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Dig It! Oregon's Agricultural Progress
“Leonardo da Vinci said we know more about the movement of the celestial bodies
than we do about the soil underfoot,” said John Baham, a soils professor at
OSU. “We know about the planets, atmosphere, oceans, and forests, but when
you get down to the stuff below our feet, it’s a mysterious world.” (Oregon's Agricultural Progress, Winter 2009) |
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Oregon State University Would Get Millions in Ag Bill An agriculture funding bill that would send millions of dollars to Oregon State University is on hold.
Russ Karow is the head of crop and soil science at OSU. He says the funding proposal isn’t a surprise, but is still good news.
Russ
Karow: “With each new congressional group that’s out there – or in this
case, a change of Administration, you never know whats coming at you.
We never know that the dollars are going to be there.”
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Farmers Still Need More Research - by Dr. Jim Peterson We lost a great leader for the world wheat industry and spokesman for agricultural research, Dr. Norman Borlaug. As a wheat breeder, Dr. Borlaug’s work and leadership through the Green Revolution saved hundreds of millions of lives. We need leaders from throughout the industry to step up, to advocate for wheat and production agriculture and to explain their importance to policy makers and the public. The world’s food supply is depending on it. (Oregon Natural Resource Report, October 9, 2009) |
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Meanwhile, in OSU's Department of Crop and Soil Science, Associate Professor Dan Sullivan and graduate student RonJon Datta are measuring the amount and timing of plant-available nitrogen released from cover crops. They are identifying "reliable predictors of plant-available nitrogen in the field." (Terra Magazine, Fall 2009) |
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New Book Outlines Impact of Tall Fescue A new book co-edited by an Oregon State University professor sheds light on the importance of tall fescue, a grass grown in Oregon for seed and used around the world for turf and forage.In the book, OSU professor David Hannaway, his co-editors and 59 contributors describe the history of tall fescue, its importance as a forage plant, management practices, and research that led to the development of grass cultivars with nontoxic endophytes. (Albany Democrat-Herald, October 5, 2009) |
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Brewster's Garden Shows Passion for Dahlias Until the days shorten, the temperatures cool and the rains come, an explosion of color can still be found at the home of Bill and Carol Brewster in Corvallis. t's a good thing Bill is retired from the weed science department at OSU, although he still does research for them, as he spends about 4 hours a day out in the garden during the active growing season. (Corvallis Gazette-Times, September 27. 2009) |
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New Ag Dean Thinks Outside the Box CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Some Oregon State University professors might want to read up on speed dating. The new dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences once employed speed dating as a way to introduce Purdue University professors to one another and the work they were doing.
OSU faculty and constituents can expect such out-of-the-box thinking
from the 57-year-old college administrator who started Aug. 1 as dean
of the agricultural college and director of the experiment station. |
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Grass Seed Growers Hurting and Optimistic
Local farmers, no stranger to fluctuating prices or necessary
innovation, are staying optimistic that the market will rebound. But
many agree this year is particularly poor for the grass seed market. (Bend Bulletin, September 14, 2009) |
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Spud Harvest Outlook Mixed The 2009 Columbia Basin potato harvest looks like a mixed bag with some potatoes scorched by a late-July heat spell, and others doing fine. Oregon State University Extension agronomist Don Horneck, on the other hand, projected yields would be down. "That two weeks that it was hot was pretty brutal on some varieties," Horneck said. "It's going to be a down year for potatoes." (Captial Press, August 27, 2009) |
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More and more amber waves of grain are showing up here in the Grass Seed Capital of the World. For decades, the Willamette Valley has been a center for grass seed production. But demand for the seed to grow lush lawns has fallen with the housing downturn and overall weak economy. An increasing number of them are converting some acreage to wheat. About 90,000 to 120,000 acres of wheat — mostly soft white wheat used for making tortillas and pasta, not bread, is being harvested this year, estimates Jim Peterson, a wheat breeder at Oregon State University. (Eugene Register-Guard, August 9, 2009) |
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Taking the Temperature of Corvallis
When asked Tuesday night what was Corvallis’
official high, PhilipMote replied it was 108. That technically was the high,
using the weather observation station at the Corvallis Airport south of
town. (Corvallis Gazette-Times, July 30, 2009) |
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Willamette Valley Grass Seed Growers Brace For Future Without Field Burning It's harvest season in the Willamette Valley, but after this year's legislative session, the future of Oregon's grass seed industry is hazy. For decades, farmers in the valley -- known as the world capital of grass seed -- have burned to clear fields of pests, weeds and plant diseases and prepare them for the next year's crop. This year, Miller and most grass seed farmers in the Willamette Valley will burn for the last time. In the current economy, grass seed growers pay more to produce grass seed than to sell it, says Bill Young, a grass seed specialist at Oregon State University. (The Oregonian, July 17, 2009) |
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Oregon's Potential as a Crop-growing Hub Excites Some Oregon is about to become the first Western state to permit its farmers to grow industrial hemp. But there are a couple of problems to be confronted before Oregon becomes a Hemptopia by the Pacific: It’s still an illegal crop, according to the federal government.
