Renewable Farming

Update: County officials agree to work with Azure Farm on organic weed control plan

May 18, 2017 —  Commissioners and the weed board in Sherman County, Oregon agreed last night to work with Azure Farm on a non-toxic weed control program which will not destroy the 2000-acre farm’s organic status.

The board had received some 40,000 e-mails and other messages after earlier news of the weed board’s threat to quarantine and spray the farm went viral worldwide through news and social media. 

David Cross, Director of Marketing for Azure Farm, sent the following e-mail after the Sherman County meeting (which had been moved to the large gymnasium at the Sherman County School in Dufur, Oregon because of large public attendance):

 

Tonight we had a very productive meeting with the county commission and weed board officials in Sherman County, Oregon. Here is David Stelzer’s message recorded just moments after the meeting ended.

First, we would like to thank our loyal supporters for helping to spread the word and for voicing your concerns about the threat we faced. Sherman County reportedly received over 40,000 emails to date about the matter. You helped to open up a whole new level of debate about organic farming, and about the benefits of clean, healthy food.

Thank you.

The county commission has now agreed to work with us on a proper weed plan that does not include the use of toxic chemicals, and we would like to thank them for their level-headed approach to working together with Azure Farm.

There are still a couple of meetings we will have with the county officials to work out the final implementation of this plan but we are now very optimistic that this will work out in a good way for all concerned. Thank you for your support!

Our “reading” on this episode: The flood of support signals that a rapidly widening share of the U.S. public — especially mothers — recognize the value of preserving non-toxic food sources. Azure Farm has an 18-year organic history, and it’s one of the sources for the nationwide food distribution system operated by parent firm Azure Standard.