Fall 2011

Fermentation: it’s the culture

A story of the yeast that launched a thousand industries
Branding Oregon Beef

From marbling to marketing, research helps brand Oregon beef
Special Treatment

OSU makes sure fancy foods are safe to eat
Urban Horticulture

Reconnecting people and their landscapes
Sauced and Juiced

Oregon cranberries float to the top of the market
Farming for the Future

The Amstad family grows potatoes, research, and community
Local Food to Local Jobs

An economic engine for rural communities

Sections

Editor's Note

Thoughts from editor Peg Herring
Profile

Silvia Rondon: Putting the kibosh on pests
Looking Ahead

The buzz about bees

photo by Lynn Ketchum

Hanging by a thread

Question: Which grapes ripen first on a cluster? The ones on the top? The ones in the middle? The ones on the bottom? The answer is none of the above. The individual grapes mature at different rates, but somehow they all end up ripe. Researchers at Oregon State University are studying what causes immature Pinot noir grapes to eventually catch up with their more developed siblings on the same cluster. At OSU’s Woodhall Vineyard, they’ve looped 2,000 color-coded threads around the base of single grapes to monitor their development. As with teenagers, the researchers suspect they’ll find out that the grapes are controlled by one thing: hormones.

Depth of Field

photo by Lynn Ketchum

Hanging by a thread

Question: Which grapes ripen first on a cluster? The ones on the top? The ones in the middle? The ones on the bottom? The answer is none of the above. The individual grapes mature at different rates, but somehow they all end up ripe. Researchers at Oregon State University are studying what causes immature Pinot noir grapes to eventually catch up with their more developed siblings on the same cluster. At OSU’s Woodhall Vineyard, they’ve looped 2,000 color-coded threads around the base of single grapes to monitor their development. As with teenagers, the researchers suspect they’ll find out that the grapes are controlled by one thing: hormones.

Hanging by a thread