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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 8, 2019
Fourth generation operates Willamette Valley farm
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Though well established
as a large, diversified oper-
ation, 4 B Farms will never
sit still — not with so many
new factors to contend with.
Siblings Jeff Butsch and
Lori Pavlicek are fourth-gen-
eration owner-operators of
the farm near Mount Angel,
Ore., that their parents
James and Donna Butsch
incorporated in 1972. The
kids helped out from Day 1.
4 B Farms now encom-
passes 2,500 acres that
include 700 acres of for-
age and turf-type grasses.
They grow about 360 acres
of hops, 250 acres of garlic,
300 acres of hazelnuts, 200
acres of wheat, 175 acres of
squash seed about 200 acres
of various row crops.
Most of their product
goes to dealers, distributors,
co-ops and canneries with a
small portion of hops sold
directly to Anheuser-Busch
InBev. 4 B maintains 16 full-
time workers and 130 during
the busy season.
However, they take noth-
ing for granted.
“It’s scary seeing all these
tariffs and how they impact
ag, especially hazelnuts,”
Butsch said. “For example,
it was a good crop this year
— it came in good and we
had good weather — but the
marketing people for that
commodity rely on China.
“It’s frustrating; you’re
pulling your hair out,” he
added.
Pavlicek said these days
it’s important to stay politi-
cally active or on top of mea-
sures and bills that pertain to
the business. Besides serv-
ing as Mount Angel Com-
munity Foundation pres-
ident and Oregon Aglink
board member, Pavlicek
was recently appointed to
Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press
Siblings Lori Pavlicek and Jeff Butsch are owner-
operators of 4 B Farms near Mount Angel, Oregon. Now
in its fourth generation, the farm has since grown to
2,500 production acres.
a committee of the Hazel-
nut Bargaining Association,
which negotiates prices with
processors.
“That’s a very import-
ant thing for growers,” her
brother said. “Over our gen-
eration it seems like part of
the buyer’s strategy is to wait
until after harvest to come
up with the price and that’s
not really fair. They should
come up with a price that’s
talked about and accepted
in the industry before the
crop is harvested. That way
you know how you’re going
to market your product as
you’re taking it.”
Jeff is involved in the
East Valley Water District
and various associations
affiliated with their crops.
“Doing more with less
people is even more import-
ant today than it was yester-
day and is going to be how
farmers survive and do bet-
ter,” Butsch said. “Mecha-
nization is so important and
everybody’s trying to select
crops that take less labor.”
Also important is current
technology, more efficient
equipment and better rem-
edies for pests and disease
than their parents knew.
“The thing about Ore-
gon is that it is has seasons,
which is part of the reason
there are more than 180 dif-
ferent crops grown here,”
Butsch said. “Since I started
I’ve become familiar with
so many more crops that I
wasn’t aware were grown
here.”
One thing that hasn’t
changed is the farm’s desire
to employ local youth
through the busy season;
they recruit from a couple
local high schools.
“A lot of those families
started here when we had
hand-harvested crops; they
were here to raise money
for school and then they
decided to make a career of
agriculture,” Butsch said.
“Several are now full-time
employees.”
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