Weed Control Research in Blueberries a Good News, Bad News Scenario
The bad news for blueberry growers, according to Oregon State University Horticulture Department Head Bill Braunworth, is there are no OSU researchers working on weed control in blueberries.
The good news, he said, is a year from now the department hopes to have in place a weed control researcher that would work with blueberries and other perennial crops.
“By this time next year, we hope to have a weed management research position filled that would cover perennial horticultural crops, including all berries, orchard crops and viticulture,” Braunworth said.
With $14 million in extra funding allocated to OSU statewide public services by the 2015 Oregon Legislature, Braunworth described the situation at the College of Agricultural Sciences as a good news, bad news scenario.
“We’re in a good situation where we are getting positions filled again,” he said, “but we’re also in a position where we still have gaps until the positions get filled.”
He said the college already has started working on the position description for the new weed control researcher. It will entail mostly a research responsibility, he said, but will have some extension and outreach responsibility, as well.
The researcher will be expected to prioritize projects based on where he or she believes they can get the biggest bang for the buck, Braunworth said.
Weed control research in blueberries at OSU formerly was done by Department of Horticulture Associate Professor Ed Peachey. Peachey, however, has taken a vegetable weed control position, filling parts of the responsibilities formerly filled by Bob McReynolds, who worked out of the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, and Dan McGrath, who worked out of the Linn County Extension Service office in Albany.
Peachey formerly worked almost exclusively with grant funding in conducting blueberry and other weed control research, Braunworth said. The new position, however, will have stable state funding.
“Now we will have state funds for weed research,” Braunworth said, “which will stabilize that position better than when Ed was working almost exclusively on grant funds.”
|
