Willamette Valley Protected District (WVPD) Update
HB 4059, as amended by the -9 amendment (Click on the paper -9 icon to read the amendment in full), passed out of the Oregon House on Thursday Feb. 22nd. HB 4059 now maintains the current 500 acre cap on canola cultivation until Jan. 2 2028, though the legislation has to move through the Senate.
You can watch the HB 4059 debate on the House Floor here, starting at 20:30.
The bill has been scheduled for a Public Hearing in the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Committee on Feb. 27th and a Work Session on Feb. 29th.
If you would like to submit testimony*, you can do so here and if you would like to sign up to testify, you can do so here, clicking “Register to Testify.”
* Testimony can be submitted until 8am on Feb. 29th.
As background, seed stakeholders were willing to accept the compromise solution found in the -7 amendment, despite shortcomings for long-term protection of brassica specialty seed production, in order to end this contentious issue.
However, canola stakeholders, despite getting unlimited canola starting in spring of 2025, would not accept the 500 acre cap on GE canola, nor the 6 mile isolation distances for GE canola, in the -7 amendment.
The -7 amendment was a step forward in terms of putting isolation distances for brassica crops in statute for the Willamette Valley Protected District.
Seed stakeholders hope that a future solution also includes:
Pinning priority for specialty seed growers when parties are unable to come to an exception agreement;
Seed lot testing to ensure non-GE canola does not contain adventitious presence;
An emergency brake in the event that increased canola acreage begins to negatively impact brassica seed production.
Updates on HB 4059 will be posted here as the bill moves through the legislative process.
The Willamette Valley is one of the vegetable seed capitals of the world, a very special place for growing high-value seeds, and an economic powerhouse for our state. The Valley supplies over 90% of many brassica seed varieties to farmers and gardeners all over the world. In Oregon we should protect what’s good, so it can keep being good - providing jobs, keeping the soil healthy, and ensuring a sustainable food future for Oregon and beyond.
Seed stakeholders have spent years advocating for smart, balanced, and science-based approaches to protect the $25M Willamette Valley brassica seed industry. Unfortunately, canola stakeholders declined to support the -7 amendment, which would have given them unlimited canola starting in spring of 2025 and as a result, the legislature pushed the sunset of the current 500 acre cap on canola cultivation to 2028.
“Our specialty seed producers are one of our greatest assets and represent an industry that sets Oregon apart from the rest of the country,” said Alice Morrison of Friends of Family Farmers. “Specialty seed production is a vital part of our agricultural economy and provides pathways for small and specialty producers to thrive. These farmers not only benefit their communities, but enable farmers far and wide to grow millions of pounds of high quality food from their seed.”
Endorse Ongoing Protections for WV Vegetable Seed Growers:
An important study released last spring measures the impact of dismantling the Willamette Valley Protected District on the valley’s vibrant specialty vegetable seed sector.
The Willamette Valley Protected District (WVPD) is one of four protected districts in Oregon, which are collaborative designations to limit rapeseed/canola in places where high-value specialty seeds are grown. Washington has similar restrictions in key seed growing regions, and completely disallows canola in the Skagit Valley’s intensive brassica production zone district.
Farmers say protections are essential to ensure market stability for an important Oregon farm sector, as well as to protect long-term food security and biodiversity in seed production, important things to consider in a changing climate.
Conducted by the non-partisan firm Highland Economics, key findings include:
Brassica seed production, the seed most at risk from rapeseed/canola, produces average profits of $1400 per acre for conventional, and $32,000 per acre for organically grown seed. In contrast, rapeseed/canola produces profits of only $190 per acre.
If, as is likely, rapeseed/canola were to eliminate brassica seed growing (setting aside the impacts to seed producers’ investments and other crops) a loss of approximately $15M in production value, and $9.2M in direct and indirect labor income, would ensue. These figures do not include additional substantial losses from the Valley-based seed processing companies.
Other oilseed crops such as flax, sunflower, safflower, yellow mustard and camelina do not threaten specialty seed crops to the degree that canola does, and can be grown in the protected districts.
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