March 24, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
Idaho-Oregon industry changes how it promotes bulb onions
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
NYSSA, Ore. — The on-
ion growing industry in East-
ern Oregon and southwestern
Idaho has revamped how
it promotes the 1.5 billion
pounds of Spanish big bulb
onions grown here each year.
Promotion and marketing
of those onions has tradi-
tionally fallen mostly to the
Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion
Committee, which adminis-
ters the federal marketing or-
der that covers this region.
But the committee in 2015
opted to cut the region’s onion
assessment in half, sharply re-
duce its promotion budget and
let onion shippers use the re-
sulting savings, if they chose,
to do more of their own direct
promotions and marketing.
The assessment was
trimmed from 10 cents for
each 100 pounds of onions
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
The Idaho-Oregon onion industry has revamped how it promotes
the 1.5 billion pounds of Spanish big bulb onions produced here
each year.
produced to 5 cents.
Growers pay 60 percent of
that assessment and handlers
the rest.
The assessment fee cut did
not impact the committee’s
research and export budgets.
But the IEOOC slashed
the budget for its promotion
committee from $635,000
to $250,000.
The 300 growers and 30
onion shippers in the region
were left with the option of
using the savings realized
from the assessment reduction
to do their own marketing.
The industry’s customer
base has consolidated heavi-
ly over the years and because
customer lists are much short-
er now, it makes sense for in-
dividual shippers to more ag-
gressively go after customers
themselves, said promotions
committee board member
Grant Kitamura.
“This gives people more
money to promote their own
business,” said Kitamura,
general manager of Murakami
Produce in Ontario, Ore.
At the same time, the
IEOCC still maintains a
strong industry presence, in-
cluding at trade shows and
industry events, and continues
to promote the famous Span-
ish bulb onions grown here as
a regional brand.
The committee spent
$61,000 on advertising last
year, as well as $7,000 to print
1,000 glossy shippers directo-
ries.
“We think we’ve been suc-
cessful in maintaining our vis-
ibility in the industry (even)
with the reduced budget,” Ki-
tamura said.
The promotions committee
has also turned to the internet
and social media more, a tac-
tic designed to reach millen-
nials.
“We are trying to reach out
to the next generation of con-
sumers and customers,” Kita-
mura said.
Malheur County farmer
Paul Skeen, a member of the
promotions committee board,
believes reducing the com-
mittee’s budget and allowing
shippers and growers to use
the savings to do more of their
own marketing was a wise
move.
“I think we’re still getting
the bang for our buck,” he
said of the committee’s re-
duced budget. “We just cut the
frills out and went with what’s
working.”
Other industry members
contacted by Capital Press
agreed.
“We’re in favor of that de-
cision and feel it’s working
well for our company and our
growers,” said John Wong,
president of Champion Pro-
duce in Parma, Idaho.
Shay Myers, general man-
ager of Owyhee Produce in
Nyssa, Ore., was skeptical
of the move at first because
he worried having shippers
do their own promotions and
marketing could fragment the
industry.
But he has since changed
his mind and now believes the
new direction is working well.
Bill would authorize GMO trespass
lawsuits against plant patent holders
New FDA nutrition label
pleases potato industry
Genetic technology
companies would
be liable for any
crop damages
DENVER — Officials of
Potatoes USA say new federal
Food and Drug Administration
guidance adding potassium to
nutrition labels should benefit
the fresh potato industry.
Potatoes USA Chief Mar-
keting Officer John Toaspern
explained that potatoes are
among the richest sources of
potassium among fruits and
vegetables.
Potatoes USA updated its
label to meet the FDA require-
ments in the fall and recently
revised the label again based
on adjustments FDA made to
the recommended daily value
of key nutrients.
According to the latest ver-
sion of the fresh potato label,
a 5.2-ounce serving of fresh
potatoes contains 15 percent of
the recommended daily value of
potassium. “Certainly you hear
plenty of press around the fact
that people are paying more
attention to nutrition labels,”
Toaspern said. “It’s more im-
portant than it used to be.”
