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CapitalPress.com
March 10, 2017
Father, sons mesh their talents on farm
By BRENNA WIEGAND
Left to right, Scott,
Duane and Brian
Eder at their shop.
Eder Brothers
Farms grow grass
seed and row
crops in the Silver-
ton, Ore., area.
For the Capital Press
Duane Eder considers
himself a first-generation
farmer in a land of third- and
fourth-generation farmers. He
and his brothers started farm-
ing in 1973.
“We started out with basi-
cally nothing and just built it
up,” Eder said. “We did a lot
of custom work — combin-
ing, trucking, spraying, corn
picking — and that gave a
cash flow to get the farm start-
ed.”
The four brothers have
since split into their own
farms but still work together
in many ways.
Duane and sons Scott and
Brian farm about 700 acres
Brenna Wiegand
For the Capital Press
in the Silverton, Ore., area as
Eder Brothers. They have a
diversified rotation.
Two-thirds of the property
is in rye grass and tall fescue
seed. These crops are part of
a steady rotation of onions,
green beans, cauliflower, cu-
cumbers for seed, green peas
and hazelnuts.
“If you grow only one crop
and that thing goes south for a
while you have all your eggs
in one basket,” he said, “and
good rotation helps us with a
lot of things; weed and disease
control, fertility, keeping good
organic matter in the soil.”
For some crops such as
grass seed, with the roots and
the sod and the straw a lot of
material goes back into the
soil, he said.
Other crops, such as on-
ions, “you take a lot of tonnage
off but there’s not much that
goes back in the soil. And you
do cover crops, usually oats, in
winter to hold the soil down
and put back in also.”
Row-cropping takes more
equipment than less diversi-
fied operations but the farm’s
location makes it worthwhile.
“We’re kind of a unique
area,” Eder said. “We have no
rocks on the valley floor where
we farm; the soil is mostly flat.
We have Willamette and Ami-
ty soils, which drain well and
grow good crops. We have sur-
face water out of the Pudding
River and wells to water with.”
Eder and his sons have es-
tablished a nice mesh of talents
and the farm’s running well, he
said.
Brian takes care of the crew
and most of the crops. Duane
grows the cauliflower, onions,
does the spraying and oversees
the office. Scott manages the
shop, fertilizing and some of
the planting.
“It all overlaps a little bit
and we can do each other’s
jobs somewhat; it’s a good fit,”
Duane Eder said. “The boys do
a good job and we really learn
from each other. They’re not
afraid to take on projects or
take over when I’m not there.”
With each year “the boys,”
all in their early 30s, assume
more responsibility and call
less and less when Dad’s away.
Duane looks forward to a role
of just being around to help out
where needed.
“If I’m away, I don’t have
to worry,” he said. “The boys
are around, and it’s their turn.”
Farming is a good way of
life, but there’s no escaping the
long hours.
“I’ve always enjoyed it but
it’s tough when you get mar-
ried and have a family because
it’s hard on the family, too,” he
said. “It’s a good way of life
but to get anywhere you’ve got
to put in the hours.”
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