Oregon craft beverage producers are showcasing the state’s agricultural bounty — including hops, malt, berries, grapes, rose petals and spruce tips — in new drinks to help protect farmland.

The third annual Cheers to the Land campaign features 13 breweries, a cidery and a kombucha maker.

Businesses will donate a portion of sales to the Oregon Agricultural Trust.

In its first two years, the program raised $24,000 for the trust.

Between 2017 and 2022, Oregon lost 5.5% of its farms and 4% of its farmland.

The Oregon Agricultural Trust has protected more than 29,000 acres of ag land and has 44 pending projects that would protect another 100,000 acres.

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Cheers to the Land beverages will be available at participants’ taprooms beginning Oct. 12 — National Farmers Day — and special events also will be held.

Some releases will be sold at specialty grocery stores and bottle shops.

Tayberry cider

Christine Bauman Walter, founder and head cider maker for Bauman’s Cider, said the Oregon Agricultural Trust’s work was relevant to her family and farm, so she was excited to participate.

“It applies to nobody more than it applies to us,” she said.

Her family’s multigenerational farm near Gervais, Ore., is changing ownership, as the eight siblings in charge are aging out of agriculture.

The Oregon Agricultural Trust educates 500 farmers a year on succession planning, helping with the process and providing resources.

“This is important work, keeping farmland in farms and not subdivisions,” Walter said.

Bauman Cider’s contribution to the awareness and fundraising campaign is a Tayberry cider.

The batch features 500 pounds of Tayberries, a cross of raspberries and blackberries named after the River Tay in Scotland.

Bauman’s top cider is its Loganberry variety. Tayberries are similar to Loganberries but sweeter.

“Our signature move is to have the cider be reflective of the sweetness level of the berry,” Walter said.

Protecting ingredients

Tillamook’s de Garde Brewing is offering a spontaneously fermented wild ale made with Northwest grown barley, wheat and hops and aged with Mourvedre grapes from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater.

“We’re reliant on the vital farmland of Oregon. Almost all our ingredients are grown here so protecting it is a priority,” said Trevor Rogers, owner and founder. The business also produces wine.

Amphorae used to age the beer were made by Novum Ceramics of Sherwood.

Rogers said de Garde usually ages beers for nearly three years, often adding a secondary fermentation with fresh fruit.

Telling a story

Jenn Peterson, director of operations for Ferment Brewing in Hood River, said beer is a platform to tell stories that make experiences more enjoyable and meaningful.

In Oregon, brewers feel connected to agriculture. “We have this luxury of being able to drive to farms that grow our ingredients,” Peterson said.

Columbia River Gorge brewers, growers and suppliers are highly sensitive not only to their impacts on the land, but also waterways.

Ferment’s beer for Cheers to the Land is a “super fruity” West Coast India Pale Ale made with all-Oregon grown Mosaic hops from Yakima Chief Hops and Strata hops from Indie Hops.

Sponsors, participants

Yakima Chief and Indie are sponsors of Cheers to the Land, as are Coleman Hops and Loyal Legion, which has beer halls in Portland, Beaverton and Sacramento, Calif.

Other businesses participating in Cheers to the Land are: Baerlic Beer of Portland; Block 15 Brewing of Corvallis; Breakside Brewery of Milwaukie; Claim 52 Brewing of Eugene; Deschutes Brewery of Bend; Falling Sky Brewing of Eugene; Ferment Brewing of Hood River; ForeLand Beer of McMinnville; Plank Town Brewing of Springfield; Roaming Nobles of Portland; Soma Kombucha of Portland; The Wheel Brewery of Eugene; and Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery of Newberg.

For more information about Cheers to the Land, including products and an events schedule, go to www.cheerstotheland.com.