Research at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center and experimental plots near campus continue to provide important R&D for the rapidly growing organic blueberry industry, which increased from 2 percent of Oregon’s blueberry market to 20 percent in the past 8 years.

MSI, a new model created to address critical issues facing Oregon and the globe, is strengthened by long-term, highly interdisciplinary research conducted by three AES research units: the Seafood Laboratory in Astoria (established in 1940), the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, and the Marine Mammal Institute.

 

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2015/osu%E2%80%99s-marine-studies-initiative

Provost Hiring Initiative funding provided the College with 5 new faculty positions in addition to 7 new positions funded by AgSci to strengthen programs across the state. Among the new hires are:

  • Leigh Torres, studying geospatial ecology of marine megafauna, directed toward improving conservation management of protected species. (COMES)
  • Sergio Arispe, studying rangeland plant communities, directed toward how grazing affects revegetation following wildfire. (Malheur)
  • Valtcho Jeliazkov, the new Director of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, focusing on improving the sustainability of winter wheat production in the region.

Pat Hayes, the head of Oregon State University’s barley breeding program, grows and analyzes over 10,000 experimental barley varieties, proposing the grain as a way for farmers to diversify their crops and capitalize on the growing markets of microbrews and whole-grain diets. Hayes’ team also studies barley’s genetic coding in an effort to identify genes that allow it to withstand low temperatures, resist disease, and survive with little water and nitrogen. They’ve partnered on this research with countries that include Australia, Germany, Japan, Scotland, and Uruguay. Hayes and OSU researcher Alfonso Cuesta-Marcos are interested in whether genes influence the flavor of barley. Their work has caught the attention of California’s Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Wisconsin’s New Glarus Brewing Co., who plan to test-brew beer from 50 to 100 exotic varieties of barley from around the world grown in 2012 by OSU.

Andrew Ross, food chemist and cereal scientist at OSU, is using barley flour to develop ambitious recipes for breads and tortillas. Local farmer Tom Hunton, co-owner of Camas Country Mill, believes barley is the next superfood sensation, and is currently growing some of Hayes’ varieties.

http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2013/bringing-barley-back