Archives West Finding Aid

The Agricultural Experiment Station Special Reports consist of more than 1100 reports published from 1954 to 2012.  The reports address a wide variety of agricultural topics studied by Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service researchers.  The bulk of the reports document activities of the Experiment Station; however, Extension Service programs are also reflected in the reports and the Extension Service published some of the reports solely or in collaboration with the Experiment Station.  Beginning in the 1970s, the series includes some reports prepared by the Sea Grant College Program and the Western Rural Development Center.

The Special Reports are available online in ScholarsArchive@OSU, where keyword searching can be performed on the reports.

For numbers 1 through 133, the publications were referred to as “Miscellaneous Papers”; the title of the series changed to Special Reports in the early 1960s.  Through the early 1970s, some numbers in the series were assigned to research papers or reports published in journals or conference proceedings.  Some, but not all of these, are included in this collection.

Annual research reports from branch experiment stations – Malheur, Columbia Basin, Eastern Oregon, Klamath Basin, and North Willamette – comprise a substantial quantity of the Special Reports.  Annual reports of the international Winter X Spring Wheat Screening Nursery for 1977-1978 through 1997-1998 were issued as Special Reports, as well as annual reports on beef cattle nutrition and management and reports of the annual field days focused on beef, sheep and wool, and swine.  Annual reports of recommended grain varieties for winter (1986-2003) and spring (1998-2003) are also available.

Beginning in the 1990s, the Special Reports include user guides and manuals for computer programs.  Agricultural estimates for Oregon counties and the state were issued annually from 1986 to 2011.

The Special Reports address a broad scope of topics pertaining to agriculture in Oregon and the impact of agriculture on the Oregon economy; rangeland management, grazing, soils, water resources and irrigation, water quality, riparian areas,  and watershed management; land use planning and planning for recreation and tourism in the state, beginning in the early 1970s; climatological data; ecological provinces of Oregon; pesticide use; salmon restoration;  alternatives to field burning; wine grape research; and mink research.

The Special Reports ceased publication in 2012.