CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – A small farm is looking to make a big difference for agriculture in the Rogue Valley. Built as a nonprofit, “Rusted Gate Farm” in Central Point is set on merging innovation with tradition. The goal is to help small farmers succeed by promoting environmental health and financial security.
Dave Picanso has spent much of life working on farms.
“There was a job description in the paper that my wife found and said, ‘Hey! this sounds like something you were made for,’ and that led to this,” said Picanso.
What Picanso found was an opportunity to manage a new type of farm in Central Point. Rusted Gate Farm started in 2014 and now encompasses 152 acres. It was set up as a nonprofit, focusing on helping other small farms thrive.
“This could become something special as like an agricultural district,” said Michael Finley, board member of Rusted Gate Farms & native Southern Oregon.
It’s acting as a type of test kitchen for local farmers. So far, they have products like apples, hay, cattle and even a start-up into truffles.
“Truffles sell for $800 a pound and the white truffles sell for $200 a pound so there’s quite a bit of money in it,” said Picanso.
It’s an opportunity to innovate and develop new concepts to help farmers turn a profit. From diversifying a farmer’s portfolio to creating a community that supports one another, it’s big-scale thinking.
“This was the coming together of so many pieces, our board members our founder. it was almost like it was preordained,” he said.
The idea for Rusted Gate actually came from a philanthropist with ties to one of the world’s largest company’s.
Tune in to NBC5 News @ 6 on Wednesday night (04/15/20) to hear how and why the project is here of all places.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.