As your executive director, I listen carefully to the membership to make sure we enact your priorities in a complete and fiscally responsible manner.
Oregon is a leader amongst the other nursery and greenhouse industry associations across North America. Does this mean we have all the answers? Not at all. There is an abundance of talent and leadership among all the nursery trade associations, and we all share ideas. I count myself lucky to be among that group.
Meet Luisa Santamaria, extension plant pathologist
Last month, Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) held a nursery science summit. Industry leaders heard from a plethora of researchers and extension professionals. Their focus? Us.
NWREC is a fantastic facility that conducts impactful research. The focus is on solving problems of the industry. The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Association of Nurseries collaborate and support NWREC’s research.
One of my favorite researchers happened to be sitting next to me at the summit: Dr. Luisa Sanatamaria. For the last 10 years, she has offered more than 100 workshops serving more than 1,800 participants. They have been trained in integrated pest management (IPM), emerging diseases, the systems approach to disease prevention, and best management practices (BMP).
What is even more impactful is that 80% of the trainees represent frontline workers who speak Spanish.
Santamaria heads a four-part educational program on plant health. It includes education needs assessment; personalized nursery visits and training; science-based information on plant disease management; and finally, improved BMPs to reduce the transmission of plant diseases.
A hands-on approach to learning is critical. It has led to additional educational programs, such as a certification program in disease diagnosis and prevention; scouting workshops (focused today on boxwood blight); and a labor-centric webinar called “Happy Plants, Happy People.”
Dr. Santamaria’s work is but a part of a larger effort being made by Oregon State University and NWREC, but everyone realizes that more needs to be done.
Building the bench
The OAN Board of Directors has been purposeful in building a relationship with our four-year land grant university (Oregon State University) and community colleges that are producing horticulturists.
Over the past year, the OAN board has taken its regular meetings on the road to OSU, Chemeketa Community College and Clackamas Community College. This month, we’ll continue this outreach by visiting the landscape program at Portland Community College Rock Creek, which is an important resource for the grower community.
The OAN’s political arm supports not only the ODA, the ODA nursery program, OSU Extension and Research Statewide programs, but also strong funding for higher education. Building a strong bench — that being an educated and passionate workforce — is in the best interest of the nursery and greenhouse industry.
The long game with workforce
Whenever we talk to people about workforce, our message is consistent, with a hint of alarm. There is a labor crisis in agriculture. We rely on our workers to make Oregon’s healthy plants thrive. No amount of mechanization will replace our workers.
We are producing more plants with fewer workers than ever before. Agricultural work is rewarding, but it is hard. Unless you are born into agriculture, it’s not appealing to the iPhone generation.
Workforce development is critical, but it is hard for any state employment agency to understand what kind of profile a potential worker must have to be successful at a growing operation. Even those who are going through the horticultural programs in the state have an uneven progression into the nursery workforce.
This is perplexing. That’s why OAN is working with educators to rectify the situation. Many growers have internship programs up and running. Those are a conduit worth cultivating. We need to own the trades. We need to constantly add talent at all levels of the workforce.
A growing voice in the industry
Our industry is seeing a tangible growth of Latino ownership. By offering bilingual support and opportunity at the worker level, we will only accelerate this paradigm.
Reducing the language barrier is a stated goal of the association in 2024. We simply do not offer much in this regard outside of seminars at the Farwest Show and First Aid classes. I intend to do better.
The OAN is creating a new initiative in 2024 called Professional and Leadership Groups. The first one, NexGen, was recognized in December, and it’s covered in this issue.
In late spring, we will launch a Human Resources Leadership Group to assist our members with the ever-changing regulations facing our operations. Then, in the summer, I am excited about developing a Latino/Spanish Speaking Professional and Leadership Group. The goal is to help this important segment of our industry and upgrade what the association does for our Spanish speaking constituency.
Many steps, not a single leap
All the efforts in this column are connected. It is not just one thing or step that will begin to make a difference, it is many. I am excited to engage members in something new that is bigger than ourselves.
