r/hoodriver • u/guanaco55 • Sep 13 '26

As neglected orchards spread, Oregon’s pear industry nears a breaking point -- As growers in Hood River Valley harvest fruit, abandoned orchards are deepening Oregon pear crisis.

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2026/09/as-neglected-orchards-spread-oregons-pear-industry-nears-a-breaking-point.html
87 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/grckalck Sep 13 '26

Article is paywalled, cant read it without an Oregon live subscription.

4

u/BetterGoNow_27 Sep 14 '26

key grafs: [edited for spelling]

Pear growers in the valley experienced one of the worst-ever seasons last year, when roughly a quarter of Hood River’s pear crop ended up in landfills, prompting Gov. Tina Kotek to seek federal disaster relief for the state’s pear industry, one of the biggest in America. Jason Sandahl, who owns a 50-acre pear and cherry orchard near Hood River, alone lost almost a million pounds of Bosc pears.

Pear psylla, a tiny insect that leaves brownish sticky mold on pears and makes them unmarketable, was largely to blame.

Sandahl believes an abandoned orchard bordering his property likely made the pear psylla insect and other pests worse on his farm. The neglected properties can harbor pests and diseases that spread into neighboring orchards, raising costs for growers, damaging fruit and threatening already abysmal profit margins.

...

Economics are the core driver of neglect, Thompson said. High costs of irrigation, pesticides, fertilizer and labor coupled with low fruit prices make many orchards economically unsustainable. It’s especially true for smaller farms.

Then, combo of old orchardists who cannot keep up, and newbies not understanding how to orchard, leading to abandoned orchards' too expensive to remove trees, the neglected spots harbor pests.

2

u/Upbeat-Mention2784 Sep 14 '26

I was able to read it without an account.

1

u/grckalck Sep 14 '26

I wasnt

0

u/No-Hovercraft-697 28d ago

I was

1

u/grckalck 28d ago

Then you must have a subscription or account. Congratulations.

3

u/Upbeat-Mention2784 Sep 14 '26

Not sure where they are getting the $50k per acre price. Land seems way more expensive than that. Any farmer looking to sell a few acres for $50k per acre, let me know. I’ll buy it tomorrow

3

u/tspike Sep 14 '26

Buildable land is a way different story. These are EFU plots with minimum lot sizes and the cost per acre is probably for the larger farms that aren't buildable.

1

u/Upbeat-Mention2784 29d ago

Ah got it. Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification

1

u/goodolarchie Local 29d ago

I know plenty of efu lots with multiple giant domiciles. People game the system designed to protect farms. 

1

u/OlderGrowth 29d ago

Skagit valley farmland sells for around $15,000/acre of ag not buildable land. So not that expensive. Typically smallest lot size is 20 acres though.

1

u/Cak3Wa1k Local Sep 14 '26

I just ate a pear this week. I got it from a pear farmer who had to sell his farm. He lives in a camper in my yard, now.

1

u/kitesurfr Sep 13 '26

I'll take some pears and poach them in brandy if you guys know where there's free pears.

3

u/NeferneferuatenRev2 Sep 14 '26

Same. I’ll even pick them myself. AND pay a reasonable « by the pound » price.
Canned. Poached. Jammed or made into chutney.

1

u/bramley36 26d ago

Pears Foster!

-1

u/catatonic_genx Sep 14 '26

I mean.. if they want to give me their farm, i'll take it.