November 1, 2009
Note: Over the last three months since my arrival in Corvallis, I have visited our academic departments and traveled to every one of branch experiment stations around Oregon, some of which I have described in earlier postings. The actual trips described below occurred over a few separate occasions in different directions, but in these three consecutive posts I have tried to stitch the trips together for the purpose of continuity!
“Go West, young man, and grow up with the country,” said Horace Greeley. In Oregon, one really has to go east to see the West!
Since my arrival at Oregon State University almost three months ago, I have traveled – thanks to my colleagues, Stella, Larry, Betsy, and Todd – several thousand miles within Oregon, learning about our college’s huge presence throughout the state and its food and agricultural enterprise, and along the way met students, alumni, stakeholders, friends, and state and federal legislators. I have partaken the bounty of our state – from the amazing array of fruit, vegetables, and nuts such as cherries and pears, Marion berries, Purple Pelisse potatoes, and hazelnuts to wines such as pinots, cabs, and syrahs to grain and meat to oyster shooters, mussels, salmon, Albacore tuna to artisan cheeses, and beef steaks to lamb to name just a few. Oregon produces well over two hundred different commodities, many organized under commodity commissions or grower associations.
The valleys west of the Cascades, Willamette, Rogue, and Umqua – each with its very own, unique microclimate, varying in the native fauna and flora, home to a bewildering array of agricultural enterprises such as vineyards and wineries, specialty seed, grass seed, fruit orchards, berries, hop trellises, nurseries, artisanal cheeses, beers, and on and on. It is the unique soils and microclimates, along with elevational differences that make the valleys so productive, and allow all the different kinds of food and agricultural systems to thrive, including organic, sustainable, conventional, etc. Some of the research efforts are undertaken at our academic departments in Corvallis, and at our branch experiment stations in Aurora and Medford.
Of course, not everything is perfect in the paradise one sees driving down Interstate-5. The economic downturn has affected many of the agricultural enterprises, and controversies abound: profitability; the grass seed business and nursery business are off almost 50%, imposing significant and immediate stresses on the producers and their families and employees, and more broadly on the state’s economy; environmental concerns, organic versus sustainable versus conventional; GMOs, canola, burning, pesticides, environmental impacts, etc. Our faculty play a significant role in providing scientific clarity to complex issues, and help focus on outcomes that are in the best interest of the agricultural enterprises themselves and ultimately on society.
East of the Cascades is, as the locals say, God’s Country – rolling hills, high plains desert, huge basins. It is beautiful country. Dry to very dry. Wheat country. Range country. Cattle country. Here, again, controversies abound – mostly about water, federal land, grazing rights. Farmers and ranchers alike face significant challenges, not unlike what is seen in the valleys west of the Cascades. Faculty at our stations play a significant role in providing scientific clarity to complex issues, and undertake the research and Extension efforts needed to help producers, communities, and residents.
Downtown Portland is home to the only urban experiment station in the United States – the Food Innovation Center, which is a partnership between our college and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. This one-of-a-kind station works very closely with the food processing industry on such areas as market access and development, economics and marketing, consumer sensory testing, packaging and shelf life, processing and packaging, product development, and the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the food industry. The FIC has state-of-the-art facilities, including a kitchen that the food industry can use to develop and test products with the help of our faculty and staff. A number of products in the market place, such as beverages, chips, and other products, are the result of the unique partnership between our faculty and staff and the food industry.
Astoria, on the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean, is the home to our Seafood Lab and Seafood Consumer Center, which are dedicated to discovering new value added uses of marine organisms, such as surimi from whiting fish, oyster shooters, albacore tuna, to name a few; and researchers are determining how to deal with food safety in seafood, population genetics and origin of salmon. Chef Eric Jenkins who dishes up gourmet dishes and lessons at the seafood school created a wonderful dinner of honey mustard marinated salmon, rice pilaf, and salad, preceded by appetizers that included smoked albacore tuna, mussels, oysters, and barbecued squid.
Driving south from Astoria enroute to Newport is Tillamook – home of the famous dairies and cheese. We stopped for Tillamook ice cream and grilled cheese sandwiches. The drive along the coast is wonderful – the Oregon coast is like no other that I have seen in my travels. The little towns along the way are picturesque – these are places I need to come back to with my wife.
Further south is Newport – home to our Coastal Marine Experiment Station, the Marine Mammal Institute, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
Here our faculty undertake research and Extension efforts on various aspects of the biology of various marine species such as whales, salmon, oysters, and others, along with marketing and economic analyses of the seafood industry.
Newport is also home to an “ornamental fish hospital”. The economic downturn has had a significant impact in this section of the state, and the fishermen are concerned as well about policies and regulations that place significant burden on their livelihoods. I had a chance to listen to people like Sen. Betsy Johnson and Rep. Jean Cowan, who are both huge supporters of our college and efforts in Astoria and Newport; at dinner with other stakeholders, which included one on a boat – The Marine Discovery Tours boat operated by Fran and Don Mathews – I heard support for our efforts and concerns about the impact of the budget cuts on our presence. These are passionate people and truly committed to our college’s efforts.
The return to Corvallis was through the Coastal Range in the dark, in rain. The little I could see out of the window of the car suggested some mountains with beautiful, old growth Douglas firs or the scar of clear cut or fires. It’s a trip I will need to do on my motorcycle during the daytime in late spring or summer.