Oregon wasn’t an ideal place to grow hemp the first time it was legal. And it won’t be the next time, either. |
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Ag Center Celebrates 100 Years
The
evolution of the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center
in the last 100 years was so fantastic that when researchers speculate
on the next century, they think science fiction. (East Oregonian, July 1, 2009) |
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Most field burning in the Willamette Valley will be banned starting next year, the legislature has decided. (Albany Democrat-Herald, June 29, 2009) |
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A 'time bomb' for World Wheat Crop The Ug99 fungus, called stem rust, could wipe out more than 80% of the world's wheat as it spreads from Africa, scientists fear. The race is on to breed resistant plants before it reaches the U.S. "It's a time bomb," said Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "It moves in the air, it can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take." (Los Angeles Times, June 14, 2009) |
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The Dirt on Testing for Soil Lead Soil with lead at 50 parts per million (ppm) to 400 ppm has elevated levels from human activities, according to Dan Sullivan, an associate professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University. At those levels, you can grow any vegetable but should limit children's exposure to the dust. Just wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly. (PDX Green, June 12, 2009) |
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Wheat's Role in Valley Grows "The number of acres planted to wheat has skyrocketed the last couple years," OSU's Jim Peterson said. "There were about 100,000 bushels of wheat seed sold primarily in the mid-valley this year." "The field day has been going on longer than I've been with Oregon State University and that's 31 years," said Extension Seed Specialist Bill Young. "It showcases the work we've got under way from each of the various groups that work here." (Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 27, 2009) |
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OSU Ag Research Grants Awarded The Agricultural Research Foundation is celebrating its 75th anniversary by awarding grants totaling more than $500,000 to Oregon State University scientists.Sujaya Rao, an OSU entomologist, heads the pollinator study, which seeks to enhance crop production in Oregon by augmenting and managing populations of native bumble bees. (Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 23, 2009) |
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Next Ag Dean at OSU grew up in India The new dean of Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences is Sonny Ramaswamy, an associate dean at Purdue University who grew up poor in India. OSU announced the decision Friday morning. "I grew up in a single-parent family, my mother raised us," Ramaswamy said in a telephone interview with the Gazette-Times. "The one thing she raised us with was that you have to be responsible, and you have to be held accountable. Those things are seared in my brain." The 57-year-old said he wants to help build the College of Agricultural Sciences, and OSU, into a respected institution, not just in the nation, but in the world. (Corvallis Gazette-Times, April 27, 2009) |
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Oregon Water Demand Opens Door to Special Interests The Umatilla Basin has boomed because of water, producing in one year about $700 million in crops. Farms and food processing factories provide thousands of jobs in the region. The brakes came on in the early 1990s. Farmers had pumped too much water out of deep aquifers, and the state dialed back the flow for nearly 65,000 acres. "It hasn't turned off a farm," said Don Horneck, an agronomist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. (The Oregonian, April 26, 2009) |
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Oregon Barley Program Featured in IBMS Newsletter North Dakota State University's Institute of Barley and Malt Sciences newsletter features an article by Oregon State University Professor Pat Hayes in its April 2009 issue. The article details the Oregon Barley Project, which is currently focusing research efforts on "cold tolerant, fall-planted barley". (IBMS Newsletter, April 2009) |
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Ag Expo Details the Links From Farm to Market Bill Young, OSU Extension Service, and his wife, Carol, provided facts about the crop for which the Willamette Valley is famous: grass seed. They invited the students to guess how many seeds it took to make up a pound of grass seed. Turns out, the answer depends on the variety of grass seed: It takes 450,000 seeds to make up a pound of orchard grass but bentgrass seed is so small, it takes 6 million seeds to weigh a pound. (Gazette-Times, April 16, 2009) |
