After three years of continuous drought in Missouri, my grandfather Gaylord Madison, the first generation, grew tired of watching his crops dry up, and so he developed a deep hankering for irrigation water. The dust bowl had taken its toll. So in 1914, he packed up his belongings and left his dusty Missouri farm behind. Intensive reclamation projects in the Pacific Northwest promised to provide farmers with a reliable water source, so my grandfather moved to Echo, Oregon. He bought a little plot of land that had been homesteaded by previous owners. My grandfather’s thirst for irrigation water continued as he settled in an area outside the reclamation projects. Somehow, though, he made the little farm work and soon, he married and had five kids, multiple horses, several bands of sheep and some productive farmland. My father John Madison, the second generation, was born and raised on the place, and as he grew, so did Madison Farms. He changed from sheep to cows and started to irrigate more acres and started dry land farming also. I am Kent Madison, the third generation to cultivate this piece of land in northeastern Oregon. I continued to expand the farm in both irrigation and dry land farming. I am starting to hand over the farming part of Madison Farms to the fourth generation of Madison men. Jake is managing the farm business while Aaron manages the renewable business and Michael has joined the Marines and is still planning his future.  This is allowing them to start to get their feet wet in the business of farming and renewable energy while I am still here to mentor them.

1st gen Gaylord Madison

2nd gen John Madison

3rd gen Kent Madison

 4th gen Jake, Aaron and Michael Madison

Mouse over to see current combines

Mouse over to see current equipment

Perpetuating the Family Farm

Madison Farms, is a 4th generation family farm, established in 1914 in Echo, Oregon. Farming techniques include minimum tillage, no-till, laser-guided land leveling, GPS controlled yield and soil field monitoring, and the use of neutron probe soil moisture monitoring systems. We have over 2 miles of stream beds protected by riparian fencing on both sides. Several of our ditches, fence rows, and field perimeters have been planted to grass for wildlife habitat. We receive and apply Bio-Solids from Oregon's metro area to help stabilize sensitive range land areas and enhance the grazing capacity of those areas. We also land apply nutrient rich reuse water from a local food processor at agronomic rates for organic fertilizer benefits.

Madison Farms provides land application sites for the one stop spreading and applying of municipal bio-solids.

Madison Farms reuses the effluent water from a local potato processing plant for the water and nutrient content.

Madison Farms reuses the blow down water from a local 480 MW co-generation power plant for irrigated crop production.

Madison Farms promotes the farming business and bio-solids process through presentations to high schools, visitors from foreign countries, and the general public.

Please visit other business under the Madison Farms umbrella.

www.3Rvalve.com is a down-hole control valve used to inject water back into the ground for future use.