Wetherell v. Douglas County
Court of Appeals of Oregon
230 P.3d 976 (2010)
Garden Valley Estates (plaintiff) bought a 259-acre parcel that had been part of a 590-acre livestock ranch before partition, and the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) (defendant) held that the parcel remained a farm unit subject to agricultural land-preservation rules even though ranching had ceased on it. Garden Valley argued the parcel could not qualify as a farm unit because the full 590 acres could not be operated profitably as a farm; LUBA found the soil, water, and forage conditions unchanged since the ranch's operation and concluded there was no significant obstacle to resuming joint farm use.
Whether, under agricultural land-preservation law, a parcel on which farm operations have recently ceased remains part of a single farm unit with adjacent land when there is no significant obstacle to resuming joint operation.