The past two years have been very challenging for the farming community across the Pacific Northwest. In case last year’s pandemic and economic shutdown we’re not enough, farmers across the area had to deal with a variety of historic weather struggles this year, from extreme cold to start 2021, to record heat, drought and wildfire smoke just to name a few. But the Oregon Ag community has remained resilient during all of those challenges.

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“We’re still here," noted Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Alexis Taylor. "It is still a vital, critical part of our economy, to me it is the number one part of our economy, the sector I get to work with every day, and I do think that is a strong testament to the success of Oregon agriculture, is the longevity that we’ve had.”

Taylor said growing up on a farm taught her to always see the best of every situation, and to be optimistic. With that in mind she said one of the positive takeaways from 2020 and 2021; consumers have become more interested in knowing where their food comes from, and they look to purchase local, Oregon products.

“We saw that last year with the increased number of people going to farmers markets, or joining a Community Supported Agriculture, known as CSAs, and we’re seeing that continue to a large extent," Taylor said. "Even as things, restaurants, are reopening and those types of things, people are still interested in supporting those local producers and buying those local Oregon products.”

Taylor added she’s looking forward to what the future hold for Oregon Ag, not only in 2022 but beyond.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com

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