35 Innovators Under 35: Meet Kathy Freeborn Hadley

Kathy Freeborn Hadley, a lifelong farmer from Rickreall (that’s in Polk County, but you knew that), works hard to keep Oregon at the forefront of sustainable agriculture.

Kathy is probably best recognized as one of the familiar faces of the campaign to pass Measure 49 in 2007.  The campaign staff was so impressed with Freeborn Hadley that they asked if she would share her family’s situation in a commercial supporting the measure.

“I went along with it thinking that there would be about ten other commercials - so it was definitely a weird experience having mine be the most popular,” Freeborn Hadley explained. “But if hearing my story connects and involves voters to a real situation like mine, I feel that it was certainly worthwhile.”

[Click here to see Kathy's pro-Measure 49 ad.]

It is this personal passion that has sparked her involvement in organizations like the Polk County Farm Bureau and the Oregon Rye Grass Growers Association. She hopes to attract the next generation of farmers to the profession.

“People need to become more aware of where their food actually comes from,” she explained . “Once farmland is converted to development, it just simply can’t go back. I don’t think it is too much of a leap to keep land available to grow our food on.”

The newfound fame from the campaign commercials has certainly not gone to her head. She plans to continue farming grass, hay, and oil seed crops far into her future . Currently involved in biofuels research with Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture, she helped establish a crushing facility for oil seed crops in Rickreall.

Freeborn Hadley also likes to camp, fish, and plays softball in a local league - when she can find the time between working both her family's farm in Rickreall and occasionally helping out at her in-laws farm in the Silverton hills.

“I’m pretty well locked into the production of agriculture,” she confesses. “I couldn’t even think of leaving the farm unless I had no other options in life.”