May 23, 2025
Oregon State University launches organic agriculture Extension team
Oregon State University (OSU) has established the country’s first statewide Extension team dedicated to organic and low-input agriculture systems, a move experts say could transform farming practices across Oregon and beyond.
“This is the first team of its kind in the United States, focused on organic, regenerative and low-input agriculture systems in Extension positions,” Lauren Gwin, director of OSU’s Center for Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems, said in a release. “I’m so excited that OSU is doing this. We’re putting an organic Extension program on the map.”
The new program expands from a single part-time faculty member to six full-time specialists, each focused on a different organic sector. The team includes:
- Nick Andrews, organic vegetables specialist
- Shayan Ghajar, organic pasture and forages specialist
- Brigid Meints, organic grains and pulses specialist
- Lucas Nebert, organic seed and planting stock specialist
- Shannon Cappellazzi, organic soils specialist
- Todd Anderson, organic tree fruit and nuts specialist
“They don’t just work with growers who are certified organic,” Gwin said. “There’s interest in these kinds of growing systems from all of agriculture. We didn’t create a silo where that work happens. What we did is create a home that supports a lot more of that work happening across Oregon and OSU.”
The expansion was made possible by sustained advocacy from industry partners including Oregon Tilth, the Oregon Organic Coalition and Organic Valley. Their support helped secure state legislative funding — $375,000 in 2019 through HB 5050, and $2 million in 2023 through HB 5025.
“There is not another land grant university that has a team this size and with this potential,” Chris Schreiner, CEO of Oregon Tilth, said in the release. “It’s historic.”
“We look forward to the innovations that stem from this team’s work,” Amy Wong, director of the Oregon Organic Coalition, said. “Necessity is the mother of invention, and organic growers have come up with practices that have been adopted by conventional growers.”
Oregon ranks among the top five states in farmgate value of organic products. In 2019, organic sales reached $454 million, or 9% of total farm sales.
“We saw this program as an opportunity for all of Oregon agriculture and the Oregon food system,” Schreiner said. “These Extension organic specialists support all Oregon agriculture.”
