John Coleman Oral History Interview, April 19, 2017

Partial Transcript: Go ahead and give us the 4 questions you need to answer...

Segment Synopsis: John Patrick Coleman begins the interview by providing a brief overview of his childhood growing up on the farm as a the oldest of 4 children. He explains how the farm obligations resulted in a minimal social life, but they managed to find ways to have a good time around their work. Coleman was a three sport athlete in high school and was also involved in FFA. After graduating, he explains how he initially did not want to attend college, but his mother encouraged him to attend school and he eventually enrolled at Oregon State University after attending Linn Benton Community College for a few years. He graduated with a degree in political science and was a member of the Lamba Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Partial Transcript: Were there lots of other people from this part of this state? (at Oregon State)

Segment Synopsis: Coleman shares about a couple of friends he had from back home that also attended Oregon State and participated in Greek life which helped widened his social circle. He moves on to tell the story of how he met his wife in an art appreciation class during spring term. During his summers away from college he would return to St. Paul and help out around the farm. Graduating with a degree in Political Science, Coleman refers to working on the family farm as his backup plan but he ultimately found his way back into the farm.
He explains how he has been surprised with the younger generations involvement in agriculture, noting that when they attended a job fair at OSU they had 6 kids that wanted an interview, and they ultimately hired 3 as interns. Given the fact that their farm has been passed down through the generations, he explains the families involvement and how close he got with his grandfather through the process. The dynamic of 3 generations working within the same farm posed challenges, but they were able to collaborate in a way that has been effective over the years.

Partial Transcript: Is there some stories that your grandpa would talk about hops back in the day versus now that it has changed?

Segment Synopsis: John's grandfather started growing hops in the early 1930's, where his first hop crop was roughly 12 cents. He shares a few stories regarding the techniques they used when farming hops in the early days and the individuals they were involved with on the farm. Within the family they had different businesses legally, so John was able to learn a lot from both his father and grandfather about managing his crops and learning how to handle his money.
He shares about his families inclination to mechanize when the opportunity to improve their technology appeared. Because hops is such a small industry, widespread mechanization doesn't exist in the same manner as other industries. They relied on ingenuity and creativity to develop devices to increase productivity.

Partial Transcript: How has labor really changed since you were going to the camps with your grandpa?

Segment Synopsis: John explain the history of the family finding labor from outside sources. During the late 60's- early 70's he explains that there became a much more active policing from immigration officers checking the legality of workers in the area. When they recruited workers many came from Mexico who often travelled as families. The families that crossed the border would work on the farm in St. Paul as seasonal workers, and would return home to Mexico in the off season. At the time of the interview the Coleman family was building new labor camps, which is where they house laborers who travel to Oregon for work. The living quarters are essentially an apartment, with 4 beds in the bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. State regulations require a certain square footage for each individual. Coleman shares that a lot the laborers leave family members back home in Mexico, the majority of which are single.
Coleman explains the various locations that the family has property with hops on sight, and the process they have gone through to secure new locations.

Partial Transcript: You're out of OSU, you're on the farm and you want to expand, when did you guys expand?

Segment Synopsis: Coleman shares about the first hop farm he bought with his brothers while still in college. At one point, there were 8 individuals who had their own personal contract with Anheuser-Busch while farming on the same property, so they decided to expand. John elaborates a bit on the relationship between the Coleman family and Anheuser-Busch, characterizing their relationship to present day.
Their contract with Anheuser-Busch made for an easier growing process, as it was the main hop they raised and was only one variety. He shares about the Anheuser-Busch purchasing plan of hops, explaining that they preferred to get their hops from a variety of growers and locations. He moves forward to speak about their relationship with Indie Hops, and how they have grown alongside one another throughout the years.

Partial Transcript: In Oregon it is unique, our climate is different so that hops are different..

Segment Synopsis: Coleman shares about the variations of hop varieties in different geographic locations and climates. Craft brewers tends to love the fact that they can find differences in strains of hops grown in Oregon versus the hops grown in Washington.
He moves forward to elaborate on the sense of community that existed around their hop farms, specifically the relationship his grandfather had with other local farmers and how they worked alongside one another to help alleviate total responsibility.
The facilities that the Coleman family owns has been instrumental to them being able to supply hops to so many vendors. Coleman explains the importance of these facilities, and how as years pass the necessity to reinvest in locations to provide them with up to date technology and renovations.

Partial Transcript: I'm curious about larger farms, you don't want tourists tramping around the facilities and the fields because its a big working farm, do you see that being a kind of new place where you can create these partnerships?

Segment Synopsis: Coleman shares his opinion about the growing trend of using farms to operate as a tourist attraction for the general public. They have devised a plan to use the property on Mt. Angel to build a brewery as well as host tourists who are attracted to the idea of visiting farms where hops are grown and cultivated.
He moves forward to share stories about some of the local properties they have been involved with throughout the years.

Partial Transcript: So you've talked about your kids, what do you see the future of Coleman Ag as you guys have kinda made this in recent years..

Segment Synopsis: John shares his thoughts on the chances of the younger generation of Coleman's to take over the obligations of the farms in the future. There are 21 grandchildren in total, so he feels pretty confident that more than a few will come back home to the farms.
He learned a lot from his family members, specifically his grandfather, father, and uncle Bill.
The interview is concluded by John sharing a bit about his children and their undergraduate studies, and talking a bit about beer tasting.