From Alfalfa to Grapes: A Local Ranch Transformation
E.W. Steffen shifts his agricultural strategy, betting that specialty fruit yields better profits than traditional alfalfa.
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E. W. Steffen, who recently acquired title to the Van Buren ranch south of town, is planning on making several changes on the place. Most of the ranch has been set out to alfalfa and this has been the principal crop. In the belief that the margin of profit in the production of alfalfa in this valley is too small and that much larger returns could be secured from other crops, Mr. Steffen expects to devote most of the ranch to the growing of grapes, early fruit and vegetables. He has already set out 12 acres to Tokay grapes and other plants, trees, and crops will be set out in season and as the ground is prepared.
“In the belief that the margin of profit in the production of alfalfa in this valley is too small and that much larger returns could be secured from other crops.”
This pivot reflects the early 20th-century economic tension between staple crops and high-value fruit production that defined the Columbia Basin's irrigation boom. The agricultural heritage of the valley was later permanently erased when the land was seized for the Manhattan Project.
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