12/01/08 Top Producer

Top Producer. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Oregon leads the nation in the production of several agricultural commodities, according to a recent national report that ranks the states. While the total value of production may not rank as high as the mega-agriculture states of California, Texas, and Iowa,, Oregon is known as a top producer of several commodities that contribute to the nation's impressive agricultural output: SEARLE: Top categories would include grass seeds, the caneberry crops, and certainly we lead the nation in production of hazelnuts, Christmas trees, and several other commodities. These include such things as ryegrass and fescue seed, blackberries, black raspberries, boysenberries, and Loganberries. Brent Searle, analyst with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says there are a couple of good reasons why the state does so well with a number of commodities: SEARLE: Clearly, Oregon is a place that is unique in terms of the soils we have, the micro-climates- different elevations, temperatures, growing seasons. All those things contribute with the managerial abilities of our growers here in Oregon to produce a lot of the really unique crops that make Oregon special. Among the state's diverse agriculture, which includes more than 225 different commodities, there are several in which Oregon's production is also in the top three of all states- peppermint, spearmint, hops, pears, sweet cherries, blueberries, and strawberries, among others. It all adds up to a nearly 5-billion dollar Oregon agriculture industry. Searle says Oregon is one of the top three most diverse states when it comes to agriculture: SEARLE: Oregon produces a wide variety variety of commodities here. We estimate over 225 or 30 commodities in the state and Oregon leads the United States in many of those. Searle says while Oregon agriculture is not quite as big as it is in California, Texas, or some of the Midwest states, it still contributes mightily to the national scene: SEARLE: Oregon ranks about 27th of all states in terms of value of production. If we were to rank on diversity of production, we would be in the top three or four. Clearly, the types of products we produce that consumers want would put Oregon up there very important in the national market. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.