ODA Recruiting for 10 Commodity Commissioner Openings

Deadline to apply is May 30th

PUBLISHED ON May 25, 2023

SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) seeks applicants for ten unfilled commissioner seats on 9 of the state’s agricultural and commercial fisheries commodity commissions. The deadline to apply is May 30. For instructions on how to apply or to learn more about commissions, please visit oda.direct/commissions.

Acting ODA Director Lauren Henderson appoints commissioners. Once selected, commissioners serve as public officials; most serve three-year terms. Their duties include making decisions about funding for promotion, education, and research projects. Acting Director Henderson seeks applicants representing the diversity among Oregon’s farmers, ranchers, processors, and commercial fisheries. For public members, users of the commodity who have an interest and time to serve are often the best fit.

A public member must be a U.S. citizen, an Oregon resident, and have an active interest in improving economic conditions for the commodity. Public members cannot be directly associated with producing or handling the specific commodity they seek to serve.

Applicants for producer or handler positions must also be U.S. citizens, Oregon residents, and have paid or collected the assessment for that particular commodity for the previous three years or longer in some cases. A producer is defined as a grower or harvester. A handler is the first to buy the commodity from the producer and is often a processor, distributor, or marketer.

The following commodity commissions have openings:

        Albacore Commission –1 handler;

        Dairy Products Commission – 1 producer from Willamette/Southern Oregon (Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, Lane, Linn, Benton, Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Douglas, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, Coos, and Curry counties);

        Processed Vegetable Commission – 2 producers;

        Sheep Commission – 1 public member;

        Strawberry Commission – 1 handler;

        Sweet Cherry Commission – 1 producer from Western Oregon;

        Tall Fescue Commission – 1 handler;

        Advisory Committee – 1 member.

For more information about Oregon’s Commodity Commissions or the application process please contact Jess Paulson, ODA Market Access and Certification Programs Director jess.paulson@oda.oregon.gov or 503-507-9313.

— ODA