By: Madison Rossetti

 

Dick Pershern is co-owner and farmer at Riverbend Farm in Eugene, Oregon. Pershern chooses to work in his orchard as much as possible and he says it’s the least stressful job he has ever had despite the hard work that goes into being a farmer. With a huge and proud smile on his face he said, “I love it. I get to watch stuff grow. To watch kids sitting out in the fields stuffing strawberries in their face just smiling from ear to ear, their face all covered, and its like yeah, okay, I enjoy this. This is why I do this.” After listening to Pershern talk about his farm it is clear he loves what he does. It is evident that Pershern is truly happy with the way his life has panned out. However, it wasn’t always so clear to him that farming was his chosen career.

Despite being raised on farmland, it was never a dream of his to own a farm. Pershern admitted that when he got out of high school, he wanted away from the farm. He laughingly said, “For some reason I kept thinking farming had just this boring, uncool job. Farming was just a bunch of hicks as I was concerned.” So getting away from the farm is exactly what he did. Shortly after he graduated high school he made a rash decision that would drastically change his life. “I enlisted in the military in 1967 just to get away from the farm, not exactly the smartest thing I ever did,” Pershern admits. He said, “It took a few more years before it really sunk into me that, um, I’m a country person. I like living in the country.” Ultimately it took him several years after high school and his experience in the military to realize he really missed living on a farm. Everything he learned in Vietnam helped him recognize how great the country way of life is and that he wanted to go back to that lifestyle. He said he doesn’t wish he could do things differently and that it was an educational experience for him where he learned a lot about life. His wife, Annette, says, “He is the most hard working person I’ve ever met. I think his experience in the war shaped him into the man he is today.”

Pershern has owned Riverbend Farm for a little over 20 years with his wife and two daughters. The Pershern family sells their crops locally at several farmers’ markets, and most prominently at the Eugene Saturday Market for the last four years. He is preparing for a new strawberry field on the farm in the upcoming year and is looking forward to it. Pershern is looking forward to continuing his life in the country.