Salem-area agribusiness of the year: Marion Ag Service

Every day around 10 a.m., a group of Marion Ag Service’s customers meets for coffee.

But really, the six who met on July 10 are more like old friends than customers. Gathered around a big wooden table, sunken into plush reclining office chairs, the daily coffee hour turned into a celebration of one farmer’s 81st birthday.

“It’s homemade, Wally. I just whipped it up in the kitchen,” said Kristi Van Meter, who works in Marion…