It is arguably the plant that made the West. Pioneers brought wheat in practically every wagon on the Oregon Trail. It fed farm families in the Willamette Valley and miners in the John Day and California gold-rush towns. It was currency and foreign exchange. As the nation grew, scientists developed dryland and irrigated growing techniques. [...]
Tag » Agriculture
June 7, 2012
Wheat for the West
Land grant research catapulted wheat farming into an economic power that feeds the world
February 17, 2012
State of Change: Against the Grain
“Typically, agriculture producers are an adaptable group; however, increased heat and water stress, changes in pest and disease pressures, and weather extremes will pose adaptation challenges for many crop and livestock production systems.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
November 19, 2010
Farming on the Fringe
Urbanization can bring benefits to farmers
Urban homeowners and farmers don’t always see eye-to-eye, but along with new neighbors come opportunities.
July 17, 2010
Summer of Science
Experience Oregon's beauty and bounty through OSU research
Take a hike! Summer may have arrived a bit late in the Pacific Northwest, but you can make up for lost time by exploring Oregon through OSU’s Summer of Science Google map.
April 24, 2010
Fending Off a Fruit Menace
Extension videos teach you how to trap and identify the spotted wing Drosophila It’s a pest not much bigger than the head of a pin. But for Oregon farmers, the tiny fruit fly has the potential to take a giant bite out of yields — and profits. The spotted wing Drosophila has made its way [...]
April 23, 2010
Tools of the Trade
Gramene database spurs quiet revolution in crop genetics
To find the genes that enable a crop — ryegrass or wheat, for example — to resist disease or tolerate drought can mean endless searching, not through one haystack but through many. And success is only the beginning of time-consuming breeding trials. Now scientists, farmers and plant breeders who feed the world have a new [...]
March 23, 2010
From Margin to Mainstream
Scientists help farmers boost organic production
“The organic movement has evolved from a fringe element associated with a lost generation to a core business strategy of the world’s largest corporations.” –Reuters News Service, September 2008 When California-based Amy’s Kitchen opened a plant in Southern Oregon in 2006, the Oregon Department of Agriculture called it “a large feather in Oregon’s organic cap.” [...]
February 22, 2010
The Range Keepers
A perennial partnership of ecologists, hydrologists and ranchers is renewing Oregon’s grasslands
The Hatfield and McCormack ranch families of Brothers, Oregon, have partnered with OSU for generations to improve rangeland ecology. (Photo: Mark Reed)
November 22, 2009
Green Solutions
Farming that fosters ecological balance and biological diversity is the goal of OSU’sOrganic Agriculture Program in the Department of Horticulture. The program’s 29 researchers are investigating sustainable solutions for everything from weeds and soil-borne diseases to beetle infestations and livestock waste management. Here is a sampling of studies under way. Anita Azarenko The head of [...]
June 23, 2009
Explore Oregon Through OSU Research
When you're out in the wilds and wonders of Oregon
this summer, let OSU's research and scientific discoveries enhance your adventure
From the state’s ancient forests to its briny oceans, from its prehistoric landscapes to its fertile fields, OSU scientists are studying the complexities of nature and the impacts of human activity. They invite you to stop and visit awhile: View Oregon State University Summer of Science in a larger map Feel the soft skin of [...]
April 24, 2009
Where Grass Seed Is King
Oregon’s Willamette Valley is the undisputed “grass-seed capital of the world.” In close partnership with growers and scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, OSU researchers and agronomists have been at the forefront of an industry worth $500 million. Here are some of the milestones. 1909 Seed lab starts up on campus for research and [...]
April 24, 2009
Restoring the Flow
If you had happened upon Lake Creek, a tributary of Central Oregon’s Metolius River, in the fall of 2007, you might have seen Matt Shinderman and his Ecological Field Methods students standing nearly knee-deep in the water with dip nets in hand, hovering over tic-tac-toe style grids. And you might have been puzzled when they [...]
February 22, 2009
Once and Future King
Salmon could rebound if we’re willing to pay the price
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were early witnesses to the majesty that is the salmon in the Pacific Northwest. When the explorers first came upon the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia rivers, they observed a scene that was both confusing and awe-inspiring. Wrote Clark: “This river is remarkably Clear and Crouded with Salmon in [...]
January 23, 2009
Wired Watershed
Fiberoptics bring new precision to ecosystem sensing
It took a potato launcher, a canoe and a helium-filled balloon to propel a high-tech scientific enterprise during an international workshop at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest.
September 23, 2008
Air Beneath Their Wings
Five undergraduates — five dreams. Blake Kelley sees a bright future for nuclear power and is learning all he can about reactor designs. For Hiromi Omatsu, the future is in technology that enables elderly people to stay in their own homes. Writing is Stephen Summers’ love. He publishes poetry and fiction in OSU’s student literary [...]
April 1, 2008
A New Lens on Wildlife
What do the following Oregon animals have in common: the northern red-legged frog, the chestnut-backed chickadee, the western pond turtle and the river otter? All fall into the traditional wildlife designation “non-game.” “It’s a catch-all category for those species that aren’t being managed for hunting or fishing,” says OSU wildlife ecologist Bruce Dugger. That once-undifferentiated [...]
April 1, 2007
Growing Technology
From microbes to plants, OSU researchers are leveraging biological materials to develop a variety of new products. Here are some highlights: Cellulose Power Professor Michael Penner in the Department of Food Science and Technology is studying one of the holy grails of the bio-based fuel industry: the economical conversion of woody plant materials into ethanol [...]
