Vegetable farmers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley face growing pressure to stay profitable. Labor shortages, high costs and new regulations have added challenges for producers already competing with low-priced imports. At the same ...
Oregon ranks high in fruit and vegetable consumption, but many households, classrooms and community sites still struggle to grow and use produce year-round. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a clear need for simple, bilingual, ...
In 2024, Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener volunteers met Oregonians where they were. Across the state, people were looking for affordable, healthy food, practical and culturally meaningful gardening education, ...
Weeds pose a serious threat to Oregon agriculture. They reduce yields, lower seed and grain quality, and can keep shipments from meeting market standards. This challenge is statewide although its impacts vary by region. The ...
Oct 2025 |
Impact Story
Credit: Oregon State University (Cropped from original)
The sagebrush ecosystem — a vast, dry landscape that supports hundreds of wildlife species and livelihoods in the West — is shrinking and changing. Livestock grazing is the dominant land-use across much of this ecosystem. ...
Russian thistle (Salsola tragus), also known as tumbleweed, is a persistent summer annual weed and an ongoing challenge for wheat growers in Eastern Oregon. The weed infests nearly 5 million acres across the Pacific Northwest, ...
Oregon has about 44,000 private woodland owners managing 3.5 million acres of forestland. These lands make up 12% of the state’s forests and contribute to economic vitality and environmental health. The program equips landowners ...
In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, cabbage maggot (Delia radicum) causes widespread crop damage and significant economic losses. Root vegetables such as radishes, turnips and rutabagas can’t be sold if they show insect feeding, and ...
Clover seed weevil is a serious insect pest that impacts Willamette Valley's white clover seed production. Historically, clover seed growers have relied heavily on broad-spectrum pyrethroid insecticides, including bifenthrin, as a ...
In the high desert of Central Oregon, farmers produce some of the world’s most valuable hybrid carrot seed. But their fields face a persistent and costly threat: a plant disease called bacterial blight, caused by the ...