College of Agricultural Sciences

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have significantly enhanced an artificial intelligence tool used to rapidly detect bacterial contamination in food by eliminating misclassifications of food debris that looks like bacteria.

Current methods to detect contamination of foods such as leafy greens, meat and cheese, which typically involve cultivating bacteria, often require specialized expertise and are time consuming — taking several days to a week.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – People rated cats as having a more positive emotional state when shown indoors rather than outdoors, even those who believe cats should roam freely outside, a new study found.

The study also found that other contextual factors, such as the color of cats’ coats and a person’s own emotional state, impacted human perception of cat emotion.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study reveals that four wild cat species living in the same rainforest habitat in Guatemala reduce competition for food by hunting in different vertical zones, some in trees and others on the ground.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Floating solar panels are emerging as a promising clean energy solution with environmental benefits, but a new study finds those effects vary significantly depending on where the systems are deployed.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have taken a significant step toward creating a standardized language for describing the aromas of cannabis and hemp.

“Aroma plays a key role in how consumers judge cannabis quality, yet until now there’s been no standardized language to describe it,” said Tom Shellhammer, professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University. “This research lays the groundwork for a shared vocabulary that benefits consumers, retailers and growers.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Building on nearly two decades of success, Oregon is planting the seeds for a healthier, more resilient future. 

The Oregon Farm to School Network, which includes the Oregon State University Extension Service, has released Oregon Harvest for Schools: 10-Year Strategic Vision for Oregon Farm to School (2025–2035) — a transformative roadmap to ensure every child has access to delicious, nutritious local food while supporting Oregon’s farmers, food makers, educators and communities.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have developed a smartphone-based artificial intelligence system that accurately predicts the ripeness and internal quality of avocados.

“Avocados are among the most wasted fruits globally due to overripeness,” said Luyao Ma, an assistant professor at Oregon State University. “Our goal was to create a tool that helps consumers and retailers make smarter decisions about when to use or sell avocados.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study examined feeding a hemp byproduct to cows and found that the trace amounts of psychoactive THC in hemp were undetectable in the milk and edible tissue of cows if they were weaned off the byproduct before milking or processing.