JUNCTION CITY, Ore. — Tiffany Monroe drove her UTV through an orchard of hazelnuts — old Jefferson variety trees on the right, rows of young PollyOs on the left.

Her 2-year-old, Tommy Lee, was perched on her lap, giggling as he put his small hands beside his mother’s fingers on the steering wheel.

“Are those your filberts?” Monroe asked Tommy Lee, slipping one hand off the wheel to point to the young trees her son had helped plant and water.

The little boy grinned and nodded.

Monroe is a fifth-generation farmer, co-owner of Monroe Farms in Junction City and one of a handful of young Black farmers in the state.

She is also the president of Lane County Farm Bureau, president of Lane Families for Farms and Forests, grassroots coordinator for Oregonians for Food & Shelter, executive secretary of the McKenzie Business Association, co-chair of the Environmental Equity Committee on Gov. Kate Brown’s Racial Justice Council and a member of the Black Food Fund.

“What hasn’t she been a part of?” joked Bryan Harper, her brother. “No matter what she dives into, she is really effective at creating some form of influence.”

Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of government affairs at the Oregon Farm Bureau, echoed Harper’s sentiment, calling Monroe “one of the most important voices in agriculture right now.”

‘Farming is all I know’

Both of Monroe’s parents had agricultural backgrounds. Her mother, Rose, came from a small village in Kenya, and her father, Warren, is a fourth-generation farmer from Junction City, Ore.

Monroe’s parents met through mutual friends when Rose was visiting the U.S., maintained a long-distance relationship and married in 1987.

Warren Harper had one child and adopted Rose’s four children. The couple had two additional children together: Bryan, born in 1988, and Tiffany, the youngest, born in 1990.

From the time she could walk, Monroe recalls helping on the family farm, which at the time grew grains, peppermint and row crops. Monroe hoed, pulled weeds, helped feed the work crew, and when she was big enough, moved irrigation lines.

“Farming is all I know,” she said.

Her brother Bryan, who often worked alongside her, remembers many days in kindergarten and elementary school when the pair would stop at a local shop for sodas and Reese’s peanut butter cups before getting back to plowing or hauling pipes.

“For us, it was a lot of fun,” he recalls.

Childhood, however, also brought challenges.

As Monroe grew, older siblings went different directions, and when Monroe was in third grade, she and her brother Bryan were sent to live with their aunt and uncle in Bend, Ore., while their parents filed for divorce. The siblings lived there five years.

“It was not the easiest experience for us growing up,” said Harper.

Monroe agreed: “That was a hard time.”

She plucked a sprig of leaves from a bush and rolled it in her fingertips as she spoke.

Eventually, the brother and sister moved back to the farm.

Finding her voice

As a teenager, Monroe began to find her footing — and her voice.

She became more interested in science, and in high school she joined an organization that changed her life: FFA. The youth organization, focused on agricultural education, taught her public speaking skills and prepared her for leadership and a career related to farming.

“She absolutely excelled,” said Harper, her brother. “She became a state officer, traveled, got a scholarship to college. It clearly was huge for Tiffany.”

After high school, Monroe’s passion for agriculture led her to Oregon State University. Supported by a USDA scholarship for minority students, she studied crop and soil science with a minor in horticulture, graduating in 2015.

OSU faculty and staff say that from practically the moment she entered college, Monroe stood out for the curiosity that drove her research, her willingness to take on projects beyond expectations and her passion for educating the public about farming.

“What really made her stand out for me was her fearlessness,” said Wanda Crannell, an instructor in OSU’s leadership academy and an adviser to Monroe during her time at OSU.

Taking flight

After graduating, Monroe left Oregon to pursue a master’s degree in community and leadership development with an emphasis on agricultural education from the University of Kentucky.

While in Kentucky, Monroe participated in a program called the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, or MANRRS.

Quentin Tyler, now extension director at Michigan State University and former assistant dean at the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, oversaw Monroe in MANRRS and said it was a privilege to watch her grow into an agricultural leader.

After graduation, Monroe said Tyler helped her land a job as the first Black female agriculture and natural resources extension agent in Kentucky history. From there, she went on to work in the office of marketing and product promotion for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

Although her professional career was taking off, personally, it was a painful time in her life. While Monroe was in graduate school, her mom died. She says it was a heartbreaking period.

“My mom was a phenomenal and empowering woman,” said Monroe. “It was hard to lose her.”

Then, as her career was kicking off, her dad battled cancer. Monroe didn’t want to be far from home while her dad’s life hung in the balance, so, summer of 2018, she returned to Oregon.

