Oregon Seed Council Update-May 29, 2013

I attended the Oregon Seed Council meeting last night with Bryan Muntz, and have prepared the following update. If you have any questions about the following, please do not hesitate to call: 503-858-4416.

Updates from the Commissions and the OSC committees were brief, and some had no report to offer at all. A bulk of the conversation revolved around slug control and different associations outside of the seed industry that may have an interest in battling slugs with us. Cattlemen were specifically mentioned as they see a substantial annual loss associated with slugs. This led to a conversation about an endowed professorship at OSU that would focus on entomology.

I updated the Oregon Seed Council on several items: I noted that the new OSA website had gone live; I noticed a few people jotting down the website URL and we did receive positive feedback from those who had already been to look at the new site. I noted that the OSA web link was not on the OSC website and that we would like to have that issue fixed as soon as possible. I noted that we are watching for unfriendly ballot measures being submitted to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office that seek to regulate the seed industry from the citizen level. The Summer Convention was brought up, as well as our effort to put together a summary that demonstrates the economic benefit of the seed industry to Oregon.

I have attached the OSU Update as it is always presented in hard copy.

Ron Pence with the Department of Ag was present. He noted that there is currently one slow pay no pay claim that looks like it is going to the license suspension stage. Pence noted that the seed contracting law that passed in 2011 did have a part to play in giving the Department the authority to fully investigate, work on mitigating the issue between the parties, and ultimately make the decision to seek license suspension. Pence also noted that the department is working on an administrative rule associated with Rathayibacter Toxicus. I have attached the ODA Update he provided on a quarantine proposal to deal with the issue, should it become a problem. There was also a brief conversation about the consistency of seed sampling, which validates the conversations that OSA has had internally about how to develop a more reliable and consistent system of sampling. Pence ended his update by noting that the Department is now working on sending out phyto certificates via email, a process that they have asked OSA to engage in as well.

Hope you are well.

Greg Miller
Executive Director
503-858-4416