Central Oregon farmers will have to hold off on growing a crop some say will give them more options as they face a future with less water. That’s after state agriculture regulators recently announced they will keep a set of rules that limits where it can be grown.
Earlier this summer, Oregon’s Department of Agriculture proposed a repeal of what’s referred to as a “protected district” in Central Oregon that limits where Brassica crops — vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, mustards, radish and turnips — can grow. That district covers Jefferson, Deschutes and Crook counties.
The proposal came at the request of a group of farmers and even local government officials. In letters OPB obtained from the state Department of Agriculture, some farmers wrote they need more options as they deal with a years-long drought and the federal listing of the Oregon spotted frog as a threatened or endangered species. A conservation plan requires the North Unit Irrigation District to release water from its reservoir for the frog.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture-provided file photo of canola fields. In Central Oregon, some farmers would like to grow the crop, while others worry it could cross-pollinate with other plants and damage their yields.
Russ Gesch / U.S. Department of Agriculture
That group of farmers says rapeseed, otherwise known as canola — which is in the brassica family — could be an option. That’s because it requires less irrigated water, which is crucial at a time when some farmers may not be able to irrigate all of their fields because of reduced water allotments, said Tim Deboodt, a farmer and the Crook-Wheeler County Farm Bureau president.
“If we don’t have the ability to farm as much of our farm ground as we can, then we’re going to significantly and negatively impact farm income,” Deboodt said.
But another group of farmers, including specialty seed producers, says doing away with the protected district might be short-sighted.
That’s because canola, which is planted in large fields and has genetically modified varieties, could have a higher chance of cross-pollinating with other brassicas and altering the purity of the crop or seed, said Bob Griffin, a seedsman in Central Oregon. He grows purple top turnips — another type of brassica.
“Once that crop [canola] becomes established here, you have a volunteer seed that starts coming up that is not being cultivated, then it becomes part of the general area and you can’t just get rid of them,” Griffin said.
Related: Oregon lawmakers extend limits on canola production in the Willamette Valley
Griffin said canola can easily turn into a weed, which can then contaminate other specialty seed crops that farmers then sell to domestic and international markets.
“The seed industry is rather important to the economy of the farmers of Oregon,” he said. “And the climate that we have here, particularly in this area, for vegetable seeds, produces a high quality seed that can be exported to all of the other parts of the world.”
Some of the farmers asking the state to repeal the protected district say cross-pollination likely wouldn’t be a major issue because brassicas aren’t widely grown in the area. That group, including Deboodt, also points to a 2017 Oregon State University study that found canola and other brassica species can coexist.
However, following a public hearing and a request for public comments, the state’s Department of Agriculture decided it will keep the protected district unchanged.
“ODA recognizes the benefits that canola can provide as a rotation crop, including enhancing soil health, managing disease, and controlling weeds,” read a statement released by the Oregon Department of Agriculture on Sep. 9. “At the same time, we acknowledge Oregon’s long-standing coexistence challenges between specialty brassica seed and canola production.”
In the statement, state regulators said they will plan to meet with farmers during upcoming brassica workgroup sessions led by the governor’s office. Those sessions will mainly be centered around canola production on the other side of the cascades in the Willamette Valley – farmers there have also long-debated whether or not to allow more canola production.
Griffin said he thinks the decision will give local farmers an opportunity to talk more about their long-term needs.
“I think it will give the farmers of the area a chance to become more educated and make an educated decision about whether they want it [canola] as the crop of the future or whether they want to keep the door open to grow other crops,” he said.
But Deboodt said he and some of his peers feel they’ve been punted down the road by the state.
“The committee that is referenced in that ODA announcement is a committee-only dealing with the canola issues in the Willamette Valley,” he said. “And the issues in the Willamette Valley are significantly different than any of the issues that have been addressed or raised for concern in Central Oregon.”