Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for disaster relive for Columbia Gorge and Oregon pear growers, as bins of Oregon pears that cost $300 to grow may fetch nothing on the market as farmers confront the consequences of a disastrous 2025 season.  Kotek’s letter notes pear growers face bin prices.of $0 to $150 on some varieties, owing to a weak market fueled in part by global competition.  Kotek’s request comes at a crucial time for growers.  Pears are harvested around August or September, but farmers aren’t paid for their crops until they are sold, often months after they’re stored in cold facilities.  That means Oregon pear growers are waiting for final checks from the 2025 season as they push into the 2026 harvest, and Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers chair Lesley Tamura said in a statement that the combination of excessive heat, low snowpack and a destructive pest known as pear psylla cut grower revenue in half this year.  She adds some growers don’t have enough money to cover their current production expenses.  Kotek’s request to the USDA, if granted, could bring emergency credit to family farms, and help some growers reach the end of the 2026 harvest.  Tamura’s statement says growing state regulations, including rules for farmworker housing and overtime, have further tightened orchardists’ fiscal margins.