Oregon Wheat Growers League turns 100
Capital Press by Matthew Weaver 2/6/26
< PHOTO - Rep Glenn "G.T." Thompson, R-Pa., and chair of the House Agriculture Committee, visits with National Association of Wheat Growers president Brent Cheyne, of Klamath Falls, Ore., following Cheyne's testimony before lawmakers on the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit. (National Association of Wheat Growers)
   A “devastating freeze” in December 1924 left wheat farmers scrambling to find seed for the 1925 crop. The next year, the Oregon Agricultural College Extension Service hosted the Eastern Oregon Wheat Growers Economic Conference, held Feb. 11-13, 1926. Out of that meeting arose the Oregon Wheat Growers League — the first commodity organization for wheat in the United States.
   Formation of the Oregon Wheat Commission followed, in 1947.
   “At the time, farmers were dealing with situations that seem somewhat familiar to situations now — low commodity prices … market development, investment into future research initiatives, transportation, weed management,” Oregon Wheat CEO Amanda Hoey said. “All of those things have continued on in various iterations for the past 100 years.”
   Lawmakers have designated Feb. 11 as Oregon Wheat Day, commemorating the league’s 100th anniversary.
   The league is the voice for farmers in Salem and Washington D.C. Twelve county presidents represent about 2,000 farmers throughout the state.
   “It’s very hard for farmers, who are totally involved in farming during the season that the legislature is in session, to go down there and advocate for ourselves,” said Hermiston farmer Tyler “TJ” Hansell, league president in 2016, now chairman of the Oregon Wheat Commission.
    If one or two farmers spoke to lawmakers, they’d speak alone, and wouldn’t necessarily know who to talk to, he said.
   “We want to be speaking with a voice of 2,000 farmers, with one clear thought in the process,” Hansell said.
    Advocating for farmers
    “A lot of the stuff is the same problems that we faced 15 years ago,” Grass Valley farmer Darren Padget said. He was league president in 2010, and went on to serve as U.S. Wheat Associates chairman, among other leadership roles. “Regulations, trade … You have to constantly be there and beat back whoever’s trying to push you down. It’s a steady diet any more, of cuts here and cuts there. You’ve got to have somebody advocating for you.”
    “Those that think agriculture is harmful to the land, they are very vocal,” said Wade Bingaman, league president in 2024, who farms in Imbler. “As a farmer, it’s important for us to make our voices heard about regulations and how things are affecting agriculture. There’s no better people to do that than those of us in the business of working the land.”
    Is the league making progress?
    “We are — sometimes it doesn’t seem like it because in Oregon it’s such an uphill battle,” said Ontario farmer Dana Tuckness, league president in 2017 and now an Oregon Wheat Commission board member. “Everything’s against us at all times. But if the league wasn’t there, I’d hate to see where we’d be right now.”
    Priorities
Farmers will receive USDA bridge payments at the end of February. That’s to the credit of groups like the league, said Wally Powell, Condon farmer. Powell was league president in 2013 and is a former commissioner.   
    “You don’t get crop insurance coverage like we have today, automatic response from senators and congressmen if we’re discussing issues relating to just trying to survive today, if you don’t have strong grower organizations,” Powell said.
    “Whether you love the farm bill or hate it, we’ve had one since 1933,” said Brent Cheyne of Klamath Falls, league president in 2018 and National Association of Wheat Growers president in 2023. “The ship has sailed, hard to recall it to port. Continued work on a good, workable, responsible farm bill that will keep not only Oregon’s wheat growers, but all of the wheat growers in the nation, in business.”
    Cheyne worries about wheat falling from the third largest commodity in the U.S. to “America’s largest specialty crop.”
    “It’s organizations like the Oregon Wheat Growers League that maybe have the best chance of keeping wheat profitable,” he said.
    Celebrating 100 years
    Farmers will observe Oregon Wheat Day Feb. 11 with lawmakers at the Capitol in Salem.
    A field day in June will mark the 100th celebration in Moro.
