Oregon produces 99 percent of U.S. hazelnuts

Oregon hazelnuts are one of Oregon’s top agricultural commodities and a crop that OSU Extension specialists and OSU College of Agricultural Science plant breeders have supported for many years via a series of research and outreach education programs. Oregon grows 99 percent of the U.S. hazelnut crop. In 2009 the state's production climbed to 47,000 tons of hazelnuts, 47 percent larger than the previous year. The value of the crop was $74.7 million, increasing 44 percent from 2008.

Over the past three decades Extension specialists and field faculty, working closely with growers, have concentrated research and education efforts on helping the Oregon hazelnut industry cope with the fungal disease eastern filbert blight (EFB), which is deadly to trees lacking EFB resistance.

OSU CAS plant breeders introduced the first EFB resistant hazelnut tree varieties in 2005 and additional resistant varieties were released in 2008-09. As Oregon hazelnut growers begin planting the new varieties now available, Extension educators will continue to work alongside researchers doing field testing of new crop management strategies, reporting results and making recommendations to growers. In addition to assisting with introduction of new EFB resistant hazelnut trees, Extension specialists and researchers have also helped growers reduce reliance on chemical sprays for pest control.

Contact: Jeff Olsen

At $6 per bushel, this means an additional $10 million for Oregon wheat growers each year

Oregon's farmers planted about a million acres of wheat in 2010, more than half of which was blanketed by varieties developed by Oregon State University. Its wheat breeding program has been at work for more than a century, and its researchers have developed dozens of varieties adapted to Oregon's diverse growing conditions. Fruits of their labor include Goetze, a variety well-suited for the Willamette Valley; high-yielding Tubbs and Tubbs 06; and ORCF 101 and ORCF 102, which were bred to resist a particular herbicide. ORCF 101 is the most widely planted wheat variety in Oregon, accounting for almost 20 percent of the state's wheat acreage. In 2009, Oregon's farmers sold more than $260 million of wheat, making it the state’s fourth-largest agricultural commodity.

Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service; OSU crop and soil science department; OSU Extension Service.

New strategies save money and reduce children’s exposure to pesticides

Students deserve to learn in safe, healthy environments. But sometimes their schools contain potentially harmful pests like rodents and roaches, both of which can trigger asthma – a condition that eight percent of all Oregon children have. Pesticides can be harmful, too, especially for children because their bodies are still developing.

The Oregon legislature mandated the OSU Extension Service to draw up integrated pest management (IPM) plans for Oregon's 197 school districts. These plans for less hazardous pest-fighting aim to eliminate the conditions that attract pests and use chemicals only as a last resort.

Backers say the new strategies will mean reduced costs for schools because they'll have fewer pests. They point to Vista de las Cruces School in Santa Barbara, Calif., where pest management costs went from $1,740 a year to $270 (plus labor) for two years. Before the Monroe County Community School Corp. in Indiana implemented an IPM program in 1995, it was spending about $34,000 on pest management. The district now saves around $13,600 a year. Schools in Montgomery County in Maryland reduced pesticide use from 5,000 applications in 1985 to none four years later, saving the school district $1,800 per school and $30,000 at the food service warehouse. In another county in Maryland, the Anne Arundel School District reduced its pest control budget from $46,000 to $14,000 after its first year of IPM implementation

Sources: National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides; 2007 report by the Oregon Department of Human Services.

The Oregon Wine Research Institute focuses industry collaboration in research and Extension

The process of making wine is complex and OSU research is helping improve the process from field to market. OSU vine expert Patty Skinkis has found that using a cover crop in a mature vineyard produces higher-quality grapes and a better bottom line. For Oregon's 835 vineyards, that bottom line was nearly $77 million in sales of grapes in 2009. That's in addition to the $202 million in cases that the state's 395 wineries sold.

Skinkis also found that grapes from vines with grass alleyways scored the highest in terms of phenolics, which affect how wine feels in the mouth, and anthocyanins, which are pigments that produce a more intense red—a desirable trait in Oregon’s famous Pinot noir and many other red wines. That increased quality could translate into higher prices for Oregon grapes and for the wine made from them.

Meanwhile, OSU researcher James Osborne is studying how yeast impact the aroma of Pinot noir. His goal is to help winemakers select strains that can produce the aromas and flavors they desire. Osborne and Skinkis are carrying on OSU's legacy of helping the wine industry. Past achievements of OSU scientists include isolating the first malolactic bacteria to grow at cold temperatures and low pHs; devising a lag growth phase crop estimation system that is now used universally; importing the Dijon clones and many varieties for the first time into the United States; and creating the first International Cool Climate Symposium for Viticulture and Enology in 1984.

Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service's 2009 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report.