Meadowfoam Industry Update*

INTRODUCTION Meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba, Limnanthaceae) was domesticated and commercialized in Oregon under a series of circumstances that allowed local grower participation before the first commercial sale of product. Growers had the opportunity to organize and to transfer skills, knowledge, and germplasm (Fletcher 2002) from Oregon State University (OSU) to their farms. They also had the opportunity and the responsibility to gain skills and knowledge on corporate governance, commercial production, processing, and marketing of meadowfoam oil. This paper is a case study about that process, which includes one re-organization of the growers. Importantly, there is significant history concerning the course of events and associated strategy of grower involvement (CAST 1984; Jolliff 1990, 1999); and, evidence is presented that a second industry reorganization to a New Generation Cooperative (NGC) may be needed as a defensive strategy to deal more effectively with free riders (Merrett and Walzer 2001).