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98-99
Wilke Direct Seeding Field Days Project
ANNUAL
CROPPING, DIRECT SEEDING SYSTEMS FOR THE INTERMEDIATE RAINFALL
AREA OF EASTERN WASHINGTON
Ag
Horizons Team of WSU Cooperative Extension: Diana Roberts, Ed Adams,
Tom Platt, Jon Newkirk, Bob Gillespie, and Aaron Esser
Objectives:
This project is a public-private
cooperative effort to adapt and develop annual cropping, direct
seeding systems for the intermediate rainfall area (12 to 17 inches
annually) of eastern Washington. The project goal is to demonstrate
economically viable rotations, including alternative crops to wheat,
that enable annual cropping and improved soil conservation in this
region. This will be a long-term project with evolving objectives
and methods.
Currently
we are testing two crop rotations:
- A
four-year rotation that includes two cool season cereals, one
warm season grass, and one broadleaf crop.
- A
three-year rotation including crops all adapted to the region;
two cool season cereals and one cool season broadleaf
Location:
The project is based
at the 320-acre WSU Wilke Farm at Davenport, Lincoln County. Both
rotations are being grown at the farm in three replications of approximately
8-acre strips. An important premise of the project is to use farm
-size equipment for all management operations.
In
addition, area grower cooperators are replicating each rotation
on their farms at three sites across the region. They provide valuable
information on the system performance in a variety of microclimates.
These on-farm plots are at least 25 acres per crop.
Three-year
rotation: Four-year rotation:
Deep Creek (Tom Zwainz) Reardan (Hal Johnson)
Sprague (Chris Laney) Egypt (Doug Reinbold)
Wilbur (Bill Dreger) Harrington (Karl Kupers)
Parameters:
Economics of the rotations
are of paramount importance. We also obtain economic information
from conventional cropping systems from three farms adjoining the
Wilke Farm. We track the changes associated with going to direct
seeding and annual cropping by collecting data on the Wilke Farm
and on-farm sites for soil health and structure, soil moisture,
weeds, insects, and diseases, etc.
Collaborators:
Cooperators and collaborators
in the project include
- the
Ag Horizons team of WSU Cooperative Extension,
- the
ACIRDS (Annual Cropping, Intense Rotation, Direct Seed) group
of Lincoln and Spokane County producers
- the
Lincoln County Conservation District
- Environmental
Protection Agency Region10; Columbia Plateau Agricultural
Initiative
(CPA)
- the
McGregor Company
- Western
Farm Services
- the
McKay Seed Company (Almira)
- the
Monsanto Corporation
- the
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
- NRCS
Each
of these groups participates in different ways. The project includes
consensus building training for all cooperators in order to ease
the decision-making processes involved with a broad group with diverse
perspectives.
Extension:
We hold annual field
days at the Wilke Farm and conduct tours of on-farm sites. We also
publish our findings in Extension publications and present them
at winter meetings.
Highlight
information from the 1998 and 1999 field days follow:
- No
conclusions about crop yields and system economics have been,
or should be, drawn at this point as we are only two years into
the project. We are evaluating the system as a whole and will
wait until we have completed a cycle through the rotations so
we can better see the whole picture and notice trends.
- Soil
test regularly to determine nutrient levels needed. Be prepared
to apply 10 - 15% more nitrogen than under a conventional system
in the early years of direct seeding.
- It
is imperative to begin any direct seeding system with adequate
chaff spreaders on the combine the season before you start direct
seeding. This reduces problems associated with chaff rows.
- Getting
good seed to soil contact is crucial to obtaining a good stand.
Do the work in setting up your drill to achieve this. Seeding
depth control and fertilizer placement are important criteria
in drill choice.
- Watch
nature (soil temperature and moisture) more than traditional dates
to determine optimum seeding time. In 1999 the farm was sprayed
with Roundup prior to seeding when very few weeds had emerged.
A second, post-seeding pre-emergence application was necessary,
as there was a sudden flush of weeds.
- Frost
after emergence damaged mustard and canola stands in 1999. Seedlings
emerging through heavy residue were actually more susceptible
than where the ground was clear of residue and heated up more
quickly.
- Red
proso millet, grown in 1998, sold for a higher price than white
proso millet on the bird seed market. It may have been possible
to harvest it direct, without swathing. However, the yield potential
was lower than for the white millet so in 1999 we seeded white
varieties.
- Safflower
in 1998 had one of the better returns of alternative crops, but
lack of registered herbicides for grassy weed control precludes
growing it on the university farm.
- Unseasonably
hot weather in July of 1998 reduced yields of most of the alternative
crops. Mustard at the Wilke Farm was affected more than an early
maturing canola variety grown three miles away, even though mustard
is supposedly less heat sensitive than canola.
- One
of the major benefits to this system of growing warm season grasses
is to allow a wider window in the spring for managing weeds prior
to seeding. In 1998 we seeded millet on June 6, which allowed
for three Roundup applications beforehand and greatly reduced
wild oat populations in the crop. In 1999, we followed a recommendation
from the Midwest and seeded the millet earlier (May ). The spring
was unusually cool, and although there were two Roundup applications,
a lot of wild oats germinated after seeding. Consequently we missed
a major benefit of this crop and will likely seed millet later
in the future.
Dale
Dietrich, producer, and operator of the Wilke Farm, and Diana Roberts,
WSU Cooperative Extension provided concepts in this report. Information
is from the Second and Third Annual Wilke Field Days, held July
1, 1998, and July 7, 1999. Prepared by Diana Roberts, WSU Cooperative
Extension.
Agricultural
Sustainability. Highlights from a seminar series conducted by Washington
State University's Ag Horizons Team and funded by USDA Western Region
SARE.
Diana
Roberts
222 N. Havana
Spokane, WA 99202-4799
Phone: (509) 477-2048
FAX: (509) 477-2087
 robertsd@wsu.edu
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