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Witnesses disagree on scale and causes of farmland loss; economic viability emerges as central theme
Summary
Stakeholders at the Senate informational hearing differed on how much farmland Oregon has lost and why. County planners and farmland advocates highlighted conversion and parcelization, while property‑owner representatives questioned national census estimates and emphasized farmer attrition and economics.
Stakeholders at an informational meeting of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire on May 27 presented differing accounts of farmland loss in Oregon and what is driving it.
Kelly Housley Glover, Wasco County community development director and president of the Association of Oregon County Planning Directors, told the committee that DLCD’s farm and forest report shows about 2,700 acres were converted via exception or rezone in 2022–23, while approvals for nonfarm dwellings converted roughly 3,400 acres in the same period. "You can see why that nuance is really important when you're thinking about farm loss and farm, farm, loss and protection," she said.
Housley Glover also cautioned…
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