for us all. FPAC members have an opportunity to make sure their community is represented in policy through FoFF and that their voice gets heard.

Power of the FPAC

Policy endorsements and priorities

The FPAC not only gets to contribute to the policy setting process based on the survey and focus group data we collect in even numbered years, but they also get to weigh in on FoFF’s policy endorsements. Because policy can move at an unpredictable pace, sometimes taking years to gain a foothold, or moving at the speed of light when a political window opens, FoFF relies on input from the FPAC to gut check our policy positions before endorsing or fighting any proposal related to our work. FoFF is not the only group taking action in agricultural policy, and we are also often asked to weigh in on policies in adjacent areas like:

• Rural infrastructure
• Hunger and food security
• Land use
• And more! 

When these requests come in, we consider them according to the values and capacity of FoFF and we bring them to our FPAC for review. The FPAC (along with our board policy committee) votes on which policies FoFF endorses and makes recommendations about how deeply we get involved/how many resources we put toward these campaigns. The FPAC serves the critical role of helping us take swift action on policy when it comes up. If we are not involved in the creation of a policy, and just asked to support it later on, we are often not given a lot of time to gather feedback before a decision is made. Having the FPAC farmers ready to discuss these proposals helps us make sure our decisions are never made without community input.

Accountability to Community

One of the most distinct benefits of the FPAC is that it fosters a space where farmers can speak plainly to us about the impact of our policy work. Because members commit to a year long term at once, we spend the time building relationships and trust within the group that allows people to disagree and debate policy without a mandate that their perspective has to conform. This committee holds farmers with different priorities, experiences, and positionality. We do not always agree. These disagreements however are always constructive, lead to deeper understanding of an issue and highlight areas where FoFF staff needs to do more research or seek expert advice before proceeding. Agricultural policy is complex, and natural resource management can create winners and losers, haves and have nots in some cases. With the help of the FPAC we get a better understanding of where the benefits and drawbacks of a policy lie and how our advocacy might help or harm some parts of our community. If we can’t find agreement on a position for an entire concept, the FPAC might approve or suggest a partial endorsement, or help us craft an amendment to a proposal. This helps us more accurately represent our community’s diverse interests and positions without causing greater divide between our farmers.

Join the FoFF FPAC!

Who is a good fit?

Anyone who is currently producing agricultural products commercially in Oregon and identifies with FoFF’s mission, vision and values can apply! We are looking to broaden the expertise and perspectives on the committee, so while we welcome applications from all farmers and ranchers we are especially looking for people with experience raising livestock (especially poultry) and a representative from Central Oregon.

We are looking for folks who are passionate about making a difference for their farm, the industry, and their community. You don’t need to have experience working in legislative policy, but any background in working on issue based campaigns is a plus. All our monthly meetings are held virtually, so no travel will be necessary on a regular basis. We do offer a barrier mitigation stipend for participation (the same as all our advisory committees).

Here is a quote from one of our current FPAC members about what the committee means to her:

“The FoFF Farmer Policy Advisory Committee has been so valuable for me as a farmer in a rural, geographically isolated area.  I am so thankful to learn more about the legislative process, and to bring concerns of small farmers to the group.  This group is unique in that it brings different and sometimes conflicting perspectives to the table to listen to each other respectfully.  This variety of life experiences provides more nuanced input for future policy efforts. I have always valued that FoFF takes time to listen to diverse voices in the farming community to inform their work.”

-Southern Oregon Farmer, serving on FoFF’s FPAC

How to apply?

You can apply via this form! Applications are reviewed in the order they are received by the FoFF Board and existing FPAC members. If a farmer meets the qualifications and is approved by the board and FPAC, they will be invited to the next monthly meeting.

TL;DR
(Although we hope you’ll read this!)

• FoFF is a grassroots organization that gets its policy direction directly from the people we serve. 
• Every 2 years we conduct surveys and focus groups to get the information that becomes our short term campaigns for the next biennium and contributes to the long term movement building that helps us make systemic change.
• We mean business! The results of these focus groups and surveys led directly to the changes to the 2023 changes to the Farm Direct Producer Processed Exemption and the 2025 changes to the Domestic Well Exempt Use statutes.
• This years focus groups were by topic, not by region like previous years.

