KENAGY FAMILY FARM
Kenagy Family Farm is a picturesque farm outside of Albany that has been puzzle-pieced together over several decades and several generations. The Kenagy family has owned a piece of this land since the early 1930s and since its formal establishment in 1985, they’ve been working the land to the farm what it is today. Nestled alongside the Willamette River, this property has presented its own unique set of challenges and opportunities that the Kenagy family has made sure to take full advantage of.
“We tried to fill in and manage the areas that we can’t and don’t farm for various reasons into some type of vegetation that is beneficial to wildlife – that includes pollinators.” – Peter Kenagy
Crops
Sweet Corn, Radishes, Asparagus, Grasses, Native Flowers for Seed.
Farmers Markets/Retailers
Norpac, Environmental Seed Producers, and Pacific Northwest Natives.
Location
Albany, Oregon
Established in
1985
Owned by
Peter Kenagy
WHAT ARE THEY DOING FOR BEES?
Peter has made it his mission to be intentional about the way he uses his land.
With a bench that runs down the middle of their property, they often see flooding in the annual flood plain on the lower half of their fields. Peter has started repurposing the areas that had been completely washed out to test different kinds of flowering vegetation that they may have otherwise never had the space to grow. He also made the switch from a linear to pivot irrigation system on some of this fields; this has left him with pockets of land that couldn’t be properly irrigated. He’s chosen to use some of these spaces to plant native vegetation that would be appealing to wildlife and pollinators. He’s even gone as far as to use the usually unusable space around power poles and water pumps as a place to plant spiraea – one of pollinators’ favorites.
Honey bee colonies are used for pollinating radishes on the farm.
Peter has also made his farm a place that people can come and feel comfortable researching bees. He invites friends, OSU classes, and even a neighboring, retired Entomologist onto his land so they can learn more about the kinds of bees that live on his land.
A collection of some of the bees found on Kenagy’s farm.
meet the farmers
Peter Kenagy is the third generation of his family to tend this land. His grandparents bought a piece of this property back in 1931 and since then, the family has continued to buy and transform the segments of this land. The Kenagy family has a long-standing legacy of using their fertile soil and dependable water supply to produce crops for Norpac. While they still do that today, Peter has recently been experimenting with different kinds of pollinator-friendly plants in the margins, edge habitats, and riparian areas around his property.
Peter Kenagy.