Welcome to the first issue of the OSU Marion County Extension E-Newsletter in 2021! In it you will find educational articles and event information for you, your family, and your business. In this issue you'll learn about Hayley White, the new small farms program coordinator, field crops research and events, olive production guidelines, dairy technology, Farm to School programs, keeping fit and food budgets, and upcoming events.

We hope you enjoy the newsletter and invite your comments and suggestions for future topics.

Photo taken in the summer by Brandi Freres, Oregon Seed Certification Service sampler, while in the fields of Marion County. Through pandemic and fire she missed only 2 days of service to the county's grass seed farmers.
1320 Capitol St NE (corner of Gaines in the OR Farm Bureau Building) Suite #110
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-5301 (leave a message!)

The Extension office is still closed due Covid-19, but we are available by appointment, phone, e-mail, and online.

Visit the Marion County Extension Website

Click here to watch the video about our Marion County Extension programs.

The Plant Clinic is currently closed, but you can call 503-588-5301 (voicemail) with your question, or contact Neil Bell, OSU Extension Community Horticulturist at neil.bell@oregonstate.edu.

Have a question? OSU Extension has answers at Ask Extension (formerly Ask An Expert)
Information You Can Trust!

We are living in a time when the difference between fact and fiction has blurred for many people. Extension information and recommendations are based in fact, and derived from science-based research performed by faculty at land grant universities in America. Not only is it factual, it is also unbiased and open access, as research programs operate independently of market and business interests. This is information you can trust and use.

Extension faculty engage in applied research, and then disseminate knowledge though Extension information portals such as meetings, websites, webinars, and newsletters like this one. Extension is based in the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture. You can read more about its historic and community-based mission HERE.

I would like to highlight the KN95 mask distribution event on February 17 at the Extension office in Salem. Since May we have provided 300,000 masks to farms in the county. To order masks see the information below...

Camp Cloverbud is back! Youth 5-8 and counselors are needed. See information and registration below...

Master Food Preservation volunteers should not forget about online classes being offered this winter by Dr. Joy Waite-Cusic in the OSU Department of Food Science and Technology and Dan Wiley, a MFP volunteer in Clackamas County. Upcoming topics include preserving tomatoes, dehydrating, preserving problem fruits, and safe food additives. Contact Jeanne Brandt in Linn County Extension for more information.

Growers and producers: you can help Extension Small Farms to understand your direct-to-consumer challenges and find ways to help you boost your sales! Fill out the survey below...

Mark L Chien, office manager
In This Month's Newsletter:
  1. Haley White: New Small Farms Faculty
  2. Establishing an Olive Orchard
  3. Farm to School: Bringing the Garden into Kitchens
  4. SNAP-Ed Impact
  5. Dairy Technology
  6. Field Crops Research & Events Update
  7. Wildfire Recovery Information and Safe and Reliable Well Water
  8. Staying Fit and Food Budgeting
  9. Events: Camp Clover Bud, Masks, Master Gardener, Small Farms
  10. Small Farms Survey: Direct to Consumer Sales
Welcome Hayley! Small Farms Program Coordinator

I was on a small farm when I fell in love with Extension.

My dad was delivering cookies to a neighbor a few hills over. Like any smart farm dog, a kid doesn’t miss an opportunity to jump in the truck and go for a trip. We arrived at a small farm filled with new sights and sounds. After the cookie delivery the neighbor offered to introduce me to the farm’s newest members. A litter of week-old piglets were awaiting their debut. They were pink, curious, and thoroughly entertaining! The neighbor was a local Extension specialist, and they delighted in teaching me about pigs and extended an open invitation for further piglet education. Unlike moving irrigation pipe on my dad’s farm, this is the moment that sparked my love for agriculture.

