The primary industry in the region is agriculture, including the cultivation of Russet potatoes, sugar beets, onions, corn, flower seed, mint, and wheat.The city was originally a shipping center for sheep and stock on the Union Pacific's main trunk line.[5] In 1942, during World War II, Japanese Americans who had been removed from their West Coast homes worked in a farm labor camp outside Nyssa.Most of these internees came from the Portland Assembly Center and had volunteered to work in the Farm Security Administration camp to avoid incarceration.Although the facilities were not fenced in and the laborers were trucked into Nyssa once a week for recreation and shopping, Japanese Americans were subject to a curfew and were not permitted to leave the camp without an escort.[7] From 1936 until 2005, the Amalgamated Sugar Company (White Satin brand) owned and operated a sugar-processing plant that served as the city's main source of commerce.
Sugar beet plant of the Amalgamated Sugar Company in Nyssa