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 Threemile Canyon Farms
Our Story Threemile Canyon Farms is an Oregon-based joint venture owned by R.D. Offutt Company-Northwest and Bos Family Oregon Farms, two organizations that excel in large-scale agricultural enterprises. We own 93,000 acres of Columbia River Basin land just west of Boardman, about 150 miles east of Portland. The Columbia River Basin is one of the best places on earth to grow potatoes and raise a dairy herd. Our combination of crop farming and dairy operations creates a "closed loop system" that yields high value products while recycling nearly all farm wastes. Each day, people consume our farm's products. Our milk is used in making the region's premier cheeses. Our potatoes are used in french-fries sold in quick service restaurants. Bags of our fresh potatoes and frozen french-fries are found in the leading grocery stores throughout the region. And our expanding variety of organic crops is helping Oregon become a leader in branded organics. Forty years ago, few people would have imagined that this land could be so productive for farming. In 1963, the 93,000 acres were leased from Oregon by the Boeing Corporation to locate a "space-age industrial park". When this project went to Houston, Texas, Boeing turned the site over to an agricultural subsidiary, Boeing Agri-Business Company. As the land was subleased to farmers, legal battles broke out with environmentalists over what they considered excess volumes of water drawn for irrigation from the Columbia. One of our owners, Ron Offutt stepped in to purchase some of the existing subleases to move his regional potato farms to this desirable site. Then, in May of 2000, Ron Offutt acquired all of Boeing's interests. Offutt's General Manager worked to settle the environmental lawsuits with seven plaintiffs in order to limit uncertainties and properly develop the farm's potential. We entered the negotiations with what The Nature Conservancy called "a vision of an innovative and environmentally sensitive farming operation". The lawsuits were settled by December and we embarked upon water and habitat conservation programs that became integral to our farm operations. The Oregon Governor at the time, John Kitzhaber, described what we were trying to accomplish in glowing terms:
-John Kitzhaber By the time the lawsuits were settled, Ron Offutt had formed a joint-venture with John and AJ Bos to build two dairies under the name of Columbia River Dairies in the center of the farm property to serve the growth plans of Oregon's cheese industry. In April of 2001 we began our milk deliveries.
That's when the separate elements of our story combined and took shape: farming on a 100 square mile plot of land, we put 23,000 acres, almost one-quarter of our farmland into a preservation area managed by The Nature Conservancy, to protect Columbia Basin grasslands and four threatened species that live on that land. We voluntarily surrendered our rights to Columbia River water to protect endangered salmon - agreeing to reduce our water draw from 1500 to 600 cubic feet per second - and contributed $1.25 million to Oregon Water Trust to further protect stream flows to the Columbia. We invested $185 million into state-of-the-art farming systems and infrastructure. We created a "closedloop" system between farming and dairy operations that allows each agricultural activity to sustain and improve the other. We turned arid land into 36,000 acres of agricultural production, providing 300 full time and 300-400 seasonal jobs and adding $250 million annually to the rural economies of Gillam and Morrow counties, so that we could become a productive part of Oregon's $12 billion agricultural economy [Oregon Department of Agriculture statistics, January 2006].
-Gary Neal
From the outset, our business approach and conservation ethic made for an interesting story. In 2001, we appeared in a wide range of publications: Oregon Business Magazine, [August], The Nature Conservancy newsletter [fall], and the Wall Street Journal [December 19, 2001]. As we grew into our sustainable business platform, others noticed: Founders of A New Northwest [published in 2003 by Sustainable Northwest and Oregon Solutions], Manure Manager [January 2005], The Oregonian Home & Garden section [April 2005], Western Dairy Business [October 2005], Oregon Public Radio and regional television stations, and the New York Times [November 1, 2005 ad supplement coverage of the BSR Annual Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility].
-Katy Coba Today, we continue to innovate and improve on our practices. Just being in the right place isn't enough for a successful story. We're committed to doing what it takes to earn the trust of our customers, employees and neighbors - turning one of the Northwest's best locations into one of Oregon's best farms, producing healthy, high-quality food products without sacrificing our shared values about this very special place we call home. Our History
Threemile Canyon Farms by the Numbers
Meet Our Employees
Habitat and Wildlife Conservation 
PDF version of Corporate Social Resposibility Report Continue reading the 2005 CSR Report |
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Frank Toledo breeds teamwork at Columbia River Dairies.
Rosa and Elizandro met in Boardman when Elizandro was working on the farm. They got married and now have two boys, ages four and five. Rosa started working on the farm in summers - "they kept telling me to come back next year". With her strong work ethic, Rosa's seasonal work on the scales led to record-keeping and soon a full-time office job with increased responsibilities. That's the kind of story Rosa has seen often as the farm operations have grown. "This farm offers opportunities for people who show they want to learn new skills. I know many women who started working in potato storage, and have continued to grow into more and more responsible jobs".