OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Open search box
Our mission is to advance sustainable agriculture, community food systems, and economic progress for Oregon's small farmers and ranchers and provide a leading-edge experience for students.
Flexible online courses designed for people considering starting a farm business, those within their first five years of farming and others who may be considering major changes to their farm business.
Oregon Small Farm News is a free online newsletter that concentrates on both commercial small farm entrepreneurs as well as non-commercial small acreage landowners. Our focus embraces organic/biological and conventional farming systems.
Serious about farming?
Come learn how to navigate the biological, financial, and human aspects of small-scale farming.
This hybrid course is designed for beginning specialty crop & livestock farmers in their first 5 years of business. Students will develop a whole farm plan. The course consists of six online modules, three classroom sessions, and a field trip.
When: Tuesdays, Jan 18, Feb 1, & Mar 1 2022 - 6:00-8:00pm
Feb 15 - All Day Farm Tour
Where: North Willamette Research and Extension Center
15210 NE Miley Rd, Aurora, OR
Cost: $100 per person
Scholarships Available
Registration will open on November 29. Discount for OSU Small farms conference (Feb 19) is included.
Read full story.Join the Washington County Master Gardener Association's Speaker Series, as artisan blacksmith and toolmaker Seth Pauley of Red Pig Garden Tools shares an overview of the history of garden tools and covers topics such as the key parts of a garden tool, how to identify the characteristics of a high quality garden tool, and matching the right tool to the right job, and tool care.
Seth Pauley is the lead artisan blacksmith and creator at Red Pig Garden Tools. Seth has personally made more than 10,000 hand-forged tools for his customers. He has a bachelor's degree in History from Concordia University in Montreal, and a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from Temple University in Philadelphia. Before dedicating himself to Red ...
Read full story.As the premier educational event and trade show for the Northwest wine community, the virtual Oregon Wine Symposium covers the most relevant topics in viticulture, enology and wine business. Presented by leading wine industry experts, the Symposium is a must-attend event for winery and vineyard owners, vineyard managers, winemakers, marketing and sales managers and winery staff.
Read full story.Rural Living Basics is a FREE presentation designed for rural residents to learn the basics about groundwater used for their drinking water and septic systems. Learning steps to protect the health of your family, neighbors and animals, your property investment, and the safety of groundwater resources.
Email Allison.studnick@oregonstate.edu or call 541-713-5009 to register.
A water quality educator will be available February 23rd to answer questions about well water and septic tank issues. For additional information on well water and septic systems, free Rural Living Basics classes, and how to get your water tested please visit https://wellwater.oregonstate.edu or call 541-713-5009 for more information.
Read full story.This educational program assists forage producers in making decisions on managing pastures and hayground. Topics include using maps to determine physical soil properties, estimate current and potential production, and form management units. This information is then used to take soil samples for fertility testing and to make agronomic, economic input decisions. Part of this process includes the option of selecting to focus work on your best field first. This can help producers prioritize funding for inputs and time spent on multiple fields. At the completion of the program custom reports will be provided which will be useful in future classes and consultations on forage production.
In 1980 Jack Gray and Mary Jo Wade started Winter Green Farm just 20 miles west of Eugene, five years later Wali and Jabrila Via joined them and in 2009 long-time employees Chris Overbaugh and Shannon Shipp-Overbaugh a...
Manure and bedding collects rapidly on most livestock farms, especially in the winter. Instead of pitching the waste out the back of the barn, consider turning the materials into a valuable, usable product. Compost. If an active compos...
As summer approaches and the soil dries, forage plants become dormant. Some years in drier areas of Oregon dormancy may begin in the late spring. If you have irrigation rights, your pastures can provide supplemental nutrition even duri...
Gophers are useful animals in the wild as they aerate the soil, eat insects and mix surface soil layers, but they are a nuisance on the farm when conflict surfaces between the farmer and the gopher over land use. Their economic impact...
