History of the Crop Science Department

Oregon State University

Originally prepared by R.E. Fore and D.W. Hedrick, 1967
Edited and extended by A.P. Appleby, 1999

The history of instruction and research in farm crops at OSU traces back through the Agronomy Department (1907-1916) of the Agricultural Division formed at the time of the establishment of Oregon Agricultural College in 1868. During the early years of O.A.C., gardens were maintained for the production of crops and instruction of students in crop production. Different varieties and cultural practices were tested. The establishment in 1888 of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station gave added emphasis to research, and work with farm crops was expanded immediately.

An Agronomy Department was established in 1907 with only two faculty members, Henry D. Scudder and George R. Hyslop. Scudder was head of the Agronomy Department during the period of the department’s existence (1907-1916). Hyslop was in charge of the Farm Crops Division and also, for the first three years, of the Farm Mechanics Division. He became Head of the Farm Crops Department (now named the Crop Science Dept.) when it was formed in 1916 and continued in this capacity until his death in 1943.

George Hyslop devoted much time to the development of the seed industry in Oregon. He started the Oregon Seed Certification program and was active in the development of the program until his death. He has been called the father of both the seed industry and the certification program in Oregon. He first undertook seed certification with potatoes in 1916 to provide seed stock true to variety name and reasonably free of diseases. Two years later, Oregon State Agricultural College started the certification of wheat. Certification of forage crops seed started in 1924, with the certification of a field of Grimm alfalfa.

The Seed Testing Laboratory was started as a USDA cooperative lab in 1909 and continued as such until 1954 when it was taken over by the state of Oregon. The lab was part of the Agronomy Department until 1916 and a section of the Farm Crops Department since that time.

The Department has long had a cooperative arrangement with USDA projects. These include:

Seed Testing Laboratory—1909 to 1954
Cereal Investigations—1910 to present
Forage and Seed Crops—1913 to present
Flax and Other Fiber Crops—
Hops—1930 to present.
Rubber Crops—1946 to 1950.
Weed Control in Seed Crops. 1956 to present.

The Agronomy Department was quartered in Education Hall until 1909. From 1909 to 1952, most of the Department was housed on the second floor in the north wing of Agricultural Hall (formerly called the Agronomy Building and now Strand Agricultural Hall).

The Seed Testing Laboratory was moved to the Farm Crops Annex in 1946 and most of the rest of the department moved to the Farm Crops Building in 1951. In addition, some offices and research laboratories were located in Withycombe Hall (Range Management), Agricultural Utilities, the ground floor in the south end of Agricultural Hall, and at the Hyslop Agronomy Farm. The Seed Testing Lab was in old quonset huts beside the Dairy Barn. In 1981, most of the Department moved into the new Crop Science Building. In 1989, the seed testing unit moved into a new Seed Laboratory Building.

Land for research, until 1916, was adjacent to the campus. Much of this area is now in the heart of the campus. The East Farm across the river from Corvallis, was rented from 1913-1963. In 1963, forty acres were purchased for use by the Farm Crops Department. The West Farm, located north of the railroad and east of 35^th St., was used for research for many years. The South Farm, south of U.S. 20 and east of 35^th St., was used from the early 1940s, when Horticulture moved their operations there to the Lewis Brown Farm, until the late 1950s.

The Hyslop Agronomy Farm was acquired in 1929 and has been used continuously to date. This farm is the main headquarters for field research and is equipped with shops; machinery storage space; drying, processing, and seed storage space; and research laboratories. The Schmidt Farm, an additional 70 acres south of the Hyslop Farm, was purchased in 1963 and is currently being used for research.

Range Management was organized in 1949, and was administered jointly by Farm Crops and Animal Husbandry. This continued until 1981 when Range Management became a separate department, presently named Rangeland Resources.

In 1971, Farm Crops was renamed Agronomic Crop Science, and in 1977, it became Crop Science. In 1990, the Crop Science and Soil Science Departments merged to form the Department of Crop and Soil Science. The crops division continued in the Crop Science Building, while the soils division moved from Strand Agricultural Hall to the new Agricultural and Life Sciences Building.

Department Heads of the crops division have been:

George Hyslop 1916-1943	Donald Hill 1943-1959	Ritchie Cowan 1959-1976	E.E. Hardin 1976- 1977
Dale Moss 1977-1984	E.E. Hardin 1984-1985	Sheldon Ladd 1985-2000	Russ Karow 2000-present