The border of Idaho and Oregon may not be moving, but what has moved are some of Oregon’s onion and sugar beet operations.

Onions and sugar beets are two of Malheur County’s core crops. As the Malheur Enterprise has reported, they have been declining over the last five years. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows acres of dry onions harvested dropped to a total of 10,300 in 2022, down some 3,450 acres since 2017. Sugar beet and onion production jumped in Idaho, the newspaper reported.

Why?

A producer told the paper that differences in minimum wages, retirement program obligations and energy costs encouraged some to make the move. And snowstorms destroying buildings in 2017 had some producers looking at starting over and where to start over.

Does any of this mean Oregon should change its minimum wages or carve out exceptions for retirement programs? We doubt it. And we doubt that the Oregon Legislature would. But these policies can shape the decision-making of businesses.