Agriculture

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...

Oct 2020 | Impact Story

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 ...

Sep 2020 | Impact Story

$1 billion Oregon nursery industry benefits from OSU 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 ...

Sep 2020 | Impact Story

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 ...

Sep 2020 | Impact Story

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 ...

Aug 2020 | Impact Story

Research shows quinoa has potential to be a viable crop in Oregon

Quinoa has been grown for millennia in present-day Peru and Bolivia. Farmers there have cultivated thousands of varieties to provide consistent harvests in their diverse growing regions. The quinoa plant is a nutritious food, with...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Developing Oregon’s winter vegetable market project fills need

Winter squash is a delicious and nutritious vegetable. Pacific Northwest retail winter squash sales peak in October/November and decline through April when almost all the squash sold in Oregon is imported from California or Mexico....

Apr 2023 | Impact Story

Extension grass seed study helps improve farm efficiency

Grass seed is big business in Oregon, with a value of $458.3 million in 2020 – making it the fourth most valuable crop in the state. Growers use swathers to harvest the crop, but a significant portion of seed can be ...

Jul 2020 | Impact Story

OSU wheat and barley field trial helps growers make annual variety choices

In 2020, wheat was Oregon's sixth-largest commodity, with a value at the farm gate of $273.7 million. While barley production is substantially lower than wheat production, the grain is an important rotation crop in many parts ...

Feb 2021 | Impact Story

High Desert Garden Tour educates gardeners on growing conditions

Gardeners in the fast-growing high desert of Central Oregon encounter a short growing season, limited precipitation, frost any day of the year, and lackluster soil. Both ornamentals and food are a challenge to raise successfully. ...

Apr 2024 | Impact Story