In 2015, shortly following the advent of a pilot program, there were 13 registered growers of hemp in Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. In the summer of 2019, there were 1,342 registered growers on 46,219 acres in Oregon – leading Oregon State University’s Crop and Soil Science Department to posit that hemp would soon beat out cattle ranching to be the number-two export commodity in Oregon, with an expected net sales of $1 billion. The Source Weekly reported those massive numbers in a July 2019 feature story – but the years since then have showed far less impressive numbers. Nearly as soon as the hemp industry began to rise, it began to fall.
That path will be the topic of an upcoming Science Pub at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend. Presenter Gordon Jones, an agronomist with the OSU Extension Service in Central Oregon and an associate professor in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, will present a talk on the hemp industry, titled “The Roller Coaster of Hemp in Oregon.” The Jan. 16 talk will explore topics including shifting regulations, challenges in farming in an untested market and how nefarious actors contributed to the industry’s rise and fall, according to a press release from OSU-Cascades. In addition, Gordon’s talk will shine a light on the work happening at OSU’s Global Hemp Innovation Center.
The upcoming Science Pub takes place from 5:30 to 7:15pm in the Charles McGrath Family Atrium in Edward J. Ray Hall at OSU-Cascades in Bend. The $22 price tag includes entry into the event, as well as a light, pub-style meal. Beer, wine and other drinks are also available at the no-host bar.
OSU-Cascades’ Science Pubs are public events that “take the science out of the laboratory and bring it to you.” Other recent Science Pubs have included talks on how the bacteria of wolves might improve the health of domestic dogs, the “secret life of sharks,” and how to curate your social media experience by being “selective, positive and creative.” Information on past and upcoming Science Pubs is available at osucascades.edu/community-connect/science-pubs.
This article appears in Source Weekly December 28, 2023.
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