Don Schellenberg's life has been one of prunes and politics.
A Polk County farmer for most of his 65 years, he recently was recognized by the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation with its prestigious President's Award for his 27-year role with the OFB as a farm advocate.
The award was presented by OFB President Barry Bushue at the organization's 75th anniversary state convention in Pendleton in December for Schellenberg's "decades-long commitment to Oregon's agricultural producers."
He decided to take on the role as the OFB's head lobbyist (then called public affairs manager) in 1980 "after a lot of praying and talking myself up," he said. His "silent goal" at the time, he added, was to serve in that capacity for a longer term than his predecessor's 18 years, which he has done with ease.
"Almost every active volunteer leader in Farm Bureau has a story about how Don helped him or her be heard by legislators at the state Capitol or navigate a complicated tax law or gain grass-roots support on an issue," Bushue said in his award presentation.
Bushue was elected vice president of the National Farm Bureau Federation.
Schellenberg has held the title of associate director of governmental affairs for the past several years, working out of the OFB's office in South Salem. He has become an expert on the topics of agriculture land use, taxation, labor and transportation.
Set to retire and head back to work his Dallas-area acreage on a full-time basis in December 2008, Schellenberg reflected on his tenure as a staff member with the OFB, the lure of farming and the good life he has led in both.
"I originally joined the Polk County Farm Bureau (in 1965) because of what it had done for me as a farmer," he said.
He had worked as a young man on the prune farm owned by his grandfather and father near the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, just north of Highway 22 near Dallas, then graduated in the early 1960s with a Christian education degree from Grace Bible Institute in Kansas.
When the Columbus Day storm of October 1962 wiped out two-thirds of his father's prune trees on their Polk County acreage, they leased some land within the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge to expand their operations.
"We ended up paying property taxes on land we didn't own, and that didn't make sense to me," he said. "So I got a hold of the Polk County Farm Bureau president and found out he was proposing a bill to do away with that statute. I testified on his behalf in the Oregon Legislature, and that bad policy was changed."
As a result of that experience, he became a Polk County Farm Bureau member, ending up serving as its president — as had his father, Ed — for several terms in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s.
"This is what legislators are looking for in a lobbyist," he said. "They want to know that you have integrity, that you won't lie and that you won't blindside them. You have to establish a relationship, and often you end up becoming their friend."
But way down deep, he's a farmer first, he said.
"I still farm the 18 acres of prunes we have owned for so many years," Schellenberg said. "I take care of it myself and also do the soil preparation for our 14 acres of wheat. We also grow 60 acres of grass seed."
He said after retirement, he would do some visiting with relatives in Arizona and Alaska. But in true farmer fashion, he said he can't be away from the farm for extended periods because although "the market's been good for prunes for the last 10 years or so, the one thing that hasn't been good is production," and early spring is critical in monitoring blossom set in his orchard.
"My love is farming," he said. "After retirement, I'm gonna farm right, get things done when they need to be done and get them done during the daytime hours."
