About the Center
Jump to: History | Facilities | Administration |
Our Mission | Partnerships | R & E at OSU.
The North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) is part of Oregon State University's Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service. The AES mission is to conduct research in the agricultural, biological, social, and environmental sciences for the economic, social and environmental benefit of Oregon. The mission of the Extension Service engages the people of Oregon with research-based knowledge and education that focus on strengthening communities and economies, sustaining natural resources, and promoting healthy families and individuals. The NWREC provides an opportunity for research and extension faculty to expand knowledge and disseminate information to producers, processors, and users of horticultural commodities.
Oregon produces more than 130 commercially important commodities, of which 90 are estimated to generate $1 million in gross sales receipts. Because of Oregon's varied soils and a climate ranging from rain forest to high desert, scientists face a variety of challenges. This has led to the establishment of 12 branch experiment stations and research centers in addition to the OSU campus in Corvallis.
Miley Road.See the map picture for the location of NWREC relative to I-5, Aurora, and Wilsonville.
History
The Center was made possible by a $50,000 appropriation by the 1957 Legislature and became a reality when Clackamas County leased 52 acres of fertile Willamette Valley farmland to the University. In 1965, the county purchased an adjacent 107 acres. In 1987, the legislature provided $310,000 for additional office and laboratory space. OSU Extension Service district horticulture agents were transferred to the Center, allowing them to work alongside their research counterparts and considerably expanding service to the agricultural community.
Facilities
The Center's main building includes laboratories, offices, and group meeting rooms for both faculty and agricultural organizations. Each office contains a computer networked both in-house and directly to campus servers. Staff can access E-mail, the Internet, library catalogs, and CD-ROM databases without leaving their desks. An ornamental display garden and a wide assortment of trees and shrubs greet visitors as they approach the parking area. Greenhouses, containerized nursery areas, equipment storage buildings, a farmhouse and three barns, and numerous experimental plantings of berries, grapes, vegetables, and nursery crops complete the Center's resources.
Administration
Clark Seavert is the Center Director for the North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) and also a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. The Center Director oversees all research and extension programs, supervises faculty and staff, administers the budget, works with counties in the District to ascertain extension and research needs, and provides regional leadership for the OSU’s outreach to agriculture.
Clark began working for Oregon State University in January 1989 as a District Extension agent for Hood River and Wasco counties working primarily for the tree fruit industry. In 1999, he began the role as Superintendent of the Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River before arriving at the NWREC, September 15, 2006.
The main focus of Clark’s research and extension programs is assisting agricultural producers manage risk. The emphasis is to develop decision-making tools and provide training for agricultural producers who manage the financial, marketing, production, and human resource risks associated with ornamental nursery, Christmas tree, berry, grapes, fruit, nut and vegetable crops. This is accomplished by developing cost of production and cost of establishment studies. This information serves as the foundation to assess the profitability and feasibility of growing and establishing crops and implementing technologies that increase efficiencies and minimizes environmental impacts.
Our Mission
Our mission is to conduct horticultural crops research and to extend new knowledge to the horticultural industries and communities, particularly in the Willamette Valley. The location, just 20 miles south of Portland, provides growers with convenient access to research findings and Extension Service educational programs. Research is aimed at producing better quality crops at lower costs, and with reduced environmental impact. Often the quality or form of a product must be changed to meet the demands of domestic or foreign customers. Growers must change varieties and learn to grow what the market demands. Agriculture is Oregon's leading industry. Farming and its support industries account for 11% of the employment in the Portland metropolitan area. We seek to keep agriculture healthy and growing. Because of the highly competitive nature of farming, other regions will try to gain a larger share of the Oregon market. This means we must continue to test and adapt new crops and production systems to keep Oregon competitive.
Partnerships
Faculty at the Center work closely with advisory boards and grower organizations to identify production and management needs in the industry. We often conduct cooperative projects with scientists from the OSU campus, other Centers, and other universities. OSU graduate students conduct research at the Center. Growers in the North Willamette area contribute materials and allow use of their land and facilities for specialized studies. Among those contributing to programs at the Center are the Oregon Strawberry Commission, Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission, Oregon Blueberry Commission, Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission, Oregon Association of Nurserymen, and the Oregon Fresh Market Growers Association. The counties of Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Polk, Washington, Multnomah, and Columbia contribute funding to our extension programs. Clackamas County provides the land.
Research and Extension in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences
The Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station was organized July 1, 1888 and housed at Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis. AES now consists of campus-based facilities as well as 10 branches in all the major climatic and cropping regions of the state. More than 400 scientists conduct AES-sponsored research in the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering, Home Economics and Education, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine. AES conducts research and provides demonstrations in the agricultural, biological, social, and environmental sciences that contribute to the economic, environmental, and social health of Oregonians. It works with citizens to:
- ensure stable, productive agriculture through wise use of natural resources;
- protect crops and domestic animals from insects, diseases, and other hazards;
- improve efficiency of agricultural production;
- develop new agricultural products and processes, protect consumers, and enhance quality of Oregon's food products;
- promote community development, both urban and rural;
- protect and improve the environment and quality of living;
- assist developing countries to promote trade and alleviate world hunger.
See the color land-form map (125k jpg) showing the locations of all branches of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.
The Extension Service is the primary outreach and extended education arm of the University. Extension agents are located in all of Oregon's 36 counties, on campus, and in Research and Extension Centers across the state.