On the Road with AOR: Follow the Food!
Tuesday, August 9, 8:30am - 3:00pm

Oregon State University Extension Service, Benton County
4077 SW Research Way, Corvallis, OR 97333

Stahlbush Island Farms
3122 SE Stahlbush Island Rd, Corvallis, OR 97333

Republic Services’ Pacific Region Compost (PRC)
29969 Camp Adair Rd, Monmouth, OR 97361
 

The theme this summer is organics! We will follow our food from farm back to the earth in the heart of the bucolic Willamette Valley.

Agenda

8:30am - 9:00am Registration and Coffee at Oregon State University Extension Service

9:00am - 9:30am Welcome & Introductions

9:30am - 10:00am Travel to Stahlbush Island Farms

10:00am - 11:30am Stahlbush Island Farms

Tour the farm and check out the anaerobic digester while listening to the success story Stahlbush has had by switching to organic farming.

Speaker: Rob Heater, Project Manager & Biogas Plant Manager, Stahlbush Farms
Rob has worked at Stahlbush Island Farms for the past 22 years. For his first 12 years at Stahlbush he was their Farm Manager, then he transitioned into being their Special Projects Manager. He recently, in late 2014, also became their Biogas Plant Manager.

Rob grew up in Western Oregon on a family row crop and livestock farm and then received a BS degree from Oregon State University in Agricultural Economics. He previously worked in the tree fruits industry in Southern Oregon, Northern California and Eastern Washington, and in a commercial vegetable plug nursery in the Northern Willamette Valley.

11:30am - 12:00pm Travel to Oregon State University Extension Service

12:00pm - 1:30pm Oregon State University Extension Service (Lunch Provided)

Enjoy lunch and learn how to engage your community in backyard composting. You will come to understand how to motivate behavior change as you make backyard composting the new norm in your area.

Speaker: Linda Brewer, Senior Faculty Research Assistant, Oregon State University
Linda Brewer is an SSSA-certified professional soil scientist and a faculty research assistant in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University. She conducted MS research on compost stability and maturity at the LRI indoor composting facility in Puyallup, WA. She has provided the public with composting education for Corvallis Disposal (Republic Services) since 1991. She teaches composting, soil chemistry, and soil and water physics to Master Gardener and Master Recycler trainees. 

1:30pm - 2:00pm Travel to Pacific Region Compost

2:00pm - 3:00pm Pacific Region Compost

Take a tour of Republic Services’ PRC and learn about windrow composting along with some of the processing challenges and successes.

Speaker: Jordan Trimmer, Agriculture Sales Professional, Republic Services
Jordan Trimmer has been with Republic Services since 2010. His primary role with the company is the sale and marketing of finished compost. Jordan is also actively involved in the operations and planning side of Pacific Region Composting (PRC). He has a BS in General Agriculture from Oregon State University, and specialized in Crop and Soil Science.