What we do

Extension faculty, staff, and trained volunteers work alongside local partners to provide educational workshops, activities, and services tailored to the unique industries, natural resources, and people in our communities.

Oregon State University's land grant mission drives us to conduct research and share research-based education to improve economic vitality and promote personal and environmental health.

Read all about our programs and their accomplishments in this program overview.

Highlights

Photo: Judy Kowalski (Cropped from original)

Hazelnuts and Tree Fruits

The North Willamette Research and Extension Center is home to the Orchard Crops Research and Extension Program led by Dr. Nik Wiman, which works closely with the Oregon hazelnut industry to help solve problems related to hazelnut production.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo: Judy Kowalski (Cropped from original)

Christmas Trees

Christmas tree information including upcoming events, ongoing research and other updates from Chal Landgren, OSU Extension Christmas tree specialist for Oregon.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Agrivoltaic Project

Agrivoltaics Studying how to combine growing crops (“agri”) and producing solar energy (“voltaics”) on the same land. An exciting concept, efficiently using energy resources, water, and maximizing the potential of the land.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo: Judy Kowalski (Cropped from original)

Vegetable and specialty seed crops

The mild climate of the Willamette Valley supports a diverse vegetable industry. The specialty seed industry in Oregon produces a variety of seed crops, over 170 crop species ranging from vegetable seed to cover crop and ornamental flowers.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo by Heidi Noordijk (Cropped from original)

Small Farms Program

The Small Farm Program at NWREC offers a wide variety of classes on many topics.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Nursery and Greenhouse

The mission of the Greenhouse and Nursery program is Sustainable Horticulture. Sustainable horticulture reflects an integration of skills and knowledge in pest management, plant propagation, plant nutrition, soil science, ecology, economics, and policy.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

IR-4 Program

Broccoli field trial at NWREC.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo: Steve Dodrill (Cropped from original)

Nursery Pathology and Bilingual Education

We are dedicated to providing bilingual, up-to-date recommendations and research on how to most effectively manage disease in nursery and greenhouse settings.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo by Amanda Davis (Cropped from original)

Berry Crops

The overall goal of the berry crops research and extension program is to help growers of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, and kiwi fruit make educated decisions with regard to planting establishment and management to improve economic viability and sustainability.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Photo by Sarah Doane (Cropped from original)

Blueberry Extension Program

The Blueberry Extension Program provides leadership for the blueberry education program and industry in the North Willamette District where most of the state’s commercial growers are located. We also conduct applied research in blueberry production systems to support extension activities.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

BEAV UAS program

While research projects with the BEAV are a key program component, the main focus of this program is grower outreach. Our goal is to bridge the gap between the technology available and the grower in the field to help provide a useful, easily accessible tool for plant health monitoring.

North Willamette Research and Extension Center

Programs offered

• Metro Area Small Farms: The Small Farms Program serves commercial small farm entrepreneurs as well as non-commercial small acreage landowners. Our focus embraces ecological farming systems.
• OSU Small Farms: The goal of the Small Farms program is to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of small farms by employing appropriate scale production and marketing techniques. The program works toward improving small farm ...