Extension Service

The Oregon State University Extension Service provides practical, research-based information and engages learners, partners, and volunteers in communities across Oregon to meet local challenges and help every Oregonian thrive.

Our programs, partnerships and volunteer opportunities are focused on:

  • Healthy communities and economies
  • Resilient and productive forestry and natural ecosystems
  • Sustainable agriculture, food systems, and gardening
  • Thriving youth, individuals and families

Garden Ecology Lab shares research-based information for home and community gardens

Thousands of people every year ask Oregon State University Extension Service experts and volunteers gardening questions. To help meet that need, the OSU Extension Master Gardener program was founded in 1976. Over the years, trained...

Food Hero Bingo fosters healthy behavior changes outside of school

Many Oregon families struggle to get their kids to build healthy habits outside of school. In Oregon, nearly 12% youth ages 10 to 17 are obese, ranking 43rd in the United States and District of Columbia, according to the ...

4-H cross-country programs provide outlet for young runners

In 2012, the St. Helens School District in Columbia County was forced to eliminate its middle school sports program. Studies show that sports participation for K-12 children have strong positive health benefits due to physical ...

Producing a weed-mapping tool that helps growers with their bottom line

Battling weed infestations on farms is an ongoing fight that is often reactive instead of proactive. Weeds begin to grow as irregular patches and then can expand to the entire field, where they become more difficult to ...

Malheur County food pantry launches with Extension serving as resource

Nearly 40% of Malheur County’s children live in poverty, more than double the state average and ranking second only to Wheeler County, according to Oregon by the Numbers. Thirteen percent of the county’s roughly 30,500 ...

$1 billion Oregon nursery industry benefits from OSU Extension plant trials

As climate change transforms the weather in western Oregon, more and more nursery owners, landscapers and home gardeners are looking for plants that are fully drought-tolerant and cold-hardy. Development of genuinely low-input ...

OSU plant pathologists monitor new wheat virus

Wheat in Oregon is a $300 million industry, and a $2 billion industry in the Pacific Northwest, so growers keep an eye out for diseases that can affect their yield and quality. Soilborne wheat mosaic virus is responsible ...

Healthy Kids Club addresses food insecurity through home cooking skills

About 11% of Oregon’s 4.1 million residents said they faced food insecurity in 2018, similar to the U.S. average. Oregon has more than 300,0000 food insecure children, according to Oregon by the Numbers. Compounding food and ...

Extension rangeland faculty help mitigate spread of invasive grasses

Invasive annual grasses are a threat to the Great Basin desert ecosystem that includes much of eastern Oregon. They compromise habitat diversity for important wildlife species such as the greater sage-grouse. They shorten the ...

Organic vegetable producers finding new ways to fight weeds

Organic produce continues to be in high demand in Oregon, but what consumers don’t see are the weeds growers fight to keep out of their fields. In surveys, organic vegetable growers in Oregon consistently identify weed ...