Director’s Corner

Oregon is generally a state of specialty crops. We are certainly not like some of our Midwest counterparts who grow a lot of just one or two commodities. A bad year for corn in the Midwest is a bad year for Iowa agriculture. But in Oregon, our diversity is part of our strength.

Historically, federal programs focus on the big commodities — wheat, corn, cotton, among others. But an appropriation last year earmarked for assisting specialty crops was welcome news to Oregon. Many of these commodities have been struggling and deserve the same kind of financial boost that program crops have been given.

Oregon received more than $3 million of federal funding for specialty crops late last year. That money was funneled to the Oregon Department of Agriculture for distribution. The same handoff took place in other states as well.

Here’s a quick summary of our progress so far:

• ODA went through an extensive process of meeting with industry, developing a competitive grant program, seeking legislative review, and obtaining final approval from the State Board of Agriculture to distribute these funds.
• More than 260 grant proposals were submitted, requesting some $32 million in funding. All of these were read, reviewed, and evaluated by ODA staff and the State Board of Agriculture. The Board ultimately selected 55 projects that reflected collaborative efforts; new innovations, products or markets; and measurable returns to growers.
• Most projects are now underway, although some are still waiting for harvest of certain commodities. Some are short-term projects that were completed this summer, but most are one to two years in length.
• Progress to date shows that the grant recipients have invested at least $2 million of matching funds toward the projects; this amount will likely increase as the projects progress.
• ODA has visited several of the projects — a couple of them you can read about in this current edition of the Ag Quarterly — and has been very impressed with the enthusiasm, creativity, ingenuity, and effort. We are pleased with the economic impact these projects are having and will continue to have for Oregon producers — in many commodity areas, from dairy to potatoes, onions to pears, fisheries to beekeepers, grass seed to strawberries.
• The range of projects is impressive and speaks to the complexity and diversity of Oregon agriculture and its specialty crop infrastructure.

We have heard from congressional staff that our approach to the specialty crop funds is exactly what they were hoping to see from all states. It’s the kind of praise we like to hear, and there is hope that financial assistance for specialty crops will become an annual allocation from the federal government.

We are certain to have a good final report to take to Congress to seek additional funding in the future.

<return to top of page>