For the most part, farming is a thankless job where most of the work goes unnoticed, but not by Sustainable Northwest.
Held toward the end of September, the nonprofit organization Sustainable Northwest came together with producers of the Upper Klamath Basin for an appreciation dinner and listening session.
“The Upper Klamath Basin is not an easy place to live and work and farm and ranch,” said Kelley Delpit, program manager at Sustainable Northwest . “Many do it because they genuinely love it and are committed to giving back to this region and making it as sustainable and beautiful as possible.”
A good number of producers sat at the table with Sustainable Northwest and other partner agencies to celebrate and speak to one another about ongoing projects and potential funding for said projects.
According to Sustainable Northwest, at least 20 projects totaling over $1 million have been implemented in the Upper Klamath Basin as a result of connections made at the listening sessions.
“We cast a wide net,” Delpit said. “We want to meet producers where they are and aid in meeting their project needs and providing answers and solutions.”
One such project was Cameron Duncan’s successful installation of two stock water wells and conversion from wheel lines to five pivots on the family-owned Duncan Livestock and Hay ranch, with the help of Sustainable Northwest, Energy Trust of Oregon, Klamath Watershed Partnership, USDA Rural Development, and Lake County Resources Initiative.
“There were a couple of hiccups, but mostly smooth. You have to be able to sit on the phone,” Duncan said.
Delpit said when it comes to projects, stacking multiple funding sources can compound the economic return.
“Chances are we can stack and layer incentives (funding), especially if it’s an irrigation efficiency project,” Delpit said.“We can also attach energy trust incentives to make things a bit more affordable.”
Another sharing at the meeting was from Zeb Burroughs, a rancher who shared about his experience enrolling in Sustainable Northwest’s Regenerative Ranching Program, which involved having biodiversity and soil tests conducted on his property to get a baseline assessment of soil health and plant types to improve productivity.
“It’ll be really interesting to get the full results back,” Burroughs said. “The water retention was probably the most interesting. A lot of the soil I would have thought would be fantastic (at retaining water) was actually some of the worst.”
Sustainable Klamath holds listening sessions with Upper Klamath Basin producers every other month, with the next scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, at the Sprague River Community Center.
Basin Ag News, Herald and News
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