News for the Crop and Soil Science Department
Bringing barley back
Under a blue sky in a field near Corvallis, a combine spits nearly a ton of barley seeds into a bin on the back of a flatbed Ford. Patrick Hayes plunges his hand into the golden kernels. This is the first time he has harvested this variety, named ‘Alba,’ on such a large scale. Hayes, the head of Oregon State University’s barley breeding program, made the genetic cross that gave rise to ‘Alba’ 15 years ago. He has been evaluating it in the field since. He’s hoping that the high-yielding grain will be a hit in beer, food and livestock feed.
Proclamation can't replace state funding for weed control
Gov. John Kitzhaber has declared May 19-25 Invasive Weed Awareness Week, and, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the state needs to be diligent in its war against weeds.
But you wouldn't know it by the department's proposed 2013-15 budget.
Under a directive to cut $1.2 million in lottery funding, the department has proposed cutting $518,896 from its weed program, or about 25 percent of its state funding.
OSU Celebrates Barley Days: Celebration Slated for May 17
On Friday, May 17, Oregon State University invites the community to the fifth annual Barley Days to celebrate and learn about one of the world’s oldest grains.
Crop and soil science professor Dr. Patrick Hayes is the principal investigator and head of the barley project at OSU. He organizes the event with the help of research assistants and graduate students.
Drones hit new turf: U.S. farmland
Farmers are starting to investigate the use of drones for a decidedly nonmilitary purpose: monitoring crops and spraying pesticides.
As the spring growing season unfolds, universities already are working with agricultural groups to experiment with different types of unmanned aircraft outfitted with sensors and other technologies to measure and protect crop health.
Oregon State University plans to use the unmanned vehicles to monitor the school's potato crop and those of a commercial potato grower. Both crops, located near Hermiston, Ore., are expected to sprout in coming weeks. The university last month ran its first test-flight.
OSU researcher tracks stripe rust on susceptible wheat
Stripe rust is spreading quickly on susceptible wheat varieties in Oregon State University test plots, extension cereal specialist Mike Flowers says.
Flowers provided an email update to industry members regarding signs of stripe rust and septoria on unsprayed South Willamette Valley variety trials.
If rust is showing up in his plots, farmers with susceptible varieties will likely be seeing the same thing, he said.
