News for the Horticulture Department
In the News
Each state features advantages and disadvantages impacting its unique agriculture industries. There are many considerations for hobby farms to balance.
Alexander Butcher’s passion for food — which led to culinary school and a 10-year career as a professional chef — has now brought him to Oregon State University to pursue a Ph.D. in entomology.
Oregon’s annual hazelnut crop is worth about $110 million, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Oregon State University estimates the state produces more than 65,000 tons of hazelnuts a year.
A coalition that includes three Oregon State University Extension Service researchers was awarded a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve organic seed production, both in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.
Nick Andrews, Oregon State University Extension Service’s organic vegetable specialist, is one of the university’s resident experts on cover crops and a founding board member of the Western Cover Crops Council.
With drought, wildfire and other extreme weather events, climate change is bringing stress and a feeling of uncertainty for many farmers and ranchers. It’s also bringing along a new hurdle for many in the agricultural world – climate grief.
Our team researched, rated and scored the most popular national lawn care companies based on our in-depth methodology.
Greenhouse Grower’s July cover story will feature a closer look at how university horticulture departments from across the country are attracting new blood to the industry while fostering career development.
However, Oregon berries have a short growing season and shelf life, and they bruise easily in transit, according to Scott Lukas, a berry scientist at Oregon State University.
The Oregon State University Extension Service in Union County is warning cherry tree owners of the emergence of the first adult western cherry fruit flies in the county.
Following an extensive national search, Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences has named Dr. S. Patricia Stock as the new department head of Horticulture, effective August 5, 2024.
What does it mean to be a sustainable gardener? According to Erica Chernoh, assistant professor of Practice in Community and Commercial Horticulture with Oregon State University Extension Service, there is no hard-and-fast definition.
Pacific Nut Producer Editor Matthew Malcolm met with Nik Wiman, Orchard Crops Extension Specialist at Oregon State University, to discuss the impact of the prionus californicus root borer and what growers can do about it.
The finding by Oregon State University scientists indicates the fungal pathogen has evolved locally, thwarting disease resistance from the Gasaway cultivar that’s been bred into newer hazelnut tree varieties.
Caneberries should be fertilized in the early spring when new growth is starting, explained Amanda Davis, berry crops research assistant with the Oregon State University Extension Service.
Ramesh Sagili, an Oregon State University bee expert, has been appointed to a new pollinator subcommittee for the USDA National Agricultural Research, Extension Education and Economics Advisory Board.
Reports of worrisome symptoms prompted OSU to conduct a test last year that has verified the strain affects otherwise resistant hazelnut cultivars, said Nik Wiman, an OSU Extension horticulture specialist.
Oregon State University has a world renowned hazelnut breeding program, and the newest variety, Thompson, has recently been released. Thompson has some impressing features pacific northwest growers will be interested in.
Although the disease is not new, it appears to have gotten worse in the past five years, according to Andony Melathopoulos, an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at OSU, and the co-principal investigator of the study.
Following a national search, Oregon State University has named Brian Pearson as the next permanent director of the Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hood River, according to a news release from the university.
The cultivar is geared toward maximizing yield potential per acre, including in fruiting wall systems harvested with over-the top machinery currently used for blueberries, said Shawn Mehlenbacher, OSU’s hazelnut breeder.
Scott Lukas, Oregon State University associate professor, said some fruits grown in the Northwest have tight margins, and farms face international competition.
This is one reason why codling moth pressure, once thought to be well-managed with IPM and pheromone disruption, is increasing, said Chris Adams, Oregon State University entomologist and chair of the Northwest’s codling moth task force.
“You’re slowing the flow of water down as much as possible so the water stays on the land as long as possible,” said Maud Powell, a small farms specialist with Oregon State University Extension.
The Oregon State University campus in Corvallis is known for two features – its majestic brick study halls and the more than 65,000 individual trees that line its streets and walking paths.
"The wildfire smoke can severely impact wine quality,” Cody Copp, an Oregon State University assistant professor and horticulturist said. “And for a lot of vineyards and wineries it can make fruit unmarketable."
A few dozen growers learned about quirks of growing Pearl series cherries, cherry breeding and leafhopper research on June 6 at Oregon State University’s annual preharvest cherry tour in The Dalles.
Entomologist Jeffrey Miller, retired from Oregon State University, has been painstakingly adding data points to the existing maps of Oregon butterflies.
A plant expert at Oregon State University developed a new type of tomato with blueberry-like health benefits. The purple tomato contains anthocyanins, a healthy antioxidant pigment found in blueberries.
Given their importance, it’s confounding to Andony Melathopoulos, a professor of horticulture at Oregon State University, that the status of Oregon’s roughly 800 species of wild bees is relatively unknown.
During an online seminar on Wednesday, Andony Melathopoulos, assistant professor and pollinator health extension specialist at Oregon State University, taught farmers how to make their land more hospitable to bees.
Erica Chernoh, Horticulture Faculty with OSU Extension in Lane County, agreed the season is a couple of weeks late, but said that can change quickly if the weather heats up.
Andony Melathopoulos is an associate professor in pollinator health at OSU. He told KLCC so far 10 wineries, including Eugene's King Estate, have swarmed at the chance to participate.
But in Corvallis, the Turkish Student Association at Oregon State University feels for their friends and family. This is the case for Mustafa Bozkus, a graduate student at OSU studying horticulture.
Oregon State University would receive $1 million to study pest control alternatives under a bill that’s partly meant to replace certain insecticides in specialty crops.
Last week, Oregon State University hosted a blueberry cutting event during which people taste-tested 112 different blueberry selections and varieties.
As of Wednesday, the Oregon State University Horticulture Department had reached its goal of 3,000 vouchers for the “Pollinator Paradise” plates.
At the 7:13 mark of this episode, OSU researcher Brent Warneke talks about what’s available today in the agriculture industry for sensor-controlled spray systems as well as autonomous systems.
Lane Selman thinks winter vegetables are under-appreciated and she wants to change that! The Oregon State University professor and creator of the Culinary Breeding Network joined us to share her tasty tips.
