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

Forestry Extension assists state with monitoring the invasive spongy moth

The spongy moth (formerly known as gypsy moth), which is defoliating trees in the northeastern United States, hasn’t been found in Oregon – but it’s important to keep the moth out of the state. This invasive insect ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Extension helps community come together to create food pantry

Boardman, a town of just over 5,000 on the shores of the Columbia River in Morrow County, boasts the lowest rate of unemployment and highest median income in Oregon. But food insecurity is a very real issue in Boardman, ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Extension support of farm loops helps connect people to local food systems

On-farm sales and activities are on the rise in Oregon as producers look for different avenues to make their farms and ranches viable. They are increasingly turning to agritourism, which is a form of commercial enterprise that...

Mar 2023 | Impact Story

Migrant and seasonal farm workers in the Columbia River Gorge supported during pandemic

Each year about 6,000-15,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers arrive in the Columbia River Gorge from late May through early June to work in orchards, packing houses and on farms to harvest, pack, and process the region's ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Tree School Online helps woodland owners during COVID-19

More than 79,000 family forest owners in Oregon manage 3.6 million acres of private forestland, providing substantial economic, social and ecological value. Surveys show that landowner goals are diverse, as are the challenges they ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Extension holds free clinics to mitigate overpopulation of wild horses

Overpopulation of wild horses on Warm Springs tribal lands causes damage to the native ecosystem, primarily through overgrazing which contributes to increases in annual weeds that fuel more frequent wildfires. Additional problems ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

CPR/first aid class meets community need in Morrow County

In January 2020, Julie Baker, administrative office manager and local liaison for the Oregon State University Extension office in Morrow County, learned at a Heppner Chamber of Commerce meeting that multiple businesses and agencies ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Sea Grant Extension supports creation of award-winning ocean acidification curriculum

Ocean acidification is the change in ocean chemistry due to increasing concentrations of human-created carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. One result of an increase in carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean is carbonate, used for ...

Feb 2021 | Impact Story

Virtual babysitter training provided by OSU Extension helps address Oregon's child care gap

Quality child care remains in short supply in Oregon. A 2019 report from Oregon State University found that child care “deserts” existed in all 36 of the state’s counties. During the COVID-19 pandemic many youths were ...

Apr 2023 | Impact Story

OSU Extension steps up to address the needs of Oregon’s organic farms

Organic agriculture continues to grow rapidly in Oregon and is becoming an important economic engine in the state. The state ranks fifth in the nation in organic sales and is stronger than ever in farmers markets, community ...

Jan 2021 | Impact Story