Agriculture—Malheur County’s Leading Industry
Malheur County, at nearly 10,000
square miles, is larger than the states of
Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island
combined. Before the discovery of told
in 1863, most people were eager to pass
through this rugged high desert country
to homestead west of the Cascade
Mountains. Prospecting and mining
created an immediate market for
livestock and produce, and by the 1870s,
ranches and farms flourished throughout
the country.
Today, Malheur County leads the
state for production of onions, sugar
beets and alfalfa hay; it ranks fourth in
potatoes and fifth in dairy production.
The county leads the Northwest as the
nation's seventh largest producer of beef
cattle. Other crops include: dry field
beans, field corn, peppermint, spearmint,
seed crops like alfalfa, red clover,
vegetables and flowers and cereal crops
including soft white wheat.