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PVMI and Tristate Potato Breeding Program Release Purple Potato RFP This is the first time a specialty potato variety developed by the Tri-State Program will be sublicensed to only one or a few private companies. An exclusive or semi-exclusive license/s will make it possible for the licensee(s) to more aggressively establish and support marketing of this new potato variety. (April 7, 2009) |
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Ag Research Centers Feel Pinch of State Budget Crisis Oregon State University's agricultural research centers - including Hermiston and Pendleton - face significant funding cuts in the wake of the state's growing budget crisis. Steve Petrie, superintendent of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center in Pendleton, said the facility learned last week it confronts a $108,000 budget cut for this fiscal year, which ends in June. That's almost 10 percent of its more than $1.2 million annual budget. (East Oregonian, March 28. 2009) |
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Researchers Say Soybeans Good New Oregon Crop Oregon State University researchers say that soybeans are a potentially valuable new crop for the Pacific Northwest, especially in Malheur County in Eastern Oregon. A field crops and watershed agent for the OSU Extension Service, Steve Norberg, says that his 10 years of experience with soybeans in the Midwest have shown him that Oregon farmers could be very successful raising the crop. (Associated Press, March 1, 2009) |
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2008 a Good Year for Farmers and Ranchers Farmers and ranchers had estimated sales of $4.9 billion last year, which is the largest total in the state's history and the sixth consecutive year of sales growth, according to a new report by Oregon State University. The total is a 1.2 percent increase from a revised figure of $4.8 billion generated in 2007, said the annual report, which was released by the OSU Extension Service on Wednesday. (Portland Business Journal, February 18, 2009) |
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Recession On The Farm: Oregon Hay Prices Drop Oregon hay prices are falling fast as the economy slows. And that's hurting hay growers - and exporters, who experienced record high prices for the crop last year. Mylen Bohle works for the Oregon State University extension office in central Oregon. He calls the drop in agricultural prices "unprecedented". (OPB News, February 2, 2009) |
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Vole Holes featured on Oregon Field Guide "Voles are not moles but they still make holes. Meet the critters, the farmers whom they ate out of house and home and a scientist who thinks they may do some good after all," says Oregon Field Guide in promotional copy for a segment with OSU soil scientist James Cassidy on voles. (OPB.org, October 30, 2008) |
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Universities to Hold Forum About Uniting Rural, Urban Oregon (SALEM, Ore.) - "Oregon is an incredibly diverse collection of landscapes, economies and communities," said Beth Emshoff, metro specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service and the lead organizer of the conference. In addition to OSU, the other sponsors are Portland State University, the University of Oregon and Eastern Oregon University. (SalemNews.com, October 22, 2008) |
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A success story that's well worth protecting According to recent figures from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, net farm income in Oregon totaled $148 billion in 2007. This record amount is a 50 percent increase from 2006. And experts predict that 2008 will set a new record. Oregon agriculture is remarkably diverse, with more than 225 different products marketed locally and around the world. Agriculture is the No. 2 industry in Oregon and accounts -- directly or indirectly -- for one out of every 10 Oregon jobs. (The Oregonian, October 8, 2008) |
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Oregon State Researchers Begin Search For The Perfect Potato The annual Pacific Northwest Tri-State Potato Tour determines what potatoes to plant in the future. Over the next week, farmers and researchers will travel around the region to judge over 50,000 different varieties of spuds. The top potatoes get replanted. And earn a chance to help produce the potatoes that will eventually be baked, mashed, and fried over the next two decades. (OPB News, September 29, 2008) |
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Extension service could be victim of budget cuts DALLAS — Green thumbs, watershed watchers, active rural youths — the number of people touched by extension office services is far reaching. For that reason, there has been a considerable outpouring of concern regarding budget cutbacks and their effect on the Oregon State University Extension Service in Polk County. (Statesman Journal, September 24, 2008) |
