Today, we had to wake up earlier than normal to make it to the first stop by 6:30. Our first stop was Saddle Butte Ag. They were kind enough to serve us breakfast burritos, fruit, and coffee cake for breakfast. They grow cover crops and grass for seed to sell. Some crops that they grow include rye, chickpeas, chicory, buckhorn plantain, hairy vetch, and many others. We were given a tour of their farm and many fields by Don Wirth and his grandsons. Don stressed the importance of cover crops, crop rotations, drain tile in wet fields, and that larger profits are better than larger yields. The cattle and sheep on their operation are all on pasture. The pastures consist of different grasses and cover crops. You can find out more information about them on their website: www.saddlebutte.com.

 We then went to Oregon State University, where we learned about wine production, hemp production, lamb grazing, met with some OSU students and had lunch with them.

 We had the opportunity to tour OSUs wine production and fermentation lab. Students can take a class and learn about the process of fermenting wine from start to finish. Those conducting research go to a vineyard and harvest the grapes to make their own wine. The professors are trying to extend their program to the selling process as well. There are many restrictions concerning alcohol on campus and the sale of it. The facility will be expanding within the next two years as the animal science building undergoes construction. 

 In 2018, it was made legal to commercially grow hemp. In Oregon, about 90% of the hemp grown was used to extract CBD oil. This left the producers with a surplus of byproducts and nowhere to go with them. Researchers at OSU are trying to find ways to use these byproducts in animal feed to see the effects on growth and meat or milk production. Feeding these byproducts is currently illegal because of the trace amounts of THC left in the byproducts. Part of the project includes testing the withdraw time between feeding the byproducts and other feed. This is a fairly new project and the hope is to include hemp in veterinary science in the future.

 When it came to lambs, OSU has a few ongoing experiments. One project includes trying to figure out which combination of a pasture mix gives them the best rate of gain for their lambs on pasture. The plots include a regular grass plot, a cover crop mixture of plantains and clover, and a legume plot. The lambs have three paddocks of the same foliage in order to have a 7-10 day rotation. This project is on its second year. The other project includes the use of a 1 hector plot (2.5 acres) in a dual-purpose production. They have this field of solar panels as well as lambs grazing around and underneath the panels. Normally 70 lambs can be grazed on this size of field, but with the panels only 40 lambs can be grazed on the same area at the same time. Sheep are the ideal animal for this project as they will not damage the solar panels in a way that other animals would.

 To end the visit at OSU, the class met with students in the Steer-A-Year program. The students showed us the facility used specifically for their club. All of the steers in the club are donated by farms or families in the surrounding areas. The club is not exclusive for students in agricultural majors. The club offers hands on experiences ranging from vaccinating and working cattle to feeding the steers. After the tour of the facility, we joined the club members for pizza and conversation.

 The rest of our afternoon consisted of traveling from Corvallis, OR to Medford, OR. Tomorrow, we will head out for Arbuckle, CA.