Later I attended Montana State University, interned in an Extension office, and earned a degree in Agriculture Relations. While working on my master's degree in animal science I worked on the school's research and teaching farm, where I was lucky enough to teach college students and children about livestock. Cows regurgitating cud and salivating enough in one day to fill a large trash can were fan favorites! Hands-on education that is engaging and relevant is the core of Extension. In addition to this practical approach, I’ve always admired that Extension is for everyone - new and experienced farmers, or a homeowner with a single tree, we have resources and support for you! This makes for a challenging, refreshing workday, and keeps me on my toes.

I joined OSU Extension as the Agriculture Outreach Coordinator for Marion and Polk counties and the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District, my biggest focus has been outreach and programming. So far I have spread the mission of our Small Farm resources through newsletters, social media, and surveys. I am currently organizing workshops and will be collaborating with the Mid-Willamette Valley Small Farms team to share interesting projects and learning opportunities from the OSU North Willamette Research and Extension Center. I am eager to blend my passion and skills to provide farmers with unbiased and practical training. Who knows, perhaps I’ll give a budding agriculturist a piglet moment of their own.

Click HERE for upcoming Extension Small Farms events.
Initial Considerations for Establishing Small Scale Organic Olive Orchards

By Tessa Barker, Javier Fernandez-Salvador, Neil Bell, Heather Stoven. Small Farms

Based on research conducted in the Mid-Willamette Valley, the OSU Extension Small Farms faculty have developed a set of preliminary guidelines for olive production in a semi-Mediterranean climate. It contains information about climate, site selection and preparation, irrigation and soil drainage, soil pH, cover cropping systems and soil preparation, bed shaping and floor management, planting season, cultivars and pollination, up-potting and overwintering, soil fertility, nutrient requirements, weed and pest management, and organic certification. The guide is well referenced for additional resources. Click HERE to read more...
Farm to School: Teaching Kids Where Their Food Comes From, Virtually

By Sarah Contreras, 4-H & USDA SNAP-Ed

Sarah Contreras, extension education program assistant, arrived at extension at the worst possible time, just when the pandemic had closed the office. But she has devoted her creativity and energy to moving the Farm to School program online, and in English and Spanish, and reaching out to youth and families where it matters most: right in their kitchens! Read more about virtual gardens and food preparation by clicking HERE.
SNAP-Ed Community Impact

The USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education Program in Marion County has a dozen community partners and is active in rural and urban elementary and community schools. From 2017-19 it has reached over 2000 youth with healthy lifestyles education. SNAP-Ed works with partners to increase community health through research-based nutrition and physical activity. Click HERE for an informational flyer that highlights SNAP-Ed's activities and impact in Marion County.
Young Dairy Calves and Technology

By Jenifer Cruickshank, Dairy

While there is no need to curb calves’ screen time, technology is finding a place in the pens of a dairy’s youngest residents. So-called precision dairy technology includes multiple classes of technology such as robotic milkers, automated scales, automated sorting gates, and wearable items like accelerometers. These devices collect information on each individual animal, who are often identified by a RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag attached to their ear.
 
For calves that are housed in groups, automated feeders are commonly used to dispense milk.These automated feeders typically mix powdered milk replacer with hot water when a calf enters the feeding station. A calf can choose when and how much milk she will drink at each visit throughout the day. The feeder will read her RFID tag and track when she drank, how much, and her drinking speed. Deviations in these data can indicate that a calf’s not feeling well, and the software program will alert the farmer to take a specific look at that calf. The automated feeder also makes weaning go more easily, because a calf approaching weaning age can easily be gradually “stepped down” in her daily milk allowance.
 
Accelerometers (similar to pedometers worn by humans) strapped around an ankle or on a neck collar are commonly used on adult cows. These monitor cows’ activity, which is useful for heat detection (identifying when a cow is receptive to breeding; they walk more when they’re in heat) and for detecting when cows aren’t feeling well due to a hurt foot or other ailment that affects how much they’re moving around. Accelerometers aren’t much used in young calves outside of research settings. However, data from calf activity studies show that changes in lying time can precede other, more obvious signs of illness by a day or more. Early disease detection leads to earlier treatment and usually better health outcomes. Data from accelerometers can provide early notification to the calf caretaker when a calf is feeling stressed for other reasons as well.
 
