Director’s Desk

Part of the climate change solution

By Jeff Stone — Posted February 25, 2019

Someone has done the calculations, and it turns out that Oregon is responsible for 0.14 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. This means that 99.86 percent comes from outside of our little slice of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon is abundant in natural resources. Timber, food and nursery production reign. It is no accident that we […]

Flowers, hearts and decapitations

By Jeff Stone — Posted January 25, 2019

Valentine’s Day is a day to show affection for our loved ones, but it also happens to be one of the most profitable holidays of the year. Although the giving of flowers makes up only a small part of the spending, far behind Christmas or Mother’s Day for our retailers, it still brings in customers […]

A bumpy ride ahead?

By Jeff Stone — Posted December 28, 2018

The year ahead could turn out to be a defining one, both economically and politically. The perception around the state and nation is that we are a people divided. We are urban and rural. We are conservative and liberal. And we are using social media as a tool for derision and conflict. We certainly have […]

A homegrown connection for the holidays

By Jeff Stone — Posted November 26, 2018

Every household has a holiday tradition, as does every culture. In Mexico, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (December 12) is a public holiday. It is a Catholic feast to celebrate the belief that a man encountered the Virgin Mary, Mexico’s patron saint, in Mexico City on December 9 and 12, 1531. St. Lucia Day, […]

The Pacheco brothers

By Jeff Stone — Posted October 24, 2018

Four decades ago, Doug Zielinski — then a recent Oregon State University graduate, fresh off an internship at Kraemer’s Nursery — decided to chase a dream by becoming a fourth generation farmer. Doug’s father, Ernie, had taken over the farm when he was just 15 years old, after Doug’s grandfather, Charlie, suddenly passed away. The […]

Honoring the past and charting the future

By Jeff Stone — Posted September 25, 2018

The Oregon nursery industry was built with the sweat of our earliest growers. Blessed with some of the best soil in the country, their hard work transformed unknown markets into opportunities. There is an old photograph that is at the OAN office, and I pass it every day. It looks to be in the mid-1930s […]

No sanctuary from anger

By Jeff Stone — Posted September 2, 2018

As the fall campaign season ramps up during September, voters will be learning more about the candidates running for various leadership positions. U.S. Congress, the Oregon Legislature, county commissioners, city councils — they’ll all be on the ballot. Oregon also has a long history of citizen initiatives. In the past, voters have had the opportunity […]

The Farwest Show is the place to be

By Jeff Stone — Posted July 31, 2018

I hear a lot about the beginnings of the Farwest Show. It started because an emerging agricultural sector decided to reach out beyond Oregon’s borders. Growers wanted to show off their quality plants and give tours of the beautiful nursery and greenhouse operations in the fertile Willamette Valley. Just as in the beginning, the plants […]

Don’t sleep on the WPS

By Jeff Stone — Posted June 25, 2018

During the administration of Barack Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expanded the rules for agricultural operations to protect workers from pesticide exposure. These rules make up the Worker Protection Standard (WPS). With a new administration, the same rules apply. While not passed by Congress, these rules are very real and the nursery and greenhouse […]

A team effort for your success

By Jeff Stone — Posted May 25, 2018

It was my great privilege to serve as president of the Nursery and Landscape Association Executives (NLAE) of North America for the past two years. I am the third Oregonian to serve in that role. Merv Belknap was the first in 1969-70, followed by Dan Barnhart in 1989-90. The NLAE is a team of committed […]