Thank you for being part of building a better food future with FoFF!

Context:

Friends of Family Farmers prides itself on being a voice for the independent, diversified and local market farmers in Oregon policy. We show up to state agencies, industry meetings, and the Oregon State Legislature to represent a different type of farmer than typically dominates these spaces. While our farmers also need to make a living, there is a triple bottom line approach that puts community and environmental concerns on the same footing as profit in our philosophy. But we also are a small organization with limited capacity. So how do we represent our farmers’ interests when we decide what to focus on? The community we serve is the bottom line on what we choose to prioritize. 

FoFF was founded in 2005 as a group of farmers and rural residents in Linn County who were sick of being lumped into a group with industrial agribusiness that didn’t share their values. These farmers looked around and saw that commodity commissions and conventional ag lobbying groups were not sharing their ideals, weren’t promoting the way they were farming and stewarding their land, and were working on policies these farmers opposed. Like all industry and identity groups, farmers are not a monolith and we deserve to have a nuanced approach to agriculture in policy. FoFF was born from this small community group but in the last 20 years, we have grown to represent more than 1,600 farmers across Oregon. So how do we get all these people involved to make sure we are staying true to our creed?

Biennial Data Gathering

Because Oregon’s legislature operates on a biennial calendar, we take advantage of the even numbered years when the session is only 35 days long to gather input from our base. There are also limitations on how many bills each legislator can introduce during the short session. This all adds up to the fact that new policy ideas and programs are rarely launched in a short session. There is more of a focus on budget adjustments and tying up loose ends from the previous long session. This makes even numbered years the perfect time to devote energy to getting out and gathering information from the people we serve about how to help them break down barriers and make the most of opportunities.

We gather information in 2 ways during this process: 

1. Focus groups (previously known as listening sessions)
2. The statewide family farms survey. 

Focus groups allow us to gather deep information, ask follow up questions and gather more information about the topics that farmers bring up. The survey allows us to get the most people possible involved in the process. We know that we need to have both quantitative and qualitative data on the issues we take up, so both approaches are necessary. The bottom line is that if we don’t hear that something is a priority for our base through the survey and focus groups, we don’t work on it. Although we know that a lot of issues are interconnected and that the food system touches most policy areas by osmosis, we have to limit our scope to the things our base tells us are the most important if we are going to be effective. We would rather do a few things well and strategically than just weigh in on everything in a general fashion.

Focus Groups

The focus group process started over a decade ago with FoFFF’s listening session tours. We used to send FoFF staff all over the state every 2 years to discuss all the opportunities and barriers, joys and challenges of small farming in Oregon. While this was a wonderful tactic for building face to face relationships and engaging the whole state, it was a struggle from a resource perspective. Because we are a small organization and the people we serve already live rurally, some of the meetings were not very well attended and we felt that it would be a better use of the donations that fuel our policy work to focus in more on making change, rather than spending all our program funding on hotel rooms and mileage reimbursements.

History

In 2020 we moved the process online because of these resource concerns and to accommodate the pandemic. We started doing online regional gatherings that started as a discussion of all barriers, had attendees vote on their top 3 concerns and then discussed solutions for those issues. This was a successful model in as much as we had regionally specific information. In 2022 we introduced our partner organization focus groups by which we worked with culturally specific farmer groups around the state to gather more information from farmers of different backgrounds to make sure our data and policy setting process was not in an echo chamber. We found that this model worked well, but that people who came to the sessions with specialized knowledge, ready to talk about a particular issue that was really affecting them and their farm, were not able to give us that deep expertise if the rest of the group focused on other top issues. We also found that the same issues were topping the list cycle after cycle: the impacts of climate change, access to affordable and appropriate land and capital, water availability and access, and market access for small operations, to name a few. With the same issues cropping up over and over, we began looking for ways to make the most of our time with our farmers and focus on solutions.

