HDFFA is pleased to announce the 2025 On-Farm Efficiency Grant Awardees! We will be awarding 9 grants totaling $25,550. We continue to receive an overwhelming level of interest each year, with over $75,000 in grant requests received in our 2025 application cycle.
Successful grant-awarded projects vary widely, from tomato trellising to poultry processing equipment, and meet the needs of Central Oregonian farmers by expanding the growing season, investing in vital equipment needs, and reducing labor and maintenance costs. Any investment in our local farms will be felt by you, a consumer, with better and more diverse available food, providing our farmers with opportunities to grow and become more efficient and responsive, and expanding our region’s network of productive, successful businesses in our local food system.
Please read on to learn more about the projects and the farms that were awarded grant funding through this program.
Located in Deschutes River Woods, Around the Bend Farms is a nonprofit farm in their second year of operation at this location. They primarily grow produce to support HDFFA’s Fresh Harvest Kit program in Warm Springs. Their project is to build a work shed, which will increase storage and operational efficiency, and provide a space for staff and volunteers to meet and work in a climate-controlled space.
Located in Bend, The Broken Plow Microfarm is a small-scale market garden and pastured poultry farm that also operates a small farmstand with a variety of products grown on-farm and sourced from other local small businesses. These funds will be put toward the investment in on-farm poultry processing equipment. By scaling operations and increasing capacity, this project will increase the amount of people they can feed in our community.
Canyon Moon Farms is a diversified vegetable farm located in Prineville. In their second year of production at their new location, they have been investing in essential facilities each year. This grant will help fund a walk-in cooler, a vital piece of infrastructure that will help increase storage capacity and flexibility in their harvest schedule. This space adjacent to their wash/pack area will also extend their season by providing storage for late-season crops.
Serving over 1,000 low-income veterans annually, Central Oregon Veterans Ranch promotes veteran well-being through agriculture programs and peer support. This project will expand their greenhouse and provide opportunities for participants to volunteer and increase their horticulture skills. They will build a shade structure and hydroponic system, increasing growing capacity and providing opportunities for education and skill-building.
The Crow’s Croft, located south of Redmond on Highway 97, will purchase Port-A-Huts for their pig rotation and pasture farrowing system with this grant. These structures will replace outdated, immobile shelters to provide much more durable and efficient shelter, providing year-round weather protection and reducing labor and upkeep costs. Their pigs will be healthier, happier, and safer.
Through these grant funds, Fibonacci Farm will be improving tomato production by purchasing and installing a Hook and Wicket tomato trellising system in their greenhouse. A diversified vegetable operation, Fibonacci Farm, located in Bend, has been upgrading their yield and expanding their season each year. This system will allow them to continue to do so, helping address the tomato demand in Central Oregon and decreasing labor required to grow them.
Wild Grown Farm in Redmond is using grant funds to purchase equipment for heated propagation tables for their greenhouse. They’ll be upgrading their previous system to a closed-loop piped hot water system, which is much more efficient than heated pads and heated forced air. This will allow them to start growing plant starts much earlier in the season.
Irrigation water storage is a critical need for farms in Central Oregon. Zajac Farms, a small mixed vegetable farm in Bend, will be constructing a lined pond to collect and store water from rainfall and runoff. This will extend their growing season, minimize water loss and waste, and provide a reliable water supply throughout the season.
Zodiac Farms, specializing in pastured chicken, duck, and turkey, recently relocated to Culver to expand their pastured poultry operation. This grant will go toward a modular poultry brooding system to lengthen their production cycle and decrease seasonal losses of their animals. Zodiac Farms’ expansion will help address the demand for poultry products in Central Oregon.
In 2025, HDFFA sought proposals for projects that addressed efficiency, environmental benefit, and season extension. Projects could be for permanent structures, equipment, or professional development. Award amounts for up to $3,000 were considered and reviewed by an external, anonymous panel of industry experts. Learn more about project requirements at hdffa.org/ofeg and look for an update on these projects later this summer, and read about the 2024 On-Farm Efficiency Grant Awardees in a previous blog post here!