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Scientist creating oasis of native species (The Associated Press, September 10, 2008) |
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Final curtain for field burning The era of open field burning in the Willamette Valley should have ended in the 20th century. Tom McCall was the first to try ending it nearly 40 years ago. On Eugene's infamous "Black Tuesday," Aug. 12, 1969, the Republican governor visited the smoke-enshrouded city and declared an emergency ban on field burning, and legislators soon passed a complete phase-out of the practice. (The Oregonian, Wednesday, September 10, 2008) |
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Promising research may grow bee population CORVALLIS, Ore. -- From foraging techniques to pollen gathering patterens, bee behavior is the focus of many research projects at Oregon State University. But the latest major discovery happened here by accident. Entomologist Sujaya Rao was collecting grass seed pests with different colored traps, she expected one with a blue vane to be a bust. (KVAL News, August 14, 2008) |
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As students explore opportunities, mentors provide personal support Peter Bottomley and Shawn Starkenburg (Terra Magazine Summer 2008) |
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Chinese Olympic Games will feature Oregon grass If you tune in to the Olympic Games in Beijing, chances are you’ll see a little piece of home. Almost 100 percent of the grass in China’s largest city -- whether on playing fields or in local parks -- has been imported from Oregon. …Oregon is the world’s number one producer of grass seed. (Oregon Public Broadcasting, August 3, 2008) |
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New, young farmers cultivate their place in Oregon’s agriculture. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Summer 2008) |
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How OSU has helped grass-seed growers change the course of their industry. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Summer 2008) |
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OSU weed scientist receives award Carol Mallory-Smith has received the Weed Science Society of America's highest honor for her contributions to the profession. (Winter 2008) |
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OSU Soil microbiology professors receive award Researchers David Myrold and Peter Bottomley recently received recognition for their work on small organisms that play a large role in how the earth functions. (Winter 2008) |
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OSU releases new disease-resistant soft white winter wheat for Willamette Valley Scientists in OSU’s Department of Crop and Soil Science have developed a new variety of soft white winter wheat well-suited for the Willamette Valley (Fall 2007) |
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New barley selections available for testing and licensing OSU barley breeder, Pat Hayes, has released new disease-resistant selections of winter hooded barley for testing and potential licensing. (Fall 2007) |
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As honey bees decline, researchers examine the role of native pollinators. [VIDEO & SLIDE SHOW] (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Fall 2007) |
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100 Years of Crop and Soil Science With powerful new tools unimaginable a century ago, OSU scientists nurture Oregon's bounty above ground and below. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Summer 2007) |
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Breathing life into soil science (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Summer 2007) |
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Seed Lab is busy testing 2007 grass seed crop Millions of bags of Oregon grass seed will be shipped around the world this year, and many of them will be bearing a blue tag issued by the OSU Seed Certification Service. (Summer 2007) |
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Blessed With Soil and Precious Little Water At the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, researchers help growers perfect the art and science of dryland agriculture. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Summer 2005) |
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OSU helps Oregon growers in agriculture's fastest growing sector. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Fall 2005) |
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OSU's fermentation science comes of age as Oregon bubbles to the top of the microbrew industry. (Oregon Ag Progress Magazine, Fall 2005) |
