Farmhands Co-op is a worker-owned cooperative farm located on Kalaypuya land in the southern Willamette Valley. The cooperative was formed in early 2026 as a conversion from the orchard business of My Brother’s Farm, a multi-member LLC. Our mission is to support our local food ecosystem through organic orchard practices, agroforestry, and community-centered land stewardship. As we continue to develop a sustainable cooperative model, we hope to become a beacon of reciprocity, education, and ecological land stewardship in the Southern Willamette Valley.

The Land

We lease around 45 acres of orchard, forest, and garden space. Orchards account for the majority of the land we lease, containing primarily hazelnut and apple trees. All of the orchards are managed with organic practices and have a year-round cover crop. Large sections of our orchards are interplanted with native trees. Hardwood forests make up the second largest area of our leased land; these forests abut the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and contain big leaf maple, alder, oak, and cottonwood. Outside of the forests and orchards, we have a greenhouse and garden area.

Cooperative Structure

Our business is a registered worker-cooperative. This means that we are fully worker owned and all business decisions are made by workers. As a cooperative, we adhere to the seven principles of cooperation, an international set of principles held by many cooperatives:

  1. Voluntary and Open Membership

  2. Democratic Member Control

  3. Member Economic Participation

  4. Autonomy and Independence

  5. Education, Training, and Information

  6. Cooperation among Cooperatives

  7. Concern for Community

In order to make decisions and work together in a way that aligns with these principles, we use sociocracy. According to Sociocracy For All, sociocracy is “a decentralized way of organizing that makes decision-making more equitable, efficient, and transparent.” This system operates around the principle of consent, with small working groups acting autonomously within the scope of what the larger group has consented to. The Sociocracy For All website has free trainings and resources for anyone interested in learning more.