By Oregon State University, Extension office
CORVALLIS, Ore. — For the past three years, Terri Emrich has been growing garlic, lavender, berries and beans on her farm in Columbia County.
In the fall of 2021 — her first year operating Rainier Garden Farms — Emrich started selling jams and jellies. Now, she has added canned pickles, chutneys and other value-added products. Emrich benefits from Oregon’s Farm Direct Marketing law, which allows farmers to turn products grown on their farms into low-risk, value-added products that they sell directly to consumers without being licensed food processors.
The law, which passed in 2011, was amended in 2023 to include new products, new sales channels, and a raised sales limit. The passage of the updated law prompted interest among those who want to take advantage of the new opportunities — including Emrich.
“There is a need for more education and most of the time OSU Extension is where people go for that education,” Emrich said. “There will always be opportunities for education with the farm direct law.”
This year, the Oregon State University Extension Service has been offering classes for small-acreage farmers like Emrich to create a better understanding of the law and its 2023 changes. Emrich has helped teach some of the classes.
The classes cover how to operate steam canners, pH meter tips and where to find approved recipes for canned salsas, jams and other value-added products.
Kelly Streit, an Extension educator specializing in family and community health in Clackamas County, has traveled throughout the state to teach the classes.
“As Extension educators, we work with agricultural producers to set them up to successfully implement the law as part of their farm business,” said Streit, who co-authored “Oregon’s Farm Direct Marketing Law: Producer-processed Value-added Products,” a guide that unpacks the law’s details for farmers and farmers market managers.
Added value provides selling options
Extension has hosted multiple workshops in Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah and Washington counties, showing agricultural producers how to incorporate farm direct sales into their farming operation.
Carrie Mack, Extension education program assistant in Lane County, said a goal of the classes is to create awareness for producers that they have selling options.
“This gives farmers the ability to take produce that isn’t visually appealing and might not sell at market and add value by preserving them, such as a salsa,” said Mack, who has organized classes in Lane County.
Sonya Brown, program coordinator for the Lane County Farmers Market in Eugene, said the law also lengthens the season in which farmers can sell and gives their products longer shelf stability, leading to less food waste.
Under the law, producer-processed, value-added products can include high acid, acidified, and lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables. All products must have a final pH of 4.6 or lower to ensure food safety. Acidified foods include cucumbers, beets and peppers, while lacto-fermented foods include kimchi and sauerkraut.
All products must be grown and processed by the farmer. Home canners cannot sell their value-added products under this exemption, unless they produce all of the produce themselves.
Acidified foods have standardized vinegar or lemon or lime juice added to them during processing to lower the pH of the product. Herbs, spices, salt, vinegar, pectin, lemon or lime juice, honey and sugar may be purchased from a standardized source.
The 2023 updates to the law include the addition of bigleaf maple and walnut syrup, fruit and vegetable juices and herbal blends such as herbal tea or dried herbs. It also increased the gross sale limit to $50,000 a year for value-added products.
Products may also be sold under consignment in the same or adjoining counties.
Anyone who grows their own produce and is interested in creating value-added products to sell directly to the public can consult OSU Extension’s Home Food Safety and Preservation Program for tested recipe resources and food safety guidance.
Emrich, the farmer in Rainier, is also a Master Food Preserver, certified both in Oregon and Washington. Canning has been a tradition in her family.
“The Master Food Preserver program was a great way to transition canning skills to something that could bring in extra income with value-added products,” Emrich said.
Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.