President’s Message

Welcome to Farwest

By Mike Hiller — Posted July 26, 2019

Welcome to our Farwest Edition of Digger magazine. The Farwest Show is a time for our members to showcase what is new and display all of the high-quality plant material from the Northwest. I hope you have already made your plans to attend, but if not, I hope you will consider coming to see the […]

OAN goes to Washington, D.C.

By Mike Hiller — Posted June 24, 2019

I traveled to Washington, D.C. along with our OAN executive director, Jeff Stone, and the chairwoman of our Government Relations Committee, Leigh Geschwill of F & B Farms & Nursery. We were there to represent the Oregon Association of Nurseries, and to lobby for the needs and priorities of Oregon’s nursery industry. This was my […]

Being a part of a community

By Mike Hiller — Posted May 24, 2019

As our spring shipping and retailing season is wrapping up, it is a great time to look back and digest how that season went. Whether you are involved in wholesale, retail or both, I hope your season was a good one. It often amazes me how relatively short the season is and how much product […]

Knowing our customers

By Mike Hiller — Posted April 26, 2019

Last fall, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Bridget Behe, a professor of horticulture at Michigan State University. She was giving a presentation on her research into the marketing of edible and ornamental horticultural crops, which is her area of expertise. If you are not familiar with Dr. Behe’s podcast, “Connect 2 Consumer,” I […]

Standing up for the industry

By Mike Hiller — Posted March 27, 2019

On Valentine’s Day, our group of about 15 OAN members and professional government relations staff visited the Oregon State Capitol. We split up into three groups of five to have meetings and meaningful conversations with our state senators and representatives in their offices. The annual OAN Advocacy Day has been one of our most effective […]

Couldn’t stand the weather

By Mike Hiller — Posted February 25, 2019

Legendary Texas bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan famously sang that he “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Here in Oregon, enduring the weather is one thing. As I suspect they do in Texas, we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on from one moment to the next. While the rest of the United States was suffering under […]

Don’t fall into the trap of history repeating

By Mike Hiller — Posted January 25, 2019

The holidays and the grueling trade show season are over. Sports are in a lull. The days of cold, wet and dark are getting tiresome. We are all waiting on better weather — or at least seeing the sun. Depending on your segment within the nursery industry, you have either completed your digging for the […]

We are Oregon grown

By Mike Hiller — Posted December 28, 2018

If you have not visited Oregon to experience what is grown here, you need to. This issue of Digger is the Nursery Country issue, featuring the state’s quality plants and the growers who produce them. It’s a good read, filled with good information. However, there is no substitute for driving the roads, walking the farms, […]

Winter is coming

By Mike Hiller — Posted November 26, 2018

This might sound like a plug for Game of Thrones — after all, the Season Eight premiere isn’t that far away! But seriously, winter isn’t just coming, as they say. It’s here. Preparations must be undertaken. From a grower’s standpoint, we are almost done getting the plants ready to survive the winter. Some growers, meanwhile, […]

Support is critical

By Mike Hiller — Posted October 24, 2018

My name is Mike Hiller, I work at Kraemer’s Nursery in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and I am proud to be your new OAN president. But how did I find myself in this position? Several years ago, Mike Coleman approached me to consider joining the Executive Committee of the OAN Board of Directors. I asked him […]