8
CapitalPress.com
April 14, 2017
Fourth-generation farm looks ahead
For the Capital Press
Goschie Farms near Silver-
ton, Ore., is owned and man-
aged by fourth-generation farm-
ers Gordon, Gayle and Glenn
Goschie.
“Our great grandparents
were immigrant farmers from
Germany, making their way
through Ellis Island, the Mid-
west and settling temporarily in
California, where our grandfa-
ther, Carl Goschie, was born,”
Gayle Goschie said.
In 1904 Carl and Wanda
Goschie planted the farm’s sig-
nature crop, hops, which contin-
ue to be the focus of the business
today. The farm’s current loca-
tion was established by Herman
and Vernice Goschie, the current
owners’ parents.
Their 1,000 acres under cul-
tivation include 500 acres of
www.creeksidevalleyfarms.com
HAZELNUT TREES:
FARM DRAINAGE:
McDonald, Jefferson, Yamhill, Wepster
Sacajawea, York, Eta, Theta & Felix
Installation, Consulting
Repairs & Maintenance
CALL TODAY FOR A QUOTE & AVAILABILITY
PHONE (503) 864-4422
hops, 150 acres of wine grapes
and rotational crops of grass
seed, sweet corn and grain.
In over 130 years in ag-
riculture the family has seen
many changes: new crops, ir-
rigation, internal-combustion
engine-driven machinery, pub-
lic research and plant breeding,
mechanization of harvests, labor
supply variations and the scope
of their family business expand-
ing from local to worldwide.
“Throughout all those years
each change continues to be
refined and expanded, but the
one constant is nature,” Gayle
Goschie said. “We see it as a
partner to work with, not fight
against. As we educate ourselves
to the potential circumstances of
climate change we look at the
crops we are growing and the
varieties within those crops.”
For the last several years, cli-
mate change has been a pressing
topic of discussion at the wine
ONV17-1/#T1D
Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press
Gayle Goschie of Goschie Farms visits Abiqua Creek, which runs
through the property.
grape symposiums she attends.
“The future of our
award-winning wine and beer
industry depends on it, too,”
Goschie said. “Will growing
circumstances be the same in 10
or 20 years? Will the irrigation
methods we are constantly im-
proving upon be enough? And
with the air we breathe and the
ground we grow crops in, are we
doing all we can to sustain those
investments for the next gener-
ation? … And the scope of our
farming now includes sharing
those thoughts with our custom-
ers and their consumers.”
This is no easy task, espe-
cially with potential consum-
ers across the globe. To that
end Goschie Farms chose a
third-party certification, Salm-
on-Safe, to help with that.
“After almost 20 years,
Salmon-Safe continues to keep
us on target and on our custom-
ers’ radar as consumer aware-
ness continues to broaden,” she
added. “The very nature of our
business hinges upon sustain-
ability; being stewards of the
land is how our industry sur-
vives.”
Salmon-Safe offers a series
of peer-reviewed certification
and accreditation programs
linking site development land
management practices with the
protection of agricultural and
urban watersheds. Certification
requires management practices
that protect water quality and
restore habitat.
In October of 2016 the City
of Portland became the first city
in the world to achieve this cer-
tification across city operations
and has challenged other cities
to do the same. The Goschies
are happy that Oregon’s larg-
est city has adopted for every
park and byway the sustain-
ability practices they’ve been
doing on the farm for nearly
two decades. “And as we al-
ways wish to point out, so
many of our farming neigh-
bors are doing the same,” add-
ed Glenn Goschie.
“It’s a great time for Ore-
gon Agriculture and those of
us multi-generational busi-
nesses that have built it and
maintain it,” he said.
Eliminate destructive gopher damage with the first and only
® ®
( Pressurized Exhaust Rodent Controller ) which can
substantially reduce rodent populations in a single treatment.
®
Call TOLL FREE
855-667-5181
ONV17-7/#5
Manufacturing & Sales
or call (530) 640-3981
www.hmgophercontrol.com
ONV17-2/#5
By BRENNA WIEGAND