Moving Forward

In 2026 we hosted virtual topic driven focus groups so that we can create spaces for people to talk about solutions to the persistent issues we have had highlighted for us by our farmers. We are also reserving time slots for emerging issues identified through our survey at the end of the focus group calendar. Here was the line up:

• 2/23 – Climate change and extreme weather
• 2/24 – Land access/ Land Use
• 2/25 – Agritourism
• 2/26 – Water Resource Resilience
• 2/27 – Workforce
• 3/2 – Capital access
• 3/3 – Industrialization and fair competition – Canola and CAFO
• 3/4 – Emerging issues

Statewide Farmer Survey

This survey was introduced in 2020 when we knew that the pandemic would limit the number of people we could engage with in person and we wanted to open a different channel for feedback. Since then we have kept the survey in the data collection landscape because it enables us to gather information about the people we serve for policy, programs and more. We ask information about your place in the food system, what your farm produces, how you do it, where you sell and who you are so that when a lawmaker comes to us and asks “Who do you serve?” we can confidently tell them all about the diversity of the small farm movement in Oregon and the rich tapestry of diversified, local market farmers who call our state home. 

Privacy and Data Protection

This survey is protected by our data privacy policy and no contact information about individuals who take our survey is ever released or sold to any other party, even trusted partners. We sometimes share data in aggregate to demonstrate support or concern on a local basis, for example we might say that “75% of farmers from Clatsop County who responded to the survey cited the new county policy on home based farm business taxes as a concern” (this is a fictional example, don’t worry Clatsop county farmers!), but would never publicly say that “Farmer Mary Jones told us that her county clerk spit in her eye when she applied for a farm stand permit.” The goal of this survey is to document the problems farmers face in their community and gather info about which proposed solutions our farmers are most in favor of.

Who is represented?

The survey is open to everyone and we have different questions based on where you fall in the food system. We want your feedback whether you are a farmer, food hub operator, farmers market connoisseur, or farmer support advisor. The movement we are building is about food and how we produce it, and everyone plays a role in that. We ask different questions to people with different positions in the system, but we all need to be included in viable solutions.

What do we do with the data?

Especially since the pandemic there have been a LOT of surveys floating around. It can be very overwhelming to feel like you are being mined for data and then the organization never tells you what they did with the information, and what changes they made because of you. This is not the case with Friends of Family Farmers. We put the information we receive into direct action. 

Prioritizing the issues

After the focus groups and surveys are conducted and we analyze the feedback to see themes and undercurrents in the feedback. Then we have our staff, board and farmer policy advisory committee (the subject of blog post #2) fill out the decision matrix to make sure that the issue and the solution align with the values of the organization and are within our scope. We consider things like: 

• Does our base agree on the solution to this problem?
  • If our farmers agree there is a problem, but don’t agree on the right way forward, more community input and organizing is needed before we bring a policy forward.
• Will this solution address root causes of the issue?
  • FoFF is committed to solving problems at the heart of the issue, not just putting a band aid on a bad situation. Sometimes a solution proposed by the community would leave the underlying problem unaddressed, and further digging is needed.
• Do we have strong support among our membership and would it have a big impact?
  • We want to work on things that will have a tangible impact for our base. It is not aligned with our mission to work on tiny fixes while leaving larger problems unaddressed.
• Is this work feasible on the timeline we’ve identified?
  • Grassroots organizing means understanding the power mapping we need to make change. If we don’t have the political capital to win on an issue, what partners and coalitions would we need to bring in to make the impact needed? How long will that take?

And more! This is influenced by further conversations with experts in the field (including farmers who raised their hands during the data gathering process), policy advisors, and statewide policy coalitions and lawmakers. We want to be sure we are solving the problems in an effective way and not just paying lip service to our members. Your problems are real and our solutions must be too. After ranking all the issues through this process, we identify our biennial priorities and get to work!

