Oregon Brewers Are Supporting the State’s Farms With Limited-Edition Beers in October

The Oregon Agricultural Trust kicked off its Cheers to the Land campaign with nine breweries, from Barley Brown’s in Baker City to Pelican on the coast.

Cheers to the Land Oregon Agricultural Trust.

By simply drinking an Oregon-made beer this month, you can help protect the state’s farms and ranches from being plowed under and developed.

The Oregon Agricultural Trust kicked off its Cheers to the Land campaign with nine breweries on Oct. 12. Those producers, from Barley Brown’s in Baker City to Pelican on the coast, made brand-new beers with hops and grains that were all sourced from within the state’s borders to support people working the land—many carrying on generations of family tradition.

While all of the beers will be on tap at the participating breweries, six of the nine were packaged, which means you can still find 16-ounce four-pack cans. The Oregon Agricultural Trust is also hosting a series of events at each brewery through Oct. 21.

While a drive through any rural stretch of Oregon—whether you’re headed south through the Willamette Valley’s hop fields and vineyards, or east across vast swaths of land dedicated to cattle ranching, seems to indicate we have no shortage of farms—the trust says those properties are vulnerable to development. Indeed, 25% of the state’s land is in farms and ranches, an area larger than West Virginia.

However, considering 64% of that property is set to change hands in the next 20 years, as farmers continue to age and retire, only 19% of farmers and ranchers have succession plans in place. With Cheers to the Land, each participating brewery is supporting the nonprofit’s work with a donation of the beers’ proceeds.

Cheers to the Land Ferment Brewing in Hood River. Oregon Agricultural Trust.

“One of the major reasons we have some of the best beer in the world is because Oregon has such fertile farmland,” Oregon Agricultural Trust executive director Nellie McAdams stated in a press release. “Our farmers grow 5% of all the hops in the world, and we have some of the best soil on the planet. But you can’t unpave farmland; once it’s gone it’s gone. So Cheers to the Land both celebrates our farmland and raises awareness about the importance of protecting it for agriculture, forever.”

Here is a list of the remaining brewery events:

  • Oct. 18: Barley Brown’s Brewing, OAT Meet & Greet with Oregon-sourced food specials, 5-8 pm, 2190 Main St., Baker City (FB event link).
  • Oct. 19: Gorges Beer Co., OAT pint night with Oregon-sourced food specials, 6-8 pm, 390 Wanapa St., Cascade Locks (FB event link).
  • Oct. 20: ForeLand Beer Co., OAT Meet & Greet at The Study, 5-8 pm, 2511 SE Belmont St. (FB event link).
  • Oct. 21: Falling Sky Brewing, Brewers Dinner with OAT, 6 pm. Falling Sky PourHouse & Delicatessen, 790 Blair Blvd., Eugene. Tickets $65 at fallingskybrewing.com/event-details/cheers-to-the-land. (FB event link)
  • Oct. 25: Fort George Brewing, Community Give Night with OAT, 4-6 pm. Upstairs dining area, 1483 Duane St., Astoria (FB event link).
  • Oct. 26: Wolves & People, OAT Meet & Greet, 5-8 pm, 30203 NE Benjamin Road, Newberg (FB event link).
  • Oct. 27: Ferment Brewing, Give Back Night with OAT, 5-7 pm, 403 Portway Ave., Hood River (FB event link).

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