End of Year Assessment

The year 2014 was generally a good year for the our region although there were some challenges. Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba is optimistic about the new year after reflecting on the state of the industry in 2014.

Coba:  “Our producers, in many of our sectors, are seeing very good prices– from beef to dairy, nursery is rebounding, grass seed is rebounding, our specialty crops– you name it, we are seeing very strong prices, and that’s a good thing.”  

From a consumer perspective, Coba says 2014 was also noteworthy, both locally and globally:

 

Coba:  “Oregonians continue to be crazy about Oregon agriculture and Oregon food. They love it and embrace it. They want to be more closely connected to farmers and their products. That connection continues to provide great market opportunities for our producers.” 

 Director Coba says some of the same challenges of 2014 will be present in the new year, including concerns about water quality, water quantity, pesticides, and genetically-engineered agriculture. Some of those issues will be topics of discussion by the upcoming legislative session. 

 

Coba says that the divisiveness about genetic engineering is made even more challenging by the diversity of crops as well as in some locations there is a mixture of small operations, medium operations and large operations, organic, conventional and genetically-engineered ag.