Policy Reports

We aggregate all the information we gather into a biennial policy report that we distribute to legislators and partner organizations. This helps us keep all our work grounded in the people we serve and reminds decision makers that we are not making up our positions, they are based on the needs of our community.

You can read our last two reports here:

• 2024 Policy Report
• 2022 Policy Report

Campaigns we’ve won

Short Term Campaigns

Our short term campaigns might seem like small changes or technical fixes, but we identify the places where we can make the biggest impact for our farmers with a small legal language fix and prioritize solving specific problems. Here are some examples of ways we’ve done this:

• 2023: We heard from farmers in our 2022 focus groups that there was unequal enforcement of the Farm Direct Producer Processed exemption when it came to dried herbal teas as a value added product. This meant that we heard from some herbalists and farmers that although they were following all the laws related to preparing and drying herbs for sale, some folks in some parts of the state were being told their product was ineligible. We changed the wording of the law in this case to explicitly allow these products and keep our farmers in business. Read more here.
• 2025: We heard from our farmers in the 2024 focus groups and subsequent community meetings that enforcement changes in the domestic well statute had been causing the shut down of many micro farms around the state. Although domestic well users are allowed to land apply water to a half acre for irrigation and allowed to use a limited number of gallons for commercial purposes, at the time commercial irrigation was illegal on a domestic well on any scale. We worked with advocates and community to find a solution that did not expand overall water usage but allowed small scale commercial gardening as an option for domestic well users. This change to domestic well exempt use legalized hundreds of small farms across the state. Read More Here.

Long Term Campaigns

Long term campaigns can be culminations of years of work, sometimes decades, and be much more sweeping in the change they make. This could be the establishment of a new program, a suite of changes to an existing one or a re-alignment in state resources on a large scale. Here are some examples of actions we take in this space:

• 2023: FoFF was founded as a counterpoint to the “get big or get out” mentality of American Industrial agriculture. Our members have always been concerned with the resource use and corporate control of growing practices in contract livestock facilities. We were instrumental in passing SB 85 which introduced water supply plans and limitations for confinement operations, required additional site and construction inspections, and instituted new options for counties to enforce siting requirements for the health of the people and natural environment. Read more here.
• Coming Soon in 2026! We are launching the Oregon Farmland Access Policy Coalition in 2026. We have tried to find solutions for years to support farmland transitions, make new and young farmers more competitive in the market, and support programs to keep farmland in production (including OAHP, tax credits for sale to new farmers, Aggie Bonds, loan options a la the Bank of ND), and we have not been able to stymie the staggering farmland affordability and access crisis in Oregon. It is time for us to stop working alone and bring together land trusts, beginning farmer groups, and land use experts to find real collaborative solutions. We are bringing this coalition together this year to make real, coordinated change in the future. Look out for updates.

At the end of the day

FoFF is not taking any action without the backing of our community. We rely on you coming to the table through our programs and our biennial data gathering process (survey and focus groups) to tell us what is the most important thing to work on. FoFF’s limited resources need to be directed where we know our community needs help or has an opportunity, make sure we know what is happening in your neck of the woods. Grassroots organizing takes all of us, and to make real change for small farms we need you to follow along and jump in when you are able!

          My farming journey began in 2019 as an apprentice at Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett, NY, a mixed vegetable and cut-flower operation with an onsite market and cafe that focused on community involvement through their events and CSA program. I was about two years out of college, having found myself working an office job after graduation that I quickly realized was not something I could find joy or passion or even interest in in the long-term. I started reflecting on my life – what I found joy in, what challenged me. I knew I loved to garden, and that I found pride in the rare opportunities I had to work with my hands. It was around then I learned that a farm I followed on Instagram was looking for apprentices for the next season, and it was like a door opened.

          I began researching different farms I found on ATTRA that offered apprenticeship opportunities, and found Amber Waves, a farm owned and operated by two women who had themselves met at an apprenticeship before starting a farm of their own a decade earlier. I found them, as well as the managers I worked for and with that season, to be incredible, supportive, and honestly inspirational, and to this day marks one of the greatest experiences of my life.

