About Oregon Wheat Commission

Oregon Wheat

This is the story of Oregon wheat. Watch it travel from farm to river to terminals at the Port of Portland…and on to the world.

The Oregon Wheat Commission is a producer funded and governed program. Our mission is to improve the profitability of Oregon wheat growers through Marketing, Research and Grower Education programs.

The OWC is composed of five producer commissioners, one public member and two handlers from the various growing regions of the state. Our responsibility is to allocate assessment funds to specific programs designed to find solutions to immediate and long term issues faced by the wheat producers of Oregon.

The OWC cooperates with U.S. Wheat Associates and Wheat Marketing Center to provide technical assistance to customers and develop markets. The majority of the Commission’s research funding goes to researchers at Oregon State University and USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Laboratory, focusing on variety development, genomics, quality, fertility and weed management. The Commission also funds, in part, the efforts of the Oregon Wheat Growers League as the industry’s grassroots representative conducting grower education and advocacy efforts.

The Informal Story

How the Oregon Wheat Commission was Formed

By Marion T. Weatherford *pictured to the right

The author of this informal story of the formation of the Oregon Wheat Commission, Marion T. Weatherford, was extremely active in all phases of the state's wheat industry and agricultural pursuits in general. His various activities included a term as President of the Eastern Oregon Wheat League (now Oregon Wheat Growers League) after serving on key committees and lesser offices in the organization; 10 years on the Oregon Wheat Commission, four years of which he served as chairman; twenty-one years as chairman of the P.N.W. Grain & Grain Products Association representing the Wheat Commission, five years as President of the Oregon Agricultural Research Council, and two years as President of the Agri Business Council of Oregon. His many other activities combine with those mentioned to catalog him as one of the most devoted and dedicated individuals in the state who has worked in the interests of the wheat industry as well as Oregon agriculture in general. Read his informal account of events leading up to, and the actual formation of, the Oregon Wheat Commission.

The Informal Story of How the OWC was Formed