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2003
Table of Contents |
Doubletree Ranches is farmed by Tex and Neal Brown east of Bickleton, WA in Klickitat county. We farm approximately 2500 acres of spring wheat, spring barley and winter wheat in an eleven and a half to thirteen and a half inch rainfall area. Our land is mostly flat with minimal slope and ranges from 2 to 4 feet. The soil is classified as a Ritzville Silt Loam. The farm was homesteaded in 1878 under the Timberculture Act and Tex and Neal are the third and forth generation farmers.
The crops that are grown in this area are mostly soft white spring wheat, dark northern spring wheat, and spring barley. Canola and Mustards have also been raised but haven’t because of poor price and drought. Before we started direct seeding, we used a minimum till system and raised Steptoe barley. We used barley because we thought at the time that the barley plant was able to produce more per acre than wheat. Since the arrival of higher producing wheat varieties we now raise mostly no till spring wheat.
Before direct seeding, typical equipment used in our area were a disc with harrow, sweep plow with harrow, culti-weeder, deep furrow drills, stubble chopper and liquid fertilizer applicator. Most of this equipment was used for summer fallow and some were used in the early stages of minimum till farming and with the arrival of our no till system, is now rarely used.
In 1981, we started re-cropping with a disc with harrow attachment then fertilized with a fertilizer applicator then seeded with a John Deere HZ drill. This practiced was used until 1984 when we purchased a Versatile-Noble 2000 hoe no-till drill that we started using it with our minimum till operation. Our practices also changed when we started to spray our volunteer wheat and cheatgrass using the aid to tillage rate of 8 ounces of Round-up with ammonium sulfate. After the field was sprayed, we then used a sweep plow equipped with fertilizer points to inject liquid fertilizer. That was followed with a disc with a packer to firm up the seedbed. We then seeded wheat at 60 lbs. to the acre or barley at 75 lbs. The successes of minimum till became apparent with the moisture we were getting (11.5 to 13.5 inched annual rainfall) so we began to re-crop this way more and summer fallow less. In 1992, there was one farmer practicing no-till. Today, there are 8 no-till drills of various kinds farming most of the immediate Bickleton area. Farmers are finding out what the benefits of no till farming and are committing to the practice. In our situation, we rented a 33-foot Concord 2400 with Anderson openers. We then immediately recognized the benefits and decided to purchase it the next year. We then added colters to make sure we were able to seed through trashy conditions. What we found out was when we used the drill was the speed of how fast we were getting fields seeded. The colters that we added have a one and a quarter inch wave which not only helps cut through trash and weeds but also leaves a somewhat tilled path to where the Anderson opener follows resulting in an even seeded pattern. We think that by having the colters we now seed between 5.2 to 5.6 m.p.h. 150 acres per day is what we try to accomplish. These colters are invaluable if there are large weeds such as Russian thistle in the way. If the soil conditions are wetter than normal, we like to lower the tire pressure on our packers to 8 to 9 lbs. p.s.i. to give a wider footprint or furrow causing more cracking in the soil to allow the germinated grain emerged.
Once a farmer gets through the initial costs (investments) of buying or renting a no-till drill, the savings in diesel cost is quite obvious. Our local fuel dealer observed a 40% less demand for diesel for those farmers using no-till drills. We also bought a second sprayer because of the unpredictability of wind. There has been too many times where we have sat days and days waiting for the wind to calm down so we can spray. Other costs associated with no-till are the increased amount of money spent on chemicals. Controlling cheat grass, goat grass, wild oat, Russian Thistle and Canada thistle must be kept in check if no-till is to be successful.
We think direct seeding gives us the best opportunity to raise the highest return per acre. This is a direct result of less erosion, better infiltration and higher fertility. Less soil disturbance by no-till drills also result in less moisture evaporation. Time saving seems the most obvious. No-till farming requires half the tractor and man hours with less wear and tear on both men and tractors.
Important factors for successful
no-till farming are using soil tests. We find out that the percent of moisture
in your soil is your main guide. After you know the moisture then we fertilize
each field differently to get the most production back. Using the right amount
of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur help insure proper development in relationship
with moisture. Chemicals controlling goatgrass, cheatgrass, wild oats,
Russian thistle and Canada thistle are needed to keep these weed pressures down.
Spot spraying keeps the worst parts of fields in check and helps keep your costs
down.
Some causes of failure in no-till farming is timing. Spraying glyphosate below 40 degree weather reduces the effectiveness of the herbicide and may not entirely control the green bridge. Allowing at least 10 to 14 days for burn down of weeds and volunteer that have been sprayed help break the dreaded green bridge. Fortunately, there have been few failures with no till farming in our area.
The future in Bickleton looks bright for no-till and looks like it is here to stay. The benefits of soil fertility, erosion control and water infiltration all combine to give the farmer the best chance to raise the most he can on a per acre basis.
 Contact
us: Hans Kok, (208)885-5971
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