Page 14 - Rural Tourism Report Washington County

CHAPTER 2: THE WASHINGTON COUNTY AGRICULTURE SECTOR

“Farms of all sizes, shapes, and forms add to the fabric of Oregon
agriculture. All are important, and we want all to be successful as

stewards, businesses, and community citizens.”

— Katy Coba, Director of Oregon Department of Agriculture

A concern for Washington County over time, however, may be the conversion of agricultural land to other
purposes. While Oregon’s land use laws slow the conversion of agricultural land to other uses, there is

pressure to expand the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) as populations increase and urban uses are extended
onto agricultural lands (reducing overall agricultural acreage).

As shown in the preceding Figures 2.1 and 2.2 and Table 2.1, below, the number of farms in Washington
County declined by 257 farms between 2002 and 2012, while the total acres being farmed rose by 5,050
acres, suggesting both farm consolidation as well as perhaps the Washington County agriculture industry’s
confidence in the future. During the 10-year period, the average size of farms grew by almost 14 acres or 20
percent. The average farm size was 83 acres.

Table 2.1: Number of Farms by Size in Acres. 2002 - 2012
Farm Size 2002 2007 2012
Farms Acres Farms Acres Farms Acres
1 to 9 acres 609 N/A 600 2,865 610 2,831
10 to 49 acres 804 17,252 716 16,037 613 13,278
50 to 179 acres 319 29,559 295 26,340 273 25,021
180 to 499 acres 118 35,173 95 26,870 97 30,073
500 to 999 acres 32 22,149 31 19,749 26 17,506 Source: NASS Census of Agriculture 2002–
2012. NASS changed how they gathered
1,000 acres or 18 N/A 24 36,123 24 47,024 census data for some categories between
more 1997 and 2002. As such, comparable data is
Total 1,900 130,683 1,761 127,984 1,643 135,733 not available before 2002. N/A is used where
data is not disclosed by the Census.

10 WASHINGTON COUNTY RURAL TOURISM STUDY