Support All of Agriculture

With the recent investigations and legislation concerning GMOs in Oregon, an apparent rife in ag practices has become even more pronounced -- with some in organic being against traditional production and vice versa.

Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba shares how the department views agriculture in Oregon.

Coba: “We call it our big tent philosophy. Oregon’s agriculture is incredibly diverse; over 225 different commodities, geographic differences, climate differences -- so that’s certainly a strength for the industry. But it also poses challenges. And in places where we have different types of agriculture operating in a small area, how can we ensure co-existence? How can we support that diversity?”

Coba says the good news is that most of agriculture is willing to work together.

Coba: “I would say the majority of the industry really does want to figure out how the exist. Now that is different issue in say Umatilla County where you don’t have quite the crop diversity as you would as necessarily in Jackson County. We need to be respectful and mindful of the nature of agriculture in Jackson County. It is a small area we have organic growers, conventional growers and we have growers growing genetically engineered crops. So the challenge there is a harder challenge and I’m not saying that I would expect that to be resolved overnight but I think our goal is to get all of the players together in the same room. Be respectful of each other and figure out a way that we can co-exist.”