Lonely Lane Farms

Building a Sustainable & Humane Local Food System, Three Generations Strong The name “Lonely Lane” comes from Mike’s mom, who moved to Mount Angel from the big city of Woodburn, and determined it was lonely out on the farm. When the rural route changed, Mike’s parents were given the chance to name the new road, and Mike’s mom called it Lonely Lane. Farmers don’t often just “sit down.” There’s too much to do for the animals, the crops, and the business. But Mike and Patty Kloft sat down in October 2015 and then again in 2021 to talk about their history together and the story of Lonely Lane. Explore our family farm’s story below! Patty:Our families, the Klofts and the Bochslers, go back to the late 1800s in Mount Angel. It’s ironic because Mike and I grew up three miles apart, but we didn’t meet until much later. Mike:I was just starting at the farmers market and I needed some help. Patty:Our dads ran into each other at the farm store, and my dad said, “I have four daughters, let me see if one wants to help out.” So Mike picked me up on the way to the Beaverton Farmers Market and we all caravanned up. Mike:Lonely Lane was started in 1939 by my grandfather, John Kloft, and my grandmother, Hattie Kloft. Our son John is named after him. We still have some of the original farm buildings. My grandparents started off with cereal grains (wheat, oats, barley) and did that for several years. They were raising some livestock for themselves like every farmer did then. And they did their own processing. So it’s full-circle for us with our own processing facility today right on the farm. Patty:And since we first sat down in 2015, the processing facility is done!Last time, we hadn’t quite finished building out the plant. Now the ready-to-eat side is built out—with a blast chiller dedicated to ready-to-eat products like smoked sausages and charcuterie, extra packaging machines to help us, and more. Mike:We’re really proud of all of it. It’s been a huge investment, and we’ve come a long way since the original farm. In the early 1900s, my family started with grains and then moved to dairy, and we did dairy into the 1980s. It got to the point that about seventy cows were being milked every day, but the way the dairy market was going, my family either needed to get a whole lot more cows or get out of the business. I was in my early teens, and my grandfather and father chose to get out. The dairy sold to another dairy family. I still remember the week the herd left. Then the next week the equipment left. About a year later my family got into beef cattle,about 15 to 20 head to start. Patty:Thank goodness. Beef cattle give us a little more time for family,and a few days away for camping. Mike:I wanted to go into agriculture since high school, but I didn’t think the family farm would pay enough. I figured I would have to get a degree and do something on the side to support the farm, so I started going to school. I went to community college for a few years, and then to Oregon State. Patty:The running joke from Mike’s family was that if Mike accidentally took the wrong class he was going to graduate from OSU. Mike:I never did get a degree, but at Oregon State I got to know my Cultural Implications of Agriculture instructor, and we started talking about whether my family was going to have to sell the farm. At that point we were selling our beef on the open market, taking it to a local packer, and two weeks later we’d get a check and I’d curse because we were getting docked on our beef for reasons I thought were fluff. The instructor asked me how we were raising our beef, if we were using hormones and antibiotics: We weren’t. We’ve always cared for our animals to the highest standards,and we use sustainable farming practices. No hormones, no antibiotics, and open environments with plenty of space to graze. My instructor said, “You’re raising grass-fed beef.” We decided it was time to market ourselves. I was still going to Oregon State, so we sta