14 CapitalPress.com
April 13, 2018
Adapting to change a constant for grower
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By SUZANNE FRARY
For the Capital Press
WOODLAND, Wash. —
George Thoeny is weighing
the costs and benefits of crops
on his Woodland, Wash., farm
and may uproot his berry
plants this year. Falling prices
and rising labor costs have for
several years cut into his berry
profits.
Thoeny Farms already
has converted most of its 390
acres from berries and vegeta-
bles to grass seed. Its raspber-
ry production peaked at 150
acres and is now at 10 acres.
“Raspberries used to go
for $1.70 per pound, but now
it’s about 50 cents per pound,”
Thoeny said. “Unless a grow-
er can process berries, or add
value with fresh sales, it’s
hard to make a profit.”
Thoeny sells berries at
farmers’ markets in South-
west Washington and some
are shipped to farmers’ mar-
kets in Seattle. He also has
a few acres of strawberries,
blackberries and sweet corn.
Thoeny runs the business
with his brother, Ted, and
mother, Peggy, in the Wood-
land Bottoms, which once
supported a thriving agricul-
tural community. Decades
ago, farmers raised a variety
of vegetables and the area was
home to dozens of dairies,
Thoeny said.
About five farms remain,
Suzanne Frary/For the Capital Press
George Thoeny, a third-generation farmer in Woodland, Wash., is
considering converting his berry fields to grass seed. Falling whole-
sale prices and the rising cost of labor have made growing berries
less profitable, he says.
he said, the majority of which
now grow grass seed. It’s a
crop that has far lower labor
costs.
Thoeny Farms has suc-
ceeded for nearly seven de-
cades by adapting to chang-
ing conditions, and Thoeny,
a third-generation farmer,
expects to continue in that
tradition. The family grew
vegetables, mostly carrots, for
about 35 years before plant-
ing raspberries, followed by
strawberries and blackberries.
The supply of migrant la-
bor dropped off three or four
years ago and local farm la-
bor is nonexistent, he said. To
harvest their berries and sweet
corn, the farm needs about 16
workers, Thoeny said. Hiring
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people and complying with
government regulations is an
“immense amount of work.”
Thoeny and his brother can
do the work of growing grass
seed. Working with family is
a perk of his job, Thoeny said,
and is what he always wanted
to do. He includes other farm-
ers in the area as part of his
“extended family.” His chil-
dren have chosen careers off
the farm.
“I got into farming when it
was easiest, in the ’70s, ’80s
and ’90s,” Thoeny said. He
and his brother may be the
last generation of his family
to farm, but they don’t want
to sell their land and hope to
leave a healthy business to
their kids and grandkids.
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