The state of Oregon · Agriculture
What Oregon grows, and who grows it
Nursery and greenhouse stock is Oregon's largest commodity, most of it sold out of state, and a great deal of it grown within an hour of McMinnville.
Figures current as of October 2026 · every number on this page is sourced below
Where Oregon is
Largest commodity
Nursery and greenhouse
Over $1.2 billion in production value, and Oregon's top commodity in eight of the last ten years.
Sold outside Oregon
about 74%
Nursery stock is a traded sector. Most of the money comes from outside the state and stays here.
Jobs in horticultural production
about 10,050
Roughly $443 million in annual payroll, averaging about $44,000 a worker.
Share of the national cut Christmas tree market
31%
Oregon also leads the country in coniferous evergreens, shade trees and bareroot stock.
Japanese beetle eradication
$1.8 million
Appropriated by the Legislature. The eradication zone sits in the nursery-growing region that includes House District 24.
Oregon's largest agricultural commodities
Production value, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Oregon Agricultural Statistics. Figures in millions of dollars.
- Greenhouse and nursery$1220m
- Cattle and calves$792m
- Hay$674m
- Milk$552m
- Grass seed$517m
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Greenhouse and nursery | 1220 million |
| Cattle and calves | 792 million |
| Hay | 674 million |
| Milk | 552 million |
| Grass seed | 517 million |
In her own words
We need to protect our natural resources while also making sure family farms, timber workers, and agricultural businesses can continue to thrive for the next generation.
Rep. Elmer · Lucetta for Oregon, Issues
74%
Share of Oregon nursery sales made outside the state
What it adds up to
Oregon's biggest crop is not wheat and it is not wine. It is plants. Nursery and greenhouse stock is worth over $1.2 billion a year and has been the state's number one commodity in eight of the last ten years, and a great deal of it is grown in the ground between here and Portland.
The number that matters most is the one about where the money comes from. Roughly three quarters of Oregon nursery sales go out of state. That makes it a traded sector, which is the unglamorous economic term for an industry that brings outside dollars in rather than moving existing dollars around. About 10,050 people work in horticultural production for something like $443 million in wages.
Which is why a beetle is a budget item. Japanese beetle eradication got $1.8 million from the Legislature, and from a distance that looks like a small line in a large document. Up close it is the difference between a quarantine and a shipping season. An industry that sells 74 percent of its product across a state line cannot afford a pest that makes other states refuse the truck.
This is the part of the economy Rep. Elmer grew up inside. Her grandparents worked a farm between Willamina and Sheridan, and she was doing payroll for her father's timber business at fifteen. It is not a policy position she arrived at. It is the ledger she learned to read on.
Most of it leaves. The money comes back.
Roughly three quarters of Oregon nursery stock is sold out of state, which is what makes it a traded sector: outside dollars arriving rather than Oregon dollars moving around.
$1.2 billion in production value
The honest objection
Protecting working land and protecting natural resources are not the same goal, and in water allocation, forest practice and pesticide rules they point in opposite directions. Naming both without saying which yields when they conflict leaves the hardest question open, and this page is not going to pretend it is answered. The honest version is that the tradeoff is real and gets decided case by case, in public, with the people who farm the ground in the room.
What keeping farms viable buys
- Working land that stays working rather than being sold
- About 10,050 jobs in horticultural production
- An industry that brings outside money into rural counties
What it costs
- Water allocation, forest practice and pesticide rules give way case by case
- Protecting working land and protecting natural resources are not the same goal
- Someone has to say which yields when they conflict, in public
What would change the conclusion
If nursery acreage and employment kept falling while regulatory burden fell too, the regulation argument would be wrong and something else would be driving it. Watch the acreage, not the rhetoric.
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these. Check them. If a number here is wrong, that is worth knowing and worth telling us.
- 01USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Oregon Agricultural Statistics, top 20 commodities
- 02Oregon Department of Agriculture, About Oregon Agriculture
- 03Oregon Association of Nurseries, industry economics (industry association, not a government source)
- 04Rep. Elmer official newsletter, Sine Die, 17 March 2026
The other reports
The state of Oregon · Economy
What it costs to do business in Oregon
Oregon ranks 35th on tax competitiveness and 42nd for business, and the decline is traceable to specific decisions rather than to bad luck.
The state of Oregon · Education
What Oregon spends on schools, and what it gets
Graduation rates are at a record high and reading and math scores sit below the national average. Both are true, and the gap between them is the story.
The state of Oregon · Budget
What Oregon takes in, and what it holds back
Revenue is $35.7 billion and rising, reserves are near $3.2 billion, and there is no kicker projected for the next biennium.