A 1973 law meant to preserve open space and farm land is hurting Oregon pear growers.
A 1973 law established to preserve open space and farm land helped Oregon earn its status as a green pioneer in the U.S.
But with their profits down, Oregon pear growers are having trouble maintaing their farms because of the law.
The credit crunch and consumers unwilling to splurge for $30 boxes of pears are behind much of the pain, growers say. Yet they insist their real headache is their inability to raise capital by selling land at top value, which they say would let them buy farmland further from residential areas. That is because land-use laws say their orchards must remain in agriculture.
“It’s the worst case of unintended consequences you can imagine,” says David D. Lowry, chief executive of Associated Fruit Co., the smallest of Medford’s Big Three, who fears his business could be the next to close. Like others, he has plenty of land to sell, but no one willing to buy as long as it is zoned for farming only.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal.
{biztweet}Oregon pear grower{/biztweet}
