College of Agricultural Sciences

Overwatering a lawn can lead to negative effects such as excess leaf growth, nutrient leaching, shallow rooting and disease, according to Rob Golembiewski, Oregon State University Extension horticulturist. “Under-watering can cause just as many problems, such as loss of color and density, reduced vigor, wear damage and disease,” he said.

“Currently no specimens of brown marmorated stink bug have been found in Hermiston,” Alex Murphy of OSU Hermiston Agriculture Research and Extension facility said. “One was found as close as Arlington.”

In fact, Seven Hills, at 180 acres, sold grapes to 25 wineries in 2010. SeVein will bring another 150 acres of grapes onto the Northwest market. Norm McKibben, an Oregon State University graduate, said he’s seen more cooperation between the two states in recent years.

The court invited Oregon State University extension economist Bruce Sorte to speak on wind and other issues, such as how to generate jobs in rural towns. Sorte is putting together a study of how wind projects affect farmers and the rural economy.

Mike Flowers, Oregon State University cereal specialist, expects some yield and quality losses due to rust. He estimated that roughly 1 million acres of wheat in Oregon was sprayed.

Interest in colored barleys is a growing trend, Patrick Hayes, of the Oregon State University Crop and Soil Science Department, said. Purple is the biggest seller so far, with the preferred variety named Karma.

On Thursday, the Oregon State University Extension Service took a tour of some of the areas of the county that are seeing a relatively new plant taking hold.

As late as 1987, best as the research Landis has can document, Oregon had only about a dozen outdoor farmers’ markets. That number has since climbed to about 127 statewide, although the markets themselves vary so much they’re hard to categorize, said Larry Lev, a professor at Oregon State University and an economist with OSU Extension.

“In general, we have extremely safe food, with no measurable (pesticide) residues,” says Paul Jepson, director of the Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State University.

Students at Oregon State University have made brewing history by developing a machine that malts barley in quantities suitable for research and experimentation.