As these technologies that allow for more precise monitoring of animal behavior mesh with other advances in dairy management, we get healthier calves thriving in their environment.
Field Crops Update

By Betsy Verhoeven, Field Crops

Yes! January is a quiet month for field activity in our grass seed, cereal, hops, and other field crops. However, it is a busy time for meetings, conventions, and reporting! Normally we are buzzing on coffee and donuts as we host our winter Extension meeting, attend regional agronomy meetings and the like – this year there's only the buzz of Zoom… . In early January we hosted two webinars focused on spring weed management, pest and nitrogen management research updates, and best practices for plant growth regulator and fungicide application in our grass seed crops. Despite the Zoom fatigue I know we are all feeling, I was really impressed by the turnout and excellent questions from the audience. We had over 250 participants on each webinar.

If you missed the webinars and would like view the recordings, you can find them here:


We have two more upcoming webinars, one on February 3rd, focused on clover management and research updates, and another on February 17th discussing carbon sequestration and carbon markets. See the details below to register for either event.

Clover Seed Research Updates - February 3rd 8:30-10am

In January, I also attended and presented at the virtual Hop Growers of America Convention on a nutrient uptake project. To catch up on this research and a project looking at nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency and efficacy in tall fescue seed production, check out our recent Mid-Valley Fields Crops Newsletter HERE...
Wildfire Recovery, continued...

By Glenn Ahrens, Forestry

In the aftermath of this summer's fires, information continues to pour out of OSU Extension woodlands management and Fire Program that will help home and land owners to recover from this terrible event. In his current edition of Woodland Notes, extension forester for Marion County, Glenn Ahrens introduces new Willamette Valley Extension Fire Program faculty Amanda Rau, and offers resources including "Continuing Recovery after Wildfires," "Reforestation Assistance for Landowners Who Need to Replant After Wildfire," and winter programs in forestry education. Click HERE to read Glenn's Winter Woodlands Notes Newsletter.

Maintaining a Safe Well After a Wildfire: The Oregon Water Resources Department provides information on Maintaining Your Well after a Wildfire. and well testing service.

From the Oregon Health Authority: Beginning in February 2021, OHA will provide vouchers for private or "domestic" water testing to residential fire impacted well owners. Vouchers will cover testing for Arsenic, Nitrate, Bacteria, Lead, and, depending on damage assessment results, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes (BTEX). 
Even if the fire did not directly damage your well, or if you have repaired damage to your well, testing is an important step in recovering your property. Click HERE for the OHA well testing website.

Thanks to Chrissy Lucas, extension ground water outreach program coordinator for highlighting this information in the current issue of GROWING from Linn and Benton County extension.
Staying Fit During a Pandemic

By Lauren Chase, Dietetic Intern

The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic may have you feeling like you want to increase your physical activity. You may be wondering how to stay safe, physically distant, and active during a pandemic. Click HERE to learn five tips to start a successful exercise plan.

Making the Most of Your Food Budget

Covid-19 has impacted many family budgets, and food insecurity is on the rise. Lauren offers tips on stretching your food budget, making meal plans, shopping, and loving leftovers. Click HERE to read more...

These two articles were reprinted with permission from GROWING, the extension magazine in Linn and Benton counties.
ATTENTION GROWERS & PRODUCERS:
Extension can help you, and needs your help

KN95 Masks for Marion County Farms

A KN95 mask distribution event will be held on Wednesday, February 17 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Marion County Extension office in Salem. This PPE is provided by the Oregon Department of Agriculture for farmers, farm workers, and farm organizations that serve agriculture in Marion County.

To order masks call our office at 503-588-5301 and leave a voicemail message with this information: NAME, BUSINESS NAME, PHONE NUMBER and NUMBER of EMPLOYEES. We will contact you with a pickup time on 2/17. 10 masks per employee and first come-first served while they last.
Farm to Consumer Survey: Direct Sales Helps Farmers Survive!

