Meet the Farm
Scenic Valley Farms is operated by Brian Zielinski, a third generation farmer in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. They primarily grow wine grapes and hops, along with hazelnuts, garlic, pumpkins, grass seed, wheat, and clover. Brian and Hops Manager AJ Lomax are constantly looking for ways to support wildlife and create mutually beneficial environments for biodiversity and agriculture on the land. Brian’s business model is based on investing in the farm ecosystem that will be left for their children instead of focusing solely on the bottom line.
The Scenic Valley Farms Tasting Room welcomes visitors to the farm.
The Challenge
The Willamette Valley has been an agricultural oasis for hundreds of years. In recent decades, though, shifting weather patterns, variable precipitation and increased prices for inputs have created volatile growing conditions. Farmers are looking for ways to improve soil health, reduce risk and build resilience to maintain productivity. Scenic Valley Farms is doing just that!
What They’re Doing
Dry Farming
As drought and water limits put additional strains on growers, dry farming offers one way to produce crops with little or no irrigation. Scenic Valley wine grapes are dry farmed, relying on cover crops and improved soil structure to capture and retain moisture when rain is scarce. In the hops fields, water use is minimized by utilizing smart irrigation technology and soil moisture meters.
Birds & Bats for Pest Control
Brian and AJ have installed raptor perches, bat houses and nest boxes throughout the property. Songbirds and bats trade off managing insect pests during day and night, while raptors keep rodent populations in check.
Brian Zielinski discusses farm practices, including the visible raptor perch for attracting predators, at a WFA field day.
Flowering Habitat
At the tie-downs at the end of each hop row as well as within the vineyard rows, flowering habitat attracts beneficial insects to boost pest control.
Habitat at the hops tie-downs support beneficial insects.
Farm-Made Vinegar Herbicide and Blood Meal Fertilizer
For spot treatment of weeds in the hop fields, Scenic Valley makes a vinegar herbicide from leftover grape juice deemed unsuitable for wine production. They have been pleased with the results and glad to have a use for the excess juice. Another way they minimize waste is through the blood meal fertilizer they create on the farm using livestock remains from a nearby ranch. Creating their own vinegar herbicide and blood meal fertilizer also allows them to reduce the need for synthetic inputs and reliance on outsourced materials with fluctuating costs.
Vinegar weed killer made from Scenic Valley Farms grapes (left); blood meal fertilizer made from local livestock remains (right).
Repurposed Oaks
If you take a tour of Scenic Valley’s cellar, you will find one more example of Scenic Valley’s waste reduction efforts. Their logo branded barrels house the wines, repurposed from fallen oak trees on the property.
Certifications
Scenic Valley Farms is proud to be LIVE certified, Salmon-Safe, and in the Deep Roots Coalition.
Dry Farming Research
Oregon State University Extension Staff member Heidi Noordijk recently visited Scenic Valley Farms to demonstrate use of a soil moisture meter as part of a Wild Farm Alliance field day. Heidi and Extension colleagues Amy Garrett and Dana Kristal have been running trials to compare dry farmed and irrigated crops. They plant well-known varieties side by side, early in the season when the most moisture is available for plants.
The first trial, run by Amy Garrett in 2015, was a 4,000-square-foot plot of tomatoes, melons, squash, and potatoes at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture, at the edge of OSU’s Corvallis campus. She planted two rows of each variety, with one row irrigated and the other not. Heidi, Dana and Amy have gone on to trial crops in various regions around the state.
Dry farmed storage tomatoes from Tomato Fest 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Photo: Shawn Linehan
In the trials, the researchers compressed the soil surrounding seeds and transplants to initiate capillary action. This process lifts soil moisture to the surface, allowing seeds to germinate and encouraging root growth. As the season progressed, vegetable and fruit roots stretched as deep as five feet to access the receding water. They kept a thin layer of mulch on the soil to reduce evaporation from the soil's surface during the dry summer months.
Evaluations by tasters showed that dry farmed crops had superior flavor, texture, and color. As a drawback, the size of the fruits and vegetables were usually smaller than irrigated ones and the plants required more space. But at a time when it’s possible for wells to run dry during some parts of summer, dry farming is proving to be a valuable method, especially for small farms selling directly to discerning customers.
For more information about dry farming, check out the Water Resilience Toolkit from the Dry Farming Institute.
Farmer Brian Zielinski in the Scenic Valley Farms tasting room.
What It Means for the Region
As weather patterns continue to change, agricultural resilience supported by ecological principles is ever more important. Scenic Valley’s work to encourage biodiversity and healthy soils is a model for farmers in the Willamette Valley looking for ways to innovate.