| Fourth Annual Leadership Summit |
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| Part one - Katy Coba and Mike Thorne |
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Oregon agriculture: Competing in the global economy
On January 9, 2006, ODA Director Katy Coba; American Onion’s Bob Hale; and Mike Thorne, producer and former legislator, presented “Oregon Agriculture: Competing in a Global Economy.” Rick Jacobson, CEO of NORPAC acted as moderator for the three panelists at the 4th Annual Oregon Leadership Summit, held in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center.
Coba demonstrated the importance of agriculture to Oregon’s residents with her theme “It’s all about agriculture.” She noted the economic power and contribution of growers and processors through items like value-added processing, agricultural employment, and sheer diversity of production.
A few of the many in-depth statistics and facts the director highlighted included:
- Family operated farms (98% of Oregon producers are family owned)
- Metro-area ag-related employment; the nursery industry, Port of Portland and food processors all play important urban partnership roles in the agricultural industry.
- Over 220 agricultural commodities are produced in Oregon, contributing to greater stability throughout the industry, with Oregon leading the nation in: production of hazelnuts, grass seed, and Christmas trees (see more statistics in the 2005 Ag stats and fisheries bulletin).
Former Port of Portland director and eastern Oregon producer Mike Thorne moved the discussion towards economic success for Oregon’s agricultural community—and their ability to compete in the global market.
Thorne charted factors such as
- 150,000 jobs are associated with food and fiber research, product development, processing, distribution and marketing
- Nearly $2.5 billion dollars in salary and wages are tied to agriculture
- Agriculture continues steady growth and contributions to Oregon’s economy, often counterbalancing the cycles in other industries.
Thorne’s call for key policy structure in Oregon’s agricultural community was defined by the following points:
- Infrastructure investments are critical to moving product to market—roads, ports/river system, rail and air
- Wage levels must be on parity with competition
- Labor availability and training; resolving illegal immigration, and workforce development
- Conservation investments—rewarding growers for costs associated with sustainable practices
- Market access and support—maintain and foster foreign and domestic markets open to Oregon products
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| Part two - Bob Hale |
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How will Oregon agriculture remain competitive?
Eastern Oregon producer/grower Bob Hale, of American Onion, delivered strong support for the challenges that local Oregon growers and processors face in the global market, such as
- Smaller and declining profit margins
Hale outlined globally competitive strategies for the ag industry, including:
- Technology; the Internet, and computerized tracking systems
- Automation; utilizing methods such as mechanical harvesting, sorting and packaging
- High efficiency irrigation
- Global Positioning Systems
View the entire Bob Hale segment of this presentation (pdf version, 2.03MB).
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