Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Agricultural Research Foundation of Oregon has announced grants totaling $373,760 for projects in agriculture, pharmacy and veterinary medicine at Oregon State University.

The 33 research projects funded this year represent a wide range of studies, from fighting disease in food crops to restoring sustainable environments, according to Dorothy Beaton, the executive director of the Agricultural Research Foundation.

"The grants program enables the foundation to provide start-up funding that helps OSU scientists launch new research projects and attract additional funding from other sources," Beaton said. "It is an important part of the foundation's ongoing partnership with the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences."

Among the projects selected for ARF funds:
• a strategy to restore sustainable bunchgrass to Central Oregon rangeland overrun with invasive cheatgrass and medusahead;
• the use of vitamin B-1 to fight disease and increase nutritional value in potatoes;
• elimination of Vibrio toxins from oyster hatcheries;
• development of on-farm compost production methods;
• bio-security education to minimize the risk of infectious disease in cattle;
• the use of camelina in poultry diets to increase omega-3 oils.

For a complete list of researchers and projects funded by the Agricultural Research Foundation for the 2008-09 fiscal year, see: http://agresearchfoundation.oregonstate.edu.

The Agricultural Research Foundation is a private, non-profit corporation and an affiliate of OSU. The board of directors is made up of representatives of numerous segments of Oregon's agriculture industry.

For more information about the Competitive Grants Program, contact Beaton at 541-737-3228.