The Oregon Wheat Foundation is hosting baking contests for ages 7 and older to be held in conjunction with county fairs in August 2025 in Gilliam, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla and Wasco counties. (Oregon Wheat Foundation/Contributed Graphic)

PENDLETON — The Oregon Wheat Foundation invites bakers ages 7 and older to don their aprons and prepare to enter baking contests in five Northeastern Oregon counties.

According to Bill Jepsen, a foundation board member, the Oregon Wheat Growers League used to organize the contests. In resurrecting the event, Jepsen said it will be held in conjunction with county fairs in Gilliam, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla and Wasco counties.

Bakers will compete in two categories — juniors, ages 7-13, and adults, ages 14 and up — for a chance to win cash prizes. Participants in each division will be using the same recipe.

The contest for juniors features sour cream muffins. Entries must be submitted with paper liners. The adults will bake honey wheat bread and submit one whole loaf. Entries in both divisions must be submitted on a paper plate and then wrapped in plastic or inside a plastic bag.

The first through third place payouts in the junior category range from $50 to $25 and the adult division prizes are $100 to $50. No professional bakers are allowed to enter.

Recipes for the entries and full contest rules are available at www.oregonwheatfoundation.org.

The prizes will be mailed from the Oregon Wheat Foundation office in Pendleton. In addition, winners may have their names and/or photos of their entries displayed in the Oregon Wheat magazine.

If the contests are successful, Jepsen said the foundation hopes to include additional county fairs in future years. In the coming years, juniors will bake muffins, biscuits or quick bread, while the adults division will rotate between a bread product or a cake.

The Oregon Wheat Foundation was formed in 1980 to raise money for specific projects, including a scholarship program, various grants and to support future leaders in agriculture. For more information, contact 541-276-7330 or info@owgl.org.