Director’s Desk

Our retail ecosystem is under duress

By Jeff Stone — Posted December 28, 2023

Everybody loves plants. Whether you have a green thumb or just a harbinger of doom to all things green and lovely, we all know that plants add so much to our lives. They are used in healing gardens, beautify our communities, and add a 20% bump to home values, just for starters. This couldn’t happen […]

The people must step up in 2024

By Jeff Stone — Posted November 29, 2023

As the building blocks of our society are eroded by extremes on both sides of the political spectrum, our agricultural community can act as ballast for common sense. It’s no time to be passive. That only leads to more chaos.

Ag can be the author of climate solutions

By Jeff Stone — Posted October 31, 2023

The debate over climate change is no longer in the hands of the scientific community or political talking heads on cable news. Rather, it has entered into the flow of societal commentary and demands action.

From little ones to leadership

By Jeff Stone — Posted October 12, 2023

Families are the cornerstone of OAN and the children of members who grow up in the organization become future leaders

We exist to serve members

By Jeff Stone — Posted September 5, 2023

It is easy to get disconnected from your trade association during the sprint of shipping, not to mention dealing with weather and labor challenges. However, we all know the great unseen threats that loom over the industry, starting with state and federal regulations. Your volunteer leaders on the OAN Board of Directors and Government Relations Committee serve as your voice and your defense.

50 years of growing Oregon’s brand

By Jeff Stone — Posted July 26, 2023

As I write this column, I am at Cultivate’23 in Columbus, Ohio, where Oregon is well represented. More than 60 OAN member companies are exhibiting, dozens of them are walking the show floor, and Oregon’s own Nancy Buley (J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.) and Ryan Contreras (Oregon State University) are cornerstones of the educational […]

The shining city on the hill

By Jeff Stone — Posted June 21, 2023

Only the stoutest of political nerds would recall that President Ronald Reagan’s farewell address to the nation invoked a 1630 sermon by Puritan pilgrim John Winthrop. White House speechwriter Ken Khachigian tapped into Reagan’s long-held North Star of America, defining his vision of “the shining city upon a hill.” Looking back from where we were […]

My chat with ChatGPT

By Jeff Stone — Posted May 31, 2023

I had a conversation a few months ago with Steve Shropshire, the association’s legal counsel from Jordan Ramis PC, about the emergence of ChatGPT and the open-source abilities. I found it fascinating. Type pretty much anything into ChatGPT and it’ll spit out a confident, convincing response. What some have found is that its answers can […]

Sustainable industries need sustainable solutions

By Jeff Stone — Posted April 20, 2023

Every year, when I try to come up with a column topic for the month of May, my tendency is to focus on labor. This year’s May issue of Digger is focused on sustainability, and that only leads me to an angering paradox. Many things about the nursery industry are sustainable — but our labor […]

Blessed to be part of this industry

By Jeff Stone — Posted March 24, 2023

It took my legendary predecessor, Clayton Hannon, to notify me that I now stand as the longest serving executive director in the history of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. I thought this couldn’t possibly be correct, but as it turns out, as normal, Clayton had his facts straight. Over the last 12 years, I have […]