CHANGING SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY FARMS

In the post-World War II era the need to achieve satisfactory economies of scale has led to fever but larger farms in the Willamette Valley. Vigorous demand for farm land by the nonfarm sector has served to inflate land values. As a result, farmers have turned to leasing and renting as alternatives to land purchase. Difficulty in finding suitable land with which to enlarge farm operations has led to the use of noncontiguous fields.