Oregon Beef Council Funding for Research at Oregon State University

The Oregon Beef Council (OBC) is one of 23 agricultural commodity commissions in Oregon.  It was created by state statute in 1959 and has assessments of $1.50 per head that are collected by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.  The Oregon Beef Council created new funding for research at OSU through the Oregon Legislature in 2005.

This new funding started in 2006 and is for two areas:  Animal Science Research and Rangeland Science Research.  Committees made up of Oregon ranchers and beef industry representatives review proposals each year and recommend projects that receive funding through the Oregon Beef Council.

Each year the Oregon Beef Council has made about $80,000 available to each of these two line items; or about $160,000 total per year.  That means that over the past ten years, Oregon’s ranchers and beef producers have contributed more than $1.5 million towards high-quality research at Oregon State.

Over the past four years, the Oregon Beef Council has held meetings on campus to get to know OSU research partners better.  During the meetings ranchers and industry leaders have enjoyed dialogue with researchers and faculty about priorities for future projects.  They also discuss how current projects are proceeding and results of the research the Oregon Beef Council helped fund.

At the OBC meeting on campus in September, the group heard from the first recipient of the Oregon Beef Council Graduate Fellowship Endowment Fund scholarship that was established this year.  Jaycee Ann Leonard is a graduate student working with Dr. Carlos Ochoa on a project funded by the OBC entitled “Research on Stream Water Temperature and Sediment Load in Riparian Systems”.  Jaycee is from Roy, Washington and in 2010, she earned a B.A. degree in Environmental Studies from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. Jaycee has worked for the B.L.M. and the U.S. Forest Service, and is working towards her Master of Science degree in Rangeland Ecology and Management.

“We are fortunate to have Jaycee on board working on sound science with Dr. Ochoa to help develop research of value to Oregon agriculture” said Oregon Beef Council chairman Jason Chamberlain.  “This is the start of a new chapter in working together with Oregon State University and we are very excited about the future of these programs” he concluded.

For more information on the Oregon Beef Council Graduate Fellowship Endowment Fund, please contact John Killefer, Head, Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences. 

Give online to the Oregon Beef Council Graduate Fellowship Endowment

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University is Oregon's principal source of knowledge relating to agricultural and food systems, and a major source of knowledge regarding environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences, and rural economies and communities worldwide. The College provides undergraduate and graduate education leading to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, and extended education programs throughout Oregon and beyond. Its research programs create knowledge to solve problems and to build a knowledge base for the future. It is a source of information and expertise in integrating and applying knowledge with benefits that are felt in domestic and international settings.

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