Padget Ranches in Oregon: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Padget Ranches is a family dryland wheat operation at Grass Valley in Sherman County, Oregon, farming land the Padget family has worked since 1910. U.S. Wheat Associates profiles it as growing soft white wheat on about 3,400 acres a year, producing registered and certified seed.
| Location | Grass Valley, Sherman County, Oregon (Columbia Plateau) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Family has farmed the land since 1910 (U.S. Wheat Associates) |
| Sectors | Dryland soft white wheat; registered and certified seed |
| Scale | About 3,400 acres per year (U.S. Wheat Associates) |
| Why it is notable | Darren Padget chaired U.S. Wheat Associates in 2020/21 and is an Oregon Wheat Commissioner |
| Ownership | Padget family: Darren, Brenda and Logan, with Dale Padget retired |
| Official website | U.S. Wheat Associates: Stories from the Wheat Farm, Padget Ranches |
History of Padget Ranches
U.S. Wheat Associates reports that the Padget family has farmed near Grass Valley since 1910. Dale Padget, Darren's father, took part in his 68th harvest in 2020, a measure of how long the farm has been a family enterprise.
The family has also been active in the industry. Darren Padget is a Commissioner of the Oregon Wheat Commission and a past president of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, and was named chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates for 2020/21. He is also a past chair of the National Association of Wheat Growers Research and Technology Committee.
What Padget Ranches Grows and Raises
The farm grows soft white wheat on the arid plateau above the John Day River. Production is dryland, in a rotation with summer fallow, which lets the soil store moisture between crops.
About 3,400 acres a year are planted to produce registered and certified seed, which is sold to other farmers and which requires careful field management and cleaning to protect varietal purity. U.S. Wheat Associates says the farm's wheat serves customers at home and abroad.
How Padget Ranches Makes Money
Seed wheat
Registered and certified seed wheat is the farm's published specialty, a product with a different buyer base than milling wheat.
Soft white wheat
As a Pacific Northwest soft white grower, the farm raises a class used by export customers, and U.S. Wheat Associates describes the crop as serving customers at home and abroad.
Industry leadership
Time spent on commissions and associations does not appear as a revenue line, but it builds market knowledge and relationships that benefit the farm.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Padget Ranches
Seed can add value. Growing registered and certified seed asks more of a wheat farm, and it pays back through reputation with other growers.
Match practices to rainfall. Dryland rotation with summer fallow is an old answer to low precipitation, and it shows how a farm can stay productive for more than a century.
A farm that has seen sixty-eight harvests from one family member and still shows up for wheat season deserves a standing ovation from every combine in Sherman County, where the wind has strong opinions about tarps. If you like farm satire with a sunburned neck, farm.FM has farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes worth reading between fallow years.
farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, also runs Tractor Tunes, a country music lineup for farmers. For a sample of the writing, try the archive of one of its staff humorists.
How to Contact Padget Ranches
Website: https://uswheat.org/wheatletter/stories-from-the-wheat-farm-committed-to-wheat-quality-in-oregon/
No official website, address, phone or email was found in the sources, November 2026. The linked page is a U.S. Wheat Associates profile; contact the Oregon Wheat Commission for industry inquiries.
Padget Ranches Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- U.S. Wheat Associates profile - Farm profile with family and acreage
- PNW Ag: grower named to USW board - Independent coverage of Darren Padget's leadership
- USW 2020/21 officer team - Association announcement naming the chairman
- Oregon Department of Agriculture: About Oregon Agriculture - State agriculture department overview of Oregon commodities
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture - Federal farm census data by state and county
Padget Ranches FAQ
Where is Padget Ranches?
At Grass Valley in Sherman County, Oregon.
What does it grow?
Soft white wheat, including registered and certified seed.
How long has the family farmed there?
Since 1910, according to U.S. Wheat Associates.
How many acres?
About 3,400 acres a year.
Padget Ranches shows how a Sherman County wheat family can combine dryland farming, seed production and industry leadership. Read the Oregon farms guide for the climate, markets and programs that shape wheat operations like this one.