When Oregon legislators were debating how best to control agritourism activities in farm country a few years ago, we suggested that they would be wise to leave those decisions to the counties.

Our reasoning was that local decisions are usually better, and no one knows a county better than a commissioner, who lives there.

The proof that our suggestion had merit has played out in Yamhill County, where a diversified farm has been caught in a legalistic spiderweb.

Yamhill County officials provided a permit to Scott Picker, who raises longhorn cattle, grass seed and other crops on his 320 acres. They allowed him to host up to 18 weddings a year in the barn the family renovated.

However, the state Land Use Board of Appeals has ruled that the county was wrong because the weddings were not “essential in order to maintain the existence of the commercial farm.”

Though the LUBA folks have a firm grasp on reading rules and interpreting precedents, they apparently don’t know much about running a farm.

The economics of farming can dramatically change from year to year. The weather can ruin a crop, as can diseases or pests. Prices for crops may go up or down, depending on several factors, none of which are under the farmer’s control. The farmer can also change which livestock or crops are raised.

Considering that, a farmer might want to try agritourism — hosting a few weddings or other events — as a way to bring in more money.

“With farming, you sometimes need other forms of income to offset losses,” Picker told Capital Press reporter Mateusz Perkowski.

State law requires farmers like Picker to show that his farm would lose money before it will be allowed to host 18 weddings and other events.

LUBA has ruled that Picker’s longhorn operation made too much money. It might surprise the LUBA folks that beef cattle have been bringing high prices recently.

That, however, is not a guarantee that cattle will always be profitable as the market cycles through highs and lows.

It seems to us the key point is not cattle profitability so much as whether hosting a few weddings a year would bother the neighbors or interfere with farming in the area.

Under state law, a farm can host more weddings only if it is losing money, and Yamhill County officials were wrong to allow Picker and his family to host 18.

But it would be OK to host six weddings.

The state law sets criteria that may or may not fit the circumstances in Yamhill County or elsewhere.

Now LUBA is telling county officials that they should not have given Picker a permit even though his neighbors said it was OK and he has never interfered with their farming.

In this case, the state law was wrong, the county was right and the decision should remain in the hands of the county.