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

Networks foster support and learning as women in agriculture surge

Throughout the country, the number of women in agriculture is surging and that includes Oregon where 44% of the state’s farm producers are women. Still, working in an industry that is largely dominated by men causes some ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story

Master Woodland Managers educate on the environment in eastern Oregon

Oregon's small woodland owners manage almost 4.5 million acres – or 40% of all private forestland in the state. In Baker and Grant counties, private owners manage 150,000 acres, providing substantial contributions to local ...

Feb 2023 | Impact Story

FoodCorps fosters culture of health in Klamath County schools

Food insecurity affects 14.3% of the Klamath County population, according to Oregon by the Numbers, a 2020 report produced by the Oregon State University Extension Service and The Ford Family Foundation. Nationally, one in four ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension supports Warm Springs COVID-19 vaccinations clinics

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for Native American tribes and communities across the United States. They’ve been left out of receiving additional emergent care that has been provided to non-tribal communities. The ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story

OSU Extension helps Klamath County farmers save forage by detecting and suppressing grasshoppers

In the summer of 2021, Oregon suffered its worst outbreaks of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets in 50 years. Light infestations – six to seven grasshoppers per square yard across 10 acres – will forage as much as one ...

Feb 2023 | Impact Story

Eastern Oregon landowners equipped to better manage their forests through OSU Extension outreach

Eastern Oregon landowners have a wide range of needs that make managing the region’s diverse forests challenging. Getting individualized information on topics such as timber production, grazing, wildlife habitat, forest health ...

Feb 2023 | Impact Story

OSU Extension Master Gardener Program increases diversity, equity and inclusivity

With nearly 2,800 volunteers in 27 counties across the state, the 46-year-old Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener program made contact with 78,700 Oregonians in 2022 – a significant increase from 2021's ...

Feb 2023 | Impact Story

As climate changes, interest grows in OSU Extension Dry Farming Project

With climate change causing ongoing drought and warmer temperatures in the West, there’s a critical need to develop alternative methods of producing the many and diverse vegetable crops grown in Oregon. Droughts translate into ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story

4-H Investigators at Home provides STEAM activities to students

During the 2020-21 school year, most Oregon students were participating in school through distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although online learning is an important means to continue education, it often lacks ...

Feb 2023 | Impact Story

Students enriched through OSU Extension Sherman County after-school program

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Sherman County School in Moro to eliminate its successful three-day-a-week after-school program. The rural school of about 250 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th didn’t attempt the ...

Apr 2022 | Impact Story