“We’re quite independent. We’re not necessarily doing what everybody else is doing.”
That motto has led to success for Amity, Ore., farmer and 2026 Woman in Agriculture Award winner Helle Ruddenklau. This award is sponsored by ProFarmer.
An “Unconventional” Start
Ruddenklau began her farming career in an unconventional way.
“I actually immigrated to the United States with my family, and my dad bought a farm about 20 miles away from here,” she says.
While attending Oregon State University in crop science and on an exchange program in New Zealand, Ruddenklau met her future husband, Bruce.
“I convinced Bruce to come back to Oregon with me, and then we bought the farm here and got started pretty early,” she says. “We were in our early 20s when we bought the farm.”
Bruce Ruddenklau, co-owner of Ruddenklau Farms, jokes he never imagined he’d meet a girl from Denmark and end up being a farmer in America.
“1992 was our first crop year, so been going at it for 33, coming on 34 years,” Bruce says.
Oregon Climate Accelerates Growth
Today, Ruddenklau Farms has grown to nearly 1,100 acres with a diverse cropping mix.
“About half the farm is grass seed, turf type grasses, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue [and] goes for lawns, soccer fields, parks, things like that, some roadside edges and things,” Ruddenklau says.
She says the climate is also perfect for growing specialty seed crops, all marketed under contract including peas and radishes.
“Sometimes clover seed,” Ruddenklau says. “We grow wheat, we grow something called metafoam, which is an oil seed crop, and then we also have some spring vegetable crops. We grow sweet corn and green beans, and a few years ago, we put in hazelnuts.”
Challenges Abound
Two of their biggest challenges, according to Ruddenklau, have been financial undercapacity and weed resistance.
“Eventually that led us to using no-till so that we didn’t bury those seeds every year,” she says. “We left them on the surface, and then we could spray them out with a roundup and then would come in with a spring crop that really set us ahead, trying to get ahead of those weeds.”
Irrigation was also valuable because it allowed them to grow specialty crops and break the weed resistance cycle through rotation.
“So, this farm that we bought was originally just dry land, and we put in an irrigation pond back in 2007,” Ruddenklau says. “And that changed completely the types of crops we could grow or the mix of crops we could grow, and that helps as well.”
Growing Wheat for Soy Sauce
Nearly seven years ago, Ruddenklau says the local economic development organization also got them involved in a valuable niche market.
“SEDCOR reached out to us to ask if we would be interested in maybe trying out some hard red spring wheat,” she says. “There was a local company, Yamasa Soy Sauce Company, that were looking for local production. Yamasa is willing to pay a premium for having a local source of wheat for the hybrid spring wheat.”
Financial Management Role
Ruddenklau’s main role is the financial management and farm compliance but says she and Bruce have an equal partnership.
“I run the office and do everything that’s needed there, and then I help out on the farm as needed,” she says. “I run the combine during the summer. I can run all the equipment.”
Bruce agrees they make a great team.
“This is about business acumen and the ability to analyze numbers and analyze situations and look at a broad sense of things, and Helle contributes a tremendous amount to our business with that,” he says.
And more than that, Bruce says Ruddenklau’s can-do attitude is the true secret to their success.
“We went through some times in our early career to where, from my standpoint, it was pretty demoralizing,” he says. “I probably would have walked away from it, but thanks to Helle, and thanks to that commitment and conviction to see it through, we’re still here.”
Engagement in Agriculture Critical
Ruddenklau says it’s important to be engaged and is involved in various farm groups, and Bruce says she spreads herself thin.
“When she’s asked to do something, to serve on a board or advisory committee or whatever, the word no doesn’t come into play, and she always has this can-do, will-make-it-work attitude,” he says.
Ruddenklau often testifies on ag issues at the state legislature and for years has been on the Oregon State Extension Service advisory board.
“We benefit a lot from Extension,” she says. “Their research benefits us, so whatever we can do to help them, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Advocate for Agriculture
Ruddenklau has always been an advocate for agriculture serving in Oregon Women in Agriculture for nearly 40 years and shares farming activities with consumers via Facebook.
“We need to tell them what we’re doing in modern agriculture,” she says. “Why we’re doing the things we do. How we are making better crops with less environmental impact and to tell them that we’re really responsible stewards of our natural resources and we’re doing a good job growing the crops for them. So it’s important for ag to tell that story.”
Ruddenklau is proud to be a female farmer, and Bruce says she’s a wonderful role model for others.
“She shows that farming is an equal opportunity career whether you be male or female,” he says.
