Abstract:
A recent surge in the development of irrigated agriculture in
the Fort Rock Basin of the Oregon High Desert has resulted in two
principal types of agricultural operations in the area: cow-calf
operators and cash-crop agriculturalists. The agroclimatic
hazards associated with the present situation and the implications
of those hazards for public policy are the topic of this research.
A lack of sufficient summer precipitation for field crops and
freezing temperatures during the small grain growing season are
cited as relevant to the past failure of dry farming under the
Revised Homestead Act of 1906. The present situation is characterized
by attempts to mitigate the hazards of the past through the
use of irrigation technology and/or adoption of a mixed cow-calf
and irrigated hay type of operation. A normative comparison of the Fort Rock Basin with other areas
of commercial agriculture in eastern Oregon and Washington shows
the hazard of freezing temperatures during the alfalfa growing
season to be high.
Settlement motivations, natural hazard perceptions and
mitigation strategies are examined by means of a survey of resident
agricultural operators in the area. The survey was a complete
census of the population. Cash-crop operators appear to be
motivated principally by favorable finance terms related to
establishing an operation in the area. Cow-calf operators show a
greater emphasis on quality of life as a motivating factor. Both
groups gave little initial emphasis to climatic conditions in
establishing an operation, but subsequently indicated climatic
hazards to be a major source of economic loss.
The principal hazard mitigation strategies of the two groups
stressed either reliance on irrigation technology and acceptance of
the risk of freezing temperatures during the cropping season, or
combining hay production with raising livestock.
