 Six
NW Growers Featured in NW Direct Seed Conference
Growers
like to hear about other growers’ experiences with new farming
technologies. The 6th Northwest Direct Seed Cropping Systems Conference
and Trade Show offers an excellent opportunity for grower-to-grower
interaction. It will be held on Jan. 8-10, 2003 at the WestCoast
Hotel in Pasco, WA. Over 800 NW growers and Ag advisers are expected
to attend.
Four NW growers will
be sharing their experiences with the transition to direct seed
systems in the low, intermediate, and high precipitation zones,
and under irrigation. Neal Brown farms in a 12- to 14-inch precipitation
zone east of Bickleton Washington. He has been continuous direct
seeding for the past 5 years using a Concord air seeder with Anderson
openers. Much of the farm has been in 2-pass minimum tillage system
for the previous 15 years.
Daniel McKinley is the
general manager of Broughton Land Company, in the Dayton, WA area.
Most of the cropland is in a 17- to 21-inch precipitation zone,
though the large farm ranges from 12 to 25 inches annual precipitation.
They have been direct seeding for the past 12 years. They currently
use a two-pass direct seed system with direct fertilizer injection
and then seeding with John Deere 750 or Krause disc drills.
Kent Rad farms in a 20-
to 25-inch precipitation zone near Cottonwood, ID. He has been developing
his direct seeding system for the past 10 years and some of his
farm has been under continuous direct seeding for 5 years. He seeds
all his crops with a John Deere 750 disc drill.
Kurt Melville is a 2nd
generation direct seeder, farming on his own and in partnership
with his father Tim and brother Kevin near Enterprise, OR. The farmland
is in a 13- to 22-inch precipitation zone but is predominantly irrigated.
Kurt has been developing his direct seed system for the past 12
years, though some of his cropland has been direct seeded for over
20 years. He uses a Concord air drill with Anderson openers and
a Yielder disc drill.
Grower insights and experiences
on the topic of building direct seeding partnerships with landlords
will be addressed by Steve Riggers and Mark Sheffels. Steve and
his brother Nathan farm in an 18- to 24-inch precipitation zone
in the Craigmont / Nezperce area of north central Idaho where much
of their farm is cash rented. They have been direct seeding since
1982. Mark farms in Washington in a 12- to 15-inch precipitation
zone near Wilbur, Davenport and Reardan. He has been direct seeding
all of his farmland with for the past 7 years, and leases cropland
from three landlords outside of the family.
For more information,
visit the Conference Website (http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu/directseed),
or contact the Conference Office, 509-547-5538, e