Strawberries

Sustainability

Soil Health

With each growing season, we use conservation tillage to reduce erosion. We also plant cover crops to return nitrogen to the soil and build organic matter. We even apply digestate from our biogas plant to our fields as an organic fertilizer that naturally increases microbial activity and builds overall soil health.

Water Conservation

We continue to improve our irrigation, using weather, soil moisture and evapotranspiration data to track water use and needs. We have implemented automation systems that allow us to access real-time data that automatically controls and schedules our irrigation based on the needs of each plant.

Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity

We plant native species that attract pollinators like bumblebees and plant cover crops in the winter that keep the blue herons on the farm year-round. We have a thriving blue heron rookery or habitat on the farm.

Social Responsibility and Employee Well-Being

We have programs and benefits in place for our employees to ensure job satisfaction and fulfillment. We also have programs in place to improve our local community, for instance we donate one million servings to local food banks every year.

Innovation

We were the first farm ever to be certified sustainable by the Food Alliance. We have always been early adopters of new technology. Stahlbush was the first farm in Oregon to use GPS technology and the first to build a biogas plant that generates electricity using agricultural by-product in North America.