Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

Faith and immigration reform

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Trinity Episcopal Cathedral of Portland, Ore., is hosting a series of faith and ethics forums that pertain to the topic of immigraton. Jeff Stone of the Oregon Association of Nurseries and the Coalition for a Working Oregon are coordinating the speakers. Upcoming topics include “Labor and Community” (May 3), “Economics of Immigration Reform” (May 10), […]

OSU selects new agriculture dean

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Following an extensive recruitment and selection process, Oregon State University has chosen Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, associate dean and agricultural research director at the Purdue University College of Agriculture, to serve as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. He replaces Thayne Dutson, who served in both roles […]

Garden Centers of America tour comes to Oregon

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The Portland area will play host for the 2009 Garden Centers of America Summer Tour, which will be June 28-July 1. The 12-stop tour consists entirely of OAN member garden centers, including Al’s Garden Centers, Bauman Farms, Yard n’ Garden Land, Tsugawa Nursery, Shorty’s Garden & Home, Drake’s Seven Dees Garden Centers, Portland Nursery, Garden […]

New immigration enforcement guidelines target employers

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We mentioned a few weeks back that the Obama administration was sending signals that it would focus on employers, not employees, in its immigration enforcement under Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Today came further confirmation of that in the form of an article in The New York Times. The newspaper reported that new guidelines […]

Getting tough on metal thefts

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A bipartisan bill designed to combat metal theft, Oregon Senate Bill 570 (HTML | PDF), was approved yesterday (Wednesday, April 29) in the Oregon Senate by a 29 – 0 vote. The bill would increase record-keeping requirements for scrap metal dealers. It would require them to pay for metal by check, and set aside any […]

Immigration reform rally tomorrow

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There will be a major rally in favor of immigration reform starting at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Friday, May 1) on the Oregon State Capitol steps in Salem. There will be several speakers, including Jeff Stone, government relations director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, representing the nursery industry. Details are in this short article in […]

Invasive species bill moves

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The nursery industry is highly concerned this year that many industry priorities may fall under the budget axe, but there was good news this morning out of the Oregon House of Representatives. House Bill 2020 (PDF) was unanimously approved in the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Communities Committee. This is a bill to set up […]

Congratulations to Northwoods Nursery

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Northwoods Nursery/One Green World, the Molalla, Ore.-based retail/wholesale/mail-order nursery, has been honored by the Portland, Ore. Bureau of Planning and Sustainability with a Best Sustainable Practices for Small Companies award. Northwoods and its owner, Jim Gilbert, are known for their sustainable practices, going so far as to hire a sustainability director, and to become the […]

How to set prices in a recession

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Entrepreneur magazine has a short-but-thorough primer up on the art of setting prices for your products during a recession. Although it doesn’t mention nurseries specifically, all of the information is applicable, and a few of the points are particularly germane. Specifically: Are you offering an affordable luxury? During a recession, most consumers may still be […]