Other jobs help keep local farms running

By DD BIXBY

H&N Staff Writer

Now retired from her job at Jeld-Wen, June Sanders is finally able to enjoy life full time on their ranch outside of Sprague River.

The Sanders’ situation is common in farming families, with one spouse holding down a full-time, off-the-farm job that brings in steady income and insurance to mitigate uncertainty and risks that come with working the land.

“I often told (Bob), farmers are bigger gamblers than any Las Vegas gambler,” June Sanders said.

The weather, local and global markets, inflation and crops and livestock all tangle to draw a big question mark on the ledger.

Planning a future

When June met Bob in California, he was working in a feed store and she was working at a community college.

Bob Sanders was interested in farming and wanted to get back to it, so his dream became their dream and she continued working.

For the first few years, Bob worked four days a week in the store and grew hay on lease lands on “off days.” He was then hired to manage a ranch in Idaho. It was a year before June joined him.

“He kind of picked up and left, and I had to stay behind and pick up things before leaving for Idaho,” she said of staying in California to sell the house and vehicles that couldn’t make the move north.

When she moved to Idaho, she worked for a year flying charter planes part-time. For the next 35 years, she worked full-time off the ranch.

The Sanders bought several hundred acres near Sprague River in 1975 and have lived, farmed and ranched the land since moving to it in 1978. Bob Sanders built their house and all the other barns and outbuildings.

The first year in Klamath County, June Sanders spent a few months settling in, but it wasn’t long before she was looking for full time work again.

“With farming you don’t get a regular paycheck,” she said. “You only get paid when you sell calves or the crop.”

Retirement plans

June’s jobs brought in not only a steady paycheck, they also included insurance and retirement plans not part of the farming and ranching package.

That first summer, she ran the swather to cut dry land rye, and at the same time she applied for jobs, eventually landing a secretary position at Jeld-Wen.

Bob Sanders also worked off the farm, custom farming by cutting hay or doing other agriculture jobs.

Now in retirement, the couple is able to enjoy the job they’ve always worked hard for and are even scaling back on their cattle and crop operation to slow down a little, though June Sanders admits it’s hard to drag her husband away from the fields and furrows.

Side Bar

n More than 2,000 people operate the 1,228 farms in Klamath County on about 703,000 acres.

n 848 of those farms are owned in full, about 286 farms have part owners.

n The majority of farms are operated by one or two people. Seventeen have four operators and three have five or more operators.

n Women make up more than one-third of the county’s total farm operators, with 212 farms principally operated by women, which is up almost 70 percent from 1997.

n 702 of the respondents listed farming as their primary occupation, up from 648 in 1997. However, almost 1,000 reported working off the farm for 100 days or more.

n The average years the principal operator was present on the farm was a little more than 16. Only 43 respondents reported spending two or fewer years on the farm, and 786 reported a presence of 10 years or more.

n Average age of farmers and ranchers in Klamath County is 53. Fewer than 75 are under the age of 34, and the majority — 789 — are between 35 and 59, and 127 are 70 or older.