    An industry event is still to be scheduled for the fall in Portland.
    Immediate past president Erin Hansell-Heideman, who farms in Ione, is interviewing all living league presidents, for a video to air during the annual convention Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 in Kennewick, Wash.
    The league partnered with Stein Distillery, of Joseph, Ore., to create a whiskey, featuring a 100% Oregon wheat mash bill, aged for five years in new American oak barrels, available in limited quantities at select Oregon liquor stores. Tasting notes include vanilla, honey and baked goods.
    The league worked with Pendleton Woolen Mills to design an “iconic” Oregon Wheat limited-edition blanket. A total of 500 blankets were produced.
    “I bought one for each of my boys for their weddings,” Hansell-Heideman said.
    Big questions ahead
    When Powell began farming, “we were cutting 1,800 acres a year and we were big.” Today, some farmers in his area raise up to 9,000 acres each year.
     Grower organizations must continue to serve the interests of both smaller and larger growers, Powell said.
     His neighbors are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, most of whom are carrying minimal debt. Equipment can cost $300,000 or more, Powell noted.
    “At $5.25 wheat, for a young grower, how does that work?” he asked. “How do we transition? Who is going to step in to replace all of these people, and how are they going to be able to do it? As we’ve gotten bigger, there are less farmers. These farms are not going to get any smaller.”
    “I think we’ll still be relevant,” Hansell-Heideman said. “Farming in itself will change, technology will change. We’ll see a ton of research come in for all commodities that will change the way we do farming. We’ll be able to do more and more with less and less, because we’re going to be forced to do so.”
    New blood
    “Right now the board is made up of actually some younger (growers) and by younger, I mean 40 years old and less,” Hansell-Heideman said.
    Farmers generally get involved in the league, politics or organizations when they retire, because they have the time, she said. The kids are grown, and expectations are different.
    “But what we’re finding now is that our young guys, even with small kids, are jumping on board because they’re recognizing the need to keep the farming entity going,” she said. “They have to be able to work off-farm to make sure on-farm happens.”
    Tuckness believes younger farmers see the value of the league, and want to be a part of it. He welcomes their involvement.
    “I belong to several other organizations, people have been on the board there for 20 years or more,” he said. “Pretty stagnant, and it kind of becomes a good ol’ boys club after a while.”
    Part of the league’s strategic plan is for county presidents to bring in and mentor new leaders, Hoey said.
    “We’re trying to leverage that to ensure there’s an easy transition,” she said. “I think it is a meaningful aspect of leadership to actively think about how to bring in the next generation.”
    Get involved
    “My network got a whole lot bigger, because of the people that you meet when you’re on these boards, statewide, nationwide,” Padget said. “To this day, there’s a lot of folks I can still call and get advice from who, depending on the subject, are much more knowledgeable than I. You can’t have too many connections these days.”
    Powell was irritated about something. “And yet, since I wasn’t participating, I didn’t feel that I should bitch,” he said.
    So he asked to be put on a committee. That led to him getting more involved, “and then I complained,” he said with a laugh.
    “If you have a bitch, that’s fine, but if you aren’t participating, your bitch is not going to be as well-valued as if you are a participant in the process,” he said. “You will be more educated. You get much more out of this than you could ever contribute.”
    Cheyne enjoyed meeting urban legislators in Salem. He realized that “a lot of them, it wasn’t that they were anti-ag, it was that they had no idea what was going on out on the farm.”
    Working with the league ultimately led Cheyne to testify before House and Senate ag subcommittees on behalf of wheat farmers nationwide, as NAWG president in 2023.
    “That was an experience I never saw myself in, not long ago,” Cheyne said, calling the experience “humbling.”
    “Your voice does make a difference,” he tells his fellow farmers. “Lend a helping hand. Get involved. Let your voice be heard. Make your voice be heard … Yes, you can talk to Congress. You have a voice, use it. I did it, it can’t be that hard.”

For more of the articles photos go to https://capitalpress.com/2026/02/03/oregon-wheat-growers-league-turns-100/


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