ODA Presents Vision to Oregon State Board of Ag

The Oregon Department of Agriculture highlighted their challenges and opportunities in a recent presentation to the State Board of Agriculture.

Director of Plant Protection and Conservation Helmuth Rogg said part of their work is about gaining collaboration for issues like invasive species.

“We’ve built over the last year or two, a very strong alliance with grassroots partners, with federal partners, local, county, community– which are very important  for us, these partnerships, to get our job done.”

Much of the presentation showed that while each department may be separate in certain ways, they often face similar challenges and can work together to solve them.

Director of ODA’s Market Access and Certification Lindsay Eng said they also have an exciting long-term goal in branding.

“We are looking very closely at some kind of Oregon branding. Oregon is one of only two states, I believe, in the country that don’t have an Oregon Grown or Idaho Preferred type of branding program.”

Other work on lightening the loads on inspectors while maintaining service levels was listed as critical for the agency.