A Brief History of Gray Farms Inc

    In 1950 Richard Gray and his brother-in-law Paul Nofziger purchased ground along the Willamette River West of Millersburg and started raising grass seed as “Nofziger and Gray”. After 20 successful years they dissolved the partnership and split the acres and machinery to allow for opportunities for future generation involvement.

    Richard ended up with a smaller but better quality acreage and started growing some sweet corn and snap beans for the local cannery.

    In 1977, son Skip graduated from college, got married, and joined up with Richard on the farm. After some years of struggling to make the same acreage pay for two families, the farm grew both in crop diversity and acreage.

    In 1992 the farm was incorporated and Skip and his wife Nancy became sole stockholders. The farm has experienced many ups and downs in many ways, but has been a stable influence to family and employees alike.

    Over a lot of years, Gray Farms Inc accumulated a wonderful staff that cares greatly about what they do. There is much innovation and most of the “great ideas” come from this staff.

    We believe that relationships are what life is about and value greatly the people that are associated with us from vendors to customers. In the fall of 2004, we lost Richard’s wife Ethel to cancer and this experience proved to us just how important our relationships and faith are to us.

    We learn a lot and have a lot of fun. Growing all these crops keep boredom at bay. Our passion for what we do keeps us focused and busy.