BRIEF SUMMARY OF SPEARMINT OIL MARKETING ORDER #985
The Northwestern United States (The Far West) is the premier spearmint producing area in the world. The states of Washington, Idaho and Oregon accounted for 83% of U.S. spearmint oil production in 2001 and in excess of 50% of the total world spearmint oil production. The world production of spearmint oil is somewhat unclear at this time because of the unavailability of accurate production figures in countries such as China and India. Of the 1,711,000 lbs. of spearmint oil produced in this area in 2001, 1,484,000 lbs. (86.7%) was produced in Washington, 95,000 lbs. (5.5%) was produced in Idaho and 132,000 lbs. (7.7%) was produced in Oregon, Nevada and Utah. The Far West, without question, also produces the highest quality of spearmint oils in the world.