The OSU Extension Service Small Farms program needs grower and producer input on the impact of Covid-19 on direct market producers in Oregon! In 2020 farmers saw an increase in consumers through direct marketing channels due to the pandemic disrupting established food distribution networks.

Small Farms Extension is partnering with several organizations in a research project to understand the impact COVID-19 had on direct agricultural markets in Oregon. Our goal is to learn how producers adapted to changes caused by the pandemic, identify trends in selling product via direct marketing, and learn how we can support those efforts. Survey data will be used by a statewide network of community food systems partners to develop programs tailored to meeting producers’ emerging needs.

Growers & Producers can fill out this SURVEY (it should take less than 10 minutes). Your input is greatly needed and appreciated. If you have questions about the survey contact Pami Monette at Pamela.Monnette@oregonstate.edu
Camp Clover Bud Is Here!

Virtual Camp Cloverbud 2/20/21
Open for all youth ages 5-8. Saturday, February 20th, 2021 from 9:00am-12:00pm. Rejoin us from 5:00pm-6:00pm for a Family Campfire. Cost is $15.00 per participant and includes camp supplies and shipping costs. Limited to 30 youth. Click HERE to register.

CAMP COUNSELORS NEEDED!

Call for Camp Cloverbud Counselors ages 13 and older: 
Camp Cloverbud 2021 is happening on February 20, 2021! Camp will run from 9am-12pm, with Family Campfire from 5-6pm. Counselors must be at least 13 years old. As counselors, you will be paired and assigned to a group of campers ages 5-8 to travel with throughout the day in different Zoom breakout rooms. Session activities will be led by 4-H staff. Counselors will lead their campers in activities, games, and crafts in individual breakout rooms and will teach their campers camp songs and skits. Additionally, you will walk your students through decorating their “wood cookie” name tag during the first cabin time! If you are interested in participating in Camp Cloverbud as a counselor, please email Abby at abby.johnson@oregonstate.edu by Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 5 pm.
Growing Oregon (Master) Gardeners: Level Up Series

This monthly Zoom series kicked off in January, offering education for the experienced gardener led by OSU horticulture experts from across the state. Take your gardening knowledge to the next level with timely topics from gardening in a changing climate to techniques to extend your season.

The webinars will be broadcast via Zoom, the second Tuesday of the month, at 3:00 pm, January through November, 2021. Afterwards, recordings of each webinar will be posted.

This series is open to the public, and OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteers receive one Continuing Education Credit for each class taken. You can take one, or take all. Classes are free.

For a list of topics, presenters, and class dates, click HERE.
OSU Small Farms Events

Upcoming webinars include Landowner Incentives and Resources (2/2), Exploring the Small Farms Dream (3 part series, 2/9-23), Dry Farming Winter Meeting (2/25) and Christmas Tree Outlook (3/9). Click HERE for information and registration.
OSU Extension Events in 2021 and Internet Access

Note: Covid-19 has forced extension faculty to push programming online so it's available to anyone with internet access. If you do not have internet at home, many OSU Extension offices offer free internet access (Salem location) Most offices are open by appointment only at this time. Contact Extension if you need internet access for an Extension program.

Extension programs offered in other counties can benefit citizens in Marion County. Please check the full offerings of OSU Extension programs for those that best suit you, your family and business. Click event listings for events online and around the state.

Please contact mark.chien@oregonstate.edu or leave a voicemail message at 503-588-5301 if you have any questions about any of these extension events or need assistance with registration.
OSU Extension Service: Our Attitude
We believe the best way to make a difference is to get straight to the heart of the matter. We begin with an accessible and practical approach and build on it with passion. We listen to our clients, respect their needs, and amplify their voices to create research-based solutions together that empower real and sustainable change. It’s what we’ve done for more than 100 years, and we’re committed to doing it for the next 100 years.
Thank you for reading our newsletter!
Do you have questions, comments, or suggestions?
Please send them to mark.chien@oregonstate.edu.

Thank You! -- Mark Chien, Editor
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