          My second year farming happened to be during the covid-19 pandemic, and I was forced, once again, to reflect on my life, and what I wanted from it. I realized I couldn’t be so far from my family on the west coast, something a worldwide health emergency really puts into perspective. But I also knew then that I not only had the desire to start a farm of my own, but I had the ability to do so as well. So I made the difficult decision to move back across the country at the conclusion of the 2020 season.

          While I grew up in Los Angeles, and will always love the city I was raised in, I have felt drawn to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest from a young age, and it was here I aimed my focus during what I refer to as my research phase. While I worked at first as a personal gardener for the vegetable gardeners of the rich and famous, and then as a plant specialist in a nursery on a the westside of LA, I read up and took classes on developing a business plan, and the process of setting up a farm from the ground up (my most referenced book being Whole Farm Management) and researched where in the PNW I should land. I quickly learned about the incredible soil of the WIllamette Valley, and tried to narrow down my search area based on where it had the longest growing seasons. But beyond that, I felt stuck.

         It was at this point I discovered Oregon Farm Link, and subsequently the Land Navigate Program. At first, I just monitored the available land database, waiting to send query emails until I found postings that met as many of my criteria as possible. After sending several emails, resulting in a couple phone calls that ultimately went nowhere, I realized I needed to be doing something differently, but wasn’t sure what that something should be.

          This is where the Navigate Program came into the picture. Looking back on it, being accepted into the Navigate program marked the turning point for me – where my research phase ended, and the true start of my land search began.

          Through the program, I met Silvia, whose regular check-in calls offered me not only an opportunity to discuss my vision for the property, but much needed guidance on next steps I should be taken. She also introduced me to my realtor, Makensy, who really flipped the switch on the final phase of my land search. With the help of both Silvia and Makensy, I was able to better refine my search parameters based on the reality of what I wanted to do, as well as expand the pool of listings I could search through using resources I hadn’t thought of.

          After about a month or so of collecting listings I was interested in, I made my first of four trips up to Oregon to visit around 30 properties total. It was a whirlwind experience, made significantly more manageable by Makensy’s guidance, but I do wish I had initially planned each listing visit to include sufficient time to explore the nearby towns or cities to give me a better picture of the possible market (and social) opportunities of each area. This was a lesson we learned quickly, and by my third trip I had found my perfect property.

          Peach Lane is a fairly flat, 10 acre lot with an abandoned apple orchard that the sellers had been steadily clearing blackberry brambles since they’d moved in. We had actually visited Peach on our first set of property tours, but it wasn’t until this second viewing of Peach, where we were also able to stop by local markets to get a real sense of the small farming community out here that I realized it would be the perfect place to start my farm.

          I’ve been living on the land now for just shy of two months, and walking the property everyday has given  me such a firm grasp on my vision for the farm. I’ll be following no-till practices, growing flowers and  mixed vegetables to sell at markets, to restaurants and florists as wholesale clients, and to members of  my community through a CSA program. I also envision hosting events on the property, ranging from  workshops to farm dinners, and harvest festivals. I also find that art so organically crops up in natural settings, and I would hope to share that with people, whether that’s through hosting artist showcases, small concerts, or small creative retreats. 

          As my farm establishes itself, and I’m able to get a better sense of its strengths, I’d like to incorporate chickens into my farm business, both for their eggs, as well as their assistance in my no-till operation. But ultimately, I feel my greatest strength lies in my adaptability. I have a lot of plans for the property, and  even more dreams. I know already, in five years time, that some of these plans and dreams will shift and  change in response to opportunities that will arise, and it will be up to me to be ready and able to respond to them as soon as they do. I can only hope that with each passing season, my farm grows with the community, and that I can continue to find people to learn from, and to share what I’ve learned with others. 

          I’ve spent the last month and half since moving to the farm researching no-till practices, preparing for mixed vegetable and cut-flower production in the 2026 season, and feeling an immense sense of gratitude for the people who have helped me get here, namely Silvia and Makensy, for their technical guidance and support, and for keeping me on a well thought out schedule that didn’t allow self doubt to derail me, as well as my family, who have never doubted me since choosing to take this path in my life.

