The Oregon Seed Council has released its 2025 Legislative Report.

The 2025 Legislative Session totaled 158 day and saw 3,466 bills introduced. The long Legislative Session, held in odd numbered years, is authorized for 160 days by the Oregon Constitution and focuses on biennial budgets and larger policy issues. And this one came down to the wire.

A record number of bills and precession filed bills prompted introduction of legislation that proposed limiting the number of bills that could be introduced during a Session.

While budgets are a mandatory action of the long session, the general policy goals remained generally unclear until the end.

The State’s Top Issues

A smattering of topics piqued the interest of legislators and the public at various points of the session. Those topics included housing, transportation, water, labor, and employment. 

Oregon Seed Council

Importantly to the Oregon Seed Council (OSC) members and industry partners, we monitored over 400 bills. Issues ranged from employment to land use, to climate, to water, to taxes, to transportation – and many more.

This year, OSC set its first policy priorities, and quickly put those policies to use allowing our organization to react, engage, and adapt to policy conversations quickly with broad input from our member organizations.

We were able to see some positive policy and conversations advance, and importantly to our members, we were able to help kill – or water down significantly detrimental policy proposals – including the Agricultural Workforce Standards Board proposal – more on this in the policy section.

First Lobby Day!

The Oregon Seed Council partnered with the sugar beet industry, supporting its first lobby day at the Oregon State Capitol. The event included meetings with Oregon Legislators who cover agricultural issues in their committees; viewing House and Senate Floor Sessions; and a reception with legislators and industry members in the evening. Our members were able to build relationships and help decision-makers understand the importance and interconnection of each part of the industry.

Presentation of Oregon Seed Council’s Global Trailblazer Award from the Oregon Consular Corp

This year, the Oregon Seed Council was honored with the prestigious Global Trailblazer award presented by the Oregon Consular Corps.  This exceptional award recognizes Oregon individuals, companies and organizations for their contributions to international trade, the Northwest’s economy, and way of life. This year’s theme was Oregon “punches above its weight” in sports, outdoor, and recreation sectors. The Oregon Seed Council, whose members supply turfgrass seed to sports organizations, golf courses, stadiums and municipalities around the world, was honored to receive the award on behalf of the industry.

We were also delighted that Representative Boshart Davis (R- Albany) and Senator Fred Girod (R-Stayton) presented the Oregon Seed Council’s achievement on the House and Senate Floors. We are grateful to these two legislators for helping elevate the industry and support Oregon’s world-renowned grass seed.

Legislative Relationships

OSC met with numerous legislators and staff to build relationships, elevate the partnership of the seed industry overall, and begin the conversations of how OSC can be a resource for the Legislature. We are excited to get our legislative partners out to farms to learn more about the seed industry and how every section of the industry plays an important part in bolstering our economy, supporting a healthy environment, and supporting healthy communities.

Thank You

Finally, I want to thank each of you for thoughtful conversations, your input, and your support as we navigated the 2025 Session.

A special thank you to the OSC Board of Directors, Government Affairs Committee, and Executive Committee for quick action and in-depth discussion on policies and how OSC can best support industry in the legislative process and policy discussions.

Our industry members were quick to react to Action Alerts and engage legislators, and for that, we want to offer a big thank you! Your engagement truly makes a difference, and this, we hope will be clearly evidenced in our report.

 Click here to view OSC’s 2025 Legislative Report

Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Oregon Seed Council