Since Oregon exports more than 80 percent of its agricultural production, the state's agricultural industry must adopt the latest technological innovations or risk falling behind and losing its export markets, she said. I don't think largeness is the answer. I think it's technological competitiveness. The processing council, formed in 1994, is exploring ways of encouraging companies to make that kind of investment in Oregon processing facilities, and investigating factors ranging from taxes to environmental regulations and the nation's highest minimum wage that may be hindering the industry, said chairman Art Christiansen. Our goal is to help keep agriculture processing an important part of Oregon agriculture.
Competition is the name of the game.
It is always going to be there. Oregon's food-processing industry has survived in the past and I think it will survive in the future. It's just a matter of finding out what the problems are and fixing them.