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Ag research farm opens minds, mouths
Visitors were able to tour farm Saturday, sampling and learning about fruits and vegetables grown by researchers
By: Haylee Campbell
7/30/08
The United States Department of Agriculture's National Clonal Germplasm Repository and OSU's Lewis-Brown Horticulture Research Facility opened their doors on Saturday for the public to tour the facility for four hours.The farm is located at 33447 S.E. Peoria Road between Albany and Corvallis on 115 acres of land. There is another, smaller farm associated with this facility down the road on an additional 40 acres.
On Saturday, the research facility allowed the general public to tour the grounds and to taste the fruit that they had available. There were six different stations set up, providing information about the different research projects that are currently going on.
Speakers included the following: Kim Hummer, from the USDA, on blueberry collections; Anita Azarenko from OSU's department of horticulture, on organic cherries; Mary Peterson, from the USDA, on raspberries and blackberries; David Bryla, from the USDA, on blueberry irrigation and fertilization; Joseph Postman, from the USDA, on pears of the world; and Jim Myers, from OSU's department of horticulture, on the next generation of organic vegetables.
Fruits that were featured and that are currently available are 2,000 types of pears, 1,000 types of strawberries and 300-400 types of blueberries, as well as cherries, blackberries, and raspberries.
The facility is not just a place for people to discover the different types of fruit, it is also a place where researches can collect specimens with which to perform experiments. The USDA Germplasm collection is one of eight national repositories.
"Think of this place as a library for plants," said Joseph Postman, a plant pathologist at the facility. "This is a place where researchers and students can come to obtain different varieties to use in their research.
"We have so many plants that we are able to send different species to different parts of the world to see if they will grow there. So if you want to know if a certain type of blueberry can grow in the Arctic, this is the place to come get your specimen."
This isn't the first open house that the facility has had. They have been hosting open houses for the last four years and are also available for tours with groups that call in advance.
"We have different Oregon State horticulture classes come out and tour the facility, as well as different high school classes," said Postman. "We even have a college class come down from Washington once a year."
The farm is specifically designed for researchers and breeders to use to gather information.
The open house on Saturday was a great success, especially because of the amount of publicity. They will be having more open houses throughout the year featuring different fruits as they come in season.
For more information, contact the USDA-ARS National Germplasm Repository by calling (541) 738-4200 or visiting its website at http://www.ars.usda.gov/main.htm?modecode=53581500.
The OSU department of horticulture has information as well and can be reached by calling (541) 737-3695 or by visiting the OSU website at http://hort.oregonstate.edu.
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