The consumer appeal of dry farming will be put to the test this summer at an Oregon grocery chain that’s featuring crops grown with minimal irrigation.

Dry farming is often favored by growers with limited water rights but the Market of Choice company intends to find out if the allure extends to shoppers as well.

The independent grocery business periodically bypasses distributors, buying directly from farmers and selling their crops for the duration of the growing season at its 11 statewide locations.

“Some of them worked out great, some of them didn’t,” said Matt Martin, the company’s senior director of perishable merchandising.

Tomato, melons and squash for sale

In late summer and early autumn, the company will purchase all the tomatoes, melons and squash raised with dry farming methods at an operation near Eugene, Ore.

The grower, who didn’t want to discuss the deal, will ship the crops to the grocer’s warehouse, eliminating the markups usually charged by distributors.

The arrangement exposes Market of Choice’s customers to new products while reducing market barriers and opening additional sales channels for local farmers, Martin said.

Since dry farming generally produces lower yields, the supply agreement will also shed light on how such crops perform in the retail environment.

“We will definitely pay a farmer fair market value for their product and translate that to our customers,” Martin said.

Though the company isn’t yet sure how specific crop yields will influence pricing and the economics of the arrangement, he said the company’s self-distribution program will reduce waste and cut costs.

While the company wants to adequately compensate the grower, it must also beware of charging too much for dry farmed crops, Martin said.

“The goal is not to be so out of line as to dissuade people from buying,” he said.

In the past, a similar deal with another grower convinced Market of Choice to sell the farm’s “Jimmy Nardello” variety of peppers on a permanent yearly basis, Martin said.

Another experiment with “Midnight Roma” tomatoes was less successful, as they all ripened during a condensed time period, he said. Rather than generate a steady supply throughout the growing season, the sudden surplus swamped demand.

“It was a lot of tomatoes to try and sell,” Martin said.

Dry farming advantages

Despite lowering yields, dry farming offers economic advantages such as reducing labor costs for weeding and moving irrigation equipment, said Amy Garrett, co-director of the Dry Farming Institute, which is working with Market of Choice to promote such methods.

“When you’re not irrigating, there are fewer weeds to manage,” she said.

With some crops, the lack of splashing caused by irrigation reduces fungal spores on the fruit and prolongs its storability, Garrett said.

The method also offers a marketing advantage, as the smaller fruits generated by dry farming are associated with a more concentrated taste, she said.

“People get excited about the enhanced flavor because there’s less water in them and higher sugar,” Garrett said.

Market of Choice’s promotion will hopefully pique the interest of additional consumers who aren’t as familiar with dry farming, she said. “We’re trying to educate the public and consumers and make connections to make this more visible.”

Soils with a high water-holding capacity enable dry farmed crops to be irrigated once in the early season or to rely entirely on stored moisture, she said.

Farmers also plant hedgerows to reduce winds that increase evapotranspiration and use other techniques to prevent water loss, she said.

Without irrigation, plants respond by developing deeper root systems.

Some growers believe dry farming provides a marketing niche while others use such methods to compensate for junior water rights, Garrett said.

“Even growers with water rights are experiencing some inconsistency in supply,” she said.

Oregon State University is studying the effect of site selection on dry farmed crops, such as its influence on sugar level in tomatoes, as well as other techniques to improve the chances of success.

The “mystique” of dry farmed tomatoes depends on striking the right balance between sugars and acids in the fruit, which is affected by “terroir,” similarly to wine grapes, said Matt Davis, a faculty research assistant studying the method.

“The climate, soil and plant are all interacting to determine the quality of the fruit,” he said.

Due to the lack of irrigation, dry farmed tomatoes are vulnerable to blossom end rot, which renders the fruit unmarketable, Davis said.

To prevent this outcome, growers must avoid excess nutrients in the soil, he said. Rich soil helps plants grow large and set fruit in the early season, but water stress can eventually cause crop defects.

“We’re trying to find the optimum,” Davis said. “We need some nutrition, but if you put too much down, they’re more susceptible to blossom end rot.”