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

Latino and Mesoamerican Indigenous families grow their own food with help from OSU Extension

Latino and Mesoamerican Indigenous families in Lincoln County generally have less access to land for growing their own food. Due to language barriers – most of the residents speak Spanish or Mam, a language spoken by more ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension-led team searches for chlorpyrifos alternatives for controlling insect pests in Oregon grass seed crops

Oregon leads the country in grass seed production, with over 400,000 acres grown each year. Insect pest issues continue to be an issue for Oregon’s grass seed growers, impacting profitability due to both crop damage and the ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Clackamas County youths reconnect with outdoors through OSU Extension forestry education programs

By the summer of 2021, after more than a year of remote learning due to COVID-19, many Clackamas County elementary and middle school students hadn’t experienced hands-on enrichment activities and field trips that enhance ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Project PLANT home-gardening kits welcomed by limited-income families

Inadequate access to healthy food is a concerning issue that represents a significant barrier to healthy eating and achieving food security. Individuals with limited income and resources, such as those reached by the federal ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension researches alternative pesticides to fight cabbage maggot

In the Willamette Valley, cabbage maggot devastates a wide variety of crops, causing substantial economic loss for many farmers. Most often, farmers used to control the damaging insect with chlorpyrifos insecticides. In 2020, the ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension supports small-scale and historically marginalized farmers

Oregon's farmers continue to suffer losses from drought, heat waves, wildfire and other problems related to climate change. Traditional crop insurance and relief funding programs often don't work for affected small-scale farmers who ...

May 2023 | Impact Story

WE CAN study creates tools and resources to help communities increase intake of fruits and vegetables

Cancer is the number one cause of death of Coos County residents, nearly double the Oregon rate. Studies demonstrate that eating fruits and vegetables could improve outcomes for cancer patients. However, less than 15% of Coos ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension helps rebuild wells and septic systems in Otis community

The Echo Mountain Complex wildfire ignited in Lincoln County on Labor Day weekend in 2020, destroying about 400 homes in and around the Otis community. Hundreds of families were left with no place to live. Most properties ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Dormant-season grazing research project reduces fine fuels in Malheur County

About 72% of Malheur County is publicly owned and federally managed. Cow-calf producers with public land grazing permits rely on the use of these rangelands. The greatest threat to southeastern Oregon sagebrush rangelands includes ...

Apr 2024 | Impact Story

Collaboration results in holiday break meal kits for Malheur County children

Malheur County has the highest percentage of children living in poverty in Oregon. When these children are in school, they qualify for free breakfast, lunch and after-school meals. But these meals generally aren’t provided on ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story