          If I could give any advice to a farmer looking for land, it would be to really sit with yourself and figure out what you need and what you want, not only from your farm, but from your life as well. Take note of the things and plans you can’t see yourself living without, and having a running list of the projects and programs you’d like to explore, and use this as a reference – not just for your property search, but for establishing your business as well.

More info about the Navigate Program – https://oregonfarmlink.org/oregon-farm-link-navigate-program/

Calf Project Final Report – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x_X2AHgQolmEdTU3vYSfeg-sTFE0H9f8/view?usp=sharing

NATALIE DANIELSON

What is your current role at FoFF?
I’m one of the Co-Executive Directors for FoFF, I focus on programs and operations.

What is your current role at FoFF?
Co-Director of Policy and Development

BRITTNEY DEMING

What is your current role at FoFF?
Community Engagement Director

 

What aspect of FoFF’s work do you wish more people knew about?

I wish more people knew about our Resource Website! We heard from our farmer base for years that they wanted a central location for agricultural resources because they felt overwhelmed trying to locate information from so many different areas and often not knowing where to begin. Well you asked and we delivered! You can find everything from grant and loan info, basic record keeping, pasture management, Oregon’s Farmer and Rancher Equity and Anti- Racism Program and SO much more! Check it out and as always, we are open to feedback.

 

https://resources.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/

 

In your opinion what was one of FoFF’s most important accomplishments in the past year?

As someone who worked hard behind the scenes on HB 3372, our water bill, I would most definitely say that is not only the biggest win this year but possibly in the last decade. We have received an outpouring of gratitude from many farmers, many who would not be in business next year. The vast amount of community engagement, including many folx who have never participated in advocacy before, makes my heart burst.

MIKE GUEBERT

What is your current role at FoFF?                                                                                                                    Oregon Pasture Network (OPN) Program Director

Engaging OPN Members in a new way at the Ranching for Profit Workshop. I think many of the attendees experienced a paradigm shift in their mindset that will improve their operations success for years to come!

ANNA WILEY

What is your current role at FoFF?                                                                                                                                I am the Communications & Development Associate at FoFF. I do a lot! My hands are always in a lot of different buckets: promoting FoFF programs, creating flyers, social media content, newsletter content, etc., analyzing data to improve our effectiveness, event planning, and helping fundraise for our grassroots advocacy.

Obviously the passing of HB 3372 was a HUGE win – not only for FoFF, but for the smallest, most vulnerable family farms in Oregon. But I think another huge win is hearing from so many people state-wide who also believe in our mission and stand alongside us, also believing in a future where communities feed themselves, food choice and access are abundant, and we liberated from the idea that fresh food is only reserved for those with the resources to buy it. The more people we have with us, the more we can do – and there’s a lot of beauty, hope, and power in that.

RILEY AVERY

What is your current role at FoFF?
I’m the Farm Viability lead at Friends of Family Farmers. I do front line land access counseling and administrative support for Oregon Farm Link and work closely with the Oregon Pasture Network team to promote responsible, regenerative, and ethical land management practices. My focus on Oregon Farm Link is supporting land seekers and small farmers, helping them navigate access to land, business development, and viable pathways into agriculture, especially for people who’ve been historically shut out.

One of the biggest wins was the passage of Oregon’s commercial groundwater exemption for small-scale agriculture. It’s a huge step toward recognizing and legitimizing the contributions of small and beginning farmers who are already feeding their communities, often without access to the same resources as larger operations. It expands who gets to participate in agriculture and strengthens the resilience of our local food systems. Food sovereignty is local, and anything we can do to strengthen local food systems is a big win.

SILVIA CUESTA

What is your current role at FoFF?                                                                                                                       In my current role as the Oregon Farmlink Statewide Farmland Navigator, I provide guidance and one-on-one support to beginning farmers navigating the challenging journey of accessing farmland in Oregon.