Toaspern said the updated
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Malheur County farmer Jerry Erstrom points out a genetically en-
gineered creeping bentgrass plant June 14, 2016, on an irrigation
ditch bank near Ontario, Ore. Erstrom testified March 16 in favor
of legislation in Oregon that would allow farmers whose crops are
damaged by GMOs to sue patent holders for damages.
“We’re not coming to you
from a level playing field.
Harm is only coming one
way,” said Amy van Saun, le-
gal fellow with the Center for
Food Safety, which supports
the bill.
Supporters say the legal
mechanism of HB 2739 is
simple and fair because the
liability rests with companies
that profit from GMO patents.
Complicated searches for
a culprit won’t be necessary,
since biotech traits can be de-
termined with genetic tests,
said Elise Higley, director of
the Our Family Farms Coali-
tion.
“It’s super easy to track it
back to who is responsible,”
Higley said.
Opponents of the bill argue
that pollination among related
crops isn’t limited to GMOs,
but neighboring farmers have
long found practical ways to
avoid unwanted crosses.
“It’s one of the greatest
risks I face, but it’s a manage-
able risk,” said Kevin Rich-
ards, who grows seeds and
other crops near Madras, Ore.
Under a provision in HB
2739, plaintiffs are entitled
to triple the amount of eco-
nomic damages caused by the
unwanted presence of GMOs,
which is clearly meant to be
punitive, according to the
bill’s detractors.
“It would single out and
15-5/16 x 10 x 2
18-3/4 x 14-3/8 x 3
stigmatize biotech patents,”
said Barry Bushue, president
of the Oregon Farm Bureau.
Critics also questioned the
logic of making patent hold-
ers liable for unauthorized
GMOs, since the problem
may be caused by irresponsi-
Capital Press
Courtesy of Potatoes USA
The updated potato nutrition
label.
label won’t be required on fresh
potato bags until July 26, 2018,
for large food manufacturers,
and manufacturers making less
than $10 million in annual food
sales will have an additional
year to comply. His organization
is spreading word of the revi-
sions now because many fresh
potato shippers print their bags
more than a year in advance.
ROP-11-3-1/#7
SALEM — New lawsuits
over trespass by genetically
engineered crops would be
authorized in Oregon under
legislation that would hold
biotech patent holders liable
for damages.
Supporters of House Bill
2739 say it’s a common sense
strategy to remedy problems
caused by genetically mod-
ified organisms, or GMOs,
similar to consumer lawsuits
over defective products.
“This is not a wild legal
grab. We will not be com-
pensated for our angst. We
will only be compensated
for provable legal damages,”
said Sandra Bishop of the
Our Family Farms Coalition,
which supports HB 2739.
Jerry Erstrom, a Malheur
County farmer, said he sup-
ports the bill even though
he’s planted genetically engi-
neered corn on his property.
“If you do something that
messes up my livelihood,
you should be held account-
able for it,” Erstrom said at
a March 16 hearing of the
House Judiciary Committee.
Creeping bentgrass that’s
genetically engineered to tol-
erate glyphosate herbicides
escaped control in Eastern
Oregon, and the crop’s patent
holder should be responsible
for control costs as it spreads,
he said.
“It’s coming to the Willa-
mette Valley. Say what you
want, it’s going to be here,”
Erstrom said.
Proponents of HB 2739
say there’s nothing new about
holding companies liable for
their products hurting people
or property, but organic and
conventional farmers must
currently bear the financial
burden from GMO crop con-
tamination alone.
ble practices of neighboring
landowners or factors beyond
human control, like birds.
“They sell the seed but
they have no control once that
happens,” said Roger Bey-
er, a lobbyist for the Oregon
Seed Council and other crop
groups.
Apart from the immediate
impacts of the bill, imposing
new liability on patent holders
may discourage seed compa-
nies from offering innovative
products in Oregon, said Scott
Dahlman, policy director of
the Oregonians for Food and
Shelter agribusiness group.
If companies face the
threat of additional lawsuits,
“they will reconsider whether
they sell things here,” Dahl-
man said.
Pete Postlewait, a farmer
near Canby, Ore., said he’s
disturbed by the precedent of
punishing patent holders for
the actions of end users, since
that logic could be extended
to non-GMO cross-pollina-
tion.
By JOHN O’CONNELL
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