Coming home, starting anew

Back in the Willamette Valley, Tiffany met her now-husband, Cord Monroe, on her family’s farm, where Cord was working as a mechanic and operations lead.

“I think Cord likes you,” Bryan Harper told his sister.

Harper was right. The pair started dating in September of 2018 and married soon after. Their son, Tommy Lee, was born in 2019.

“We were on the fast track,” said Monroe.

She laughed.

Cord and Tiffany Monroe both came from farming families and wanted to continue farming, but neither owned a large plot of land on which to start a new operation together. In Tiffany’s family, her brother Bryan was in line to inherit Harper Farms. Cord didn’t own significant farmland either, so the young couple started by farming land owned by Cord’s parents and relatives.

Today, the couple continues to work the land owned by Monroe’s in-laws — growing timber, hay, scarlet flax seed and about 100 acres of hazelnuts, including the new PollyO variety they recently planted that is resistant to Eastern filbert blight, a fungal disease.

They also keep 14 cows, one bull, four goats, barn cats and a Great White Pyrenees dog named Winston.

The past few years have brought many challenges, including drought, winter freezes and shipping difficulties. Monroe says she tends to the farm with “hard work and lots of prayers.”

Meanwhile, Cord and Tiffany Monroe are working toward building their own operation. In 2020, the couple bought a house in Junction City: Monroe Farms. Over time, they plan to buy land as it comes up for sale, stringing together a business.

“Starting with so little is tough,” said Monroe.

But she isn’t starting alone. Harper Farms has supplied the young couple with used equipment. Some family members have also aided the fledgling farm financially. Monroe said she’s especially grateful for the support and encouragement of her mother-in-law, Stephanie Monroe.

Advocate for minorities

Monroe’s work as a mother and farmer consumes much of her time, but she still has a heart for advocacy — both inside and outside the farming community.

Within the agricultural community, Monroe tries to educate other farmers about the challenges that come with being Black in a majority-white state and industry. She is also part of several organizations aimed at helping minority farmers and migrant farmworkers succeed.

Her role in the Black Food Fund, a nonprofit, is about helping Black farmers achieve their dreams in the agricultural sector. She has also volunteered for the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, designed to support college students whose backgrounds include migrant or seasonal agricultural work.

“Tiffany has found a way not only to voice concerns for those communities, she has also helped the CAMP students find their voice,” said Crannell, the OSU instructor. “Speaking up for somebody else is good, but helping them find their voice is probably even better.”

Monroe is also an adviser on the Letitia Carson Legacy Project, an Oregon history project about a Black pioneer homesteader named Leticia Carson.

Educating the public

Outside the farming community, Monroe educates the public about agriculture and natural resources through writing columns, teaching workshops and testifying in the state Legislature.

For example, when the Legislature recently passed a law requiring overtime pay for farmworkers, Monroe testified against the bill, saying it would hurt family farm businesses and have unintended negative consequences for the workers it was meant to help.

Monroe said she believes the public often misunderstands agriculture and views farmers as “the enemy” in issues related to labor, climate change, water quality and land management.

“Lane County in my lifetime has not been natural resources friendly,” said Monroe. “Having a seat at the table matters, but farmers and foresters are not always included and heard.”

Monroe says her goal is to help bridge the political divide between urban and rural Oregon, finding common ground and healing misunderstandings.

Those who know Monroe best say she’s already doing just that.

Tyler, who was her adviser in Kentucky, said Monroe is a peacemaker who treats people like they matter even if they disagree with her.

“A lot of people look for differences. She looks for commonalities,” said Tyler.

Harper said his sister has “a positive way of communicating agriculture’s story without sounding like she’s shouting from a bullhorn on top of a hill.”

Cooper, of the Oregon Farm Bureau, said Monroe is “a person of incredible faith and incredible kindness” who has earned respect in both liberal and conservative circles.

“People really listen to her,” said Cooper.

Monroe has even caught the eye of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

“She’s incredibly knowledgeable; she’s incredibly engaging; she is very well-informed,” said Brown. “And she is an incredibly effective advocate.”

Despite these accolades, Monroe says her work is far from over; she still sees a disconnect between natural resources communities and public perceptions. Monroe plans to continue growing her family’s farm, being an advocate for both farming and minorities and teaching little Tommy Lee how to cultivate the earth so that he too can one day run a farm.

In Monroe’s eyes, “there’s no nobler occupation than to care for the land.”

Sierra Dawn McClain is a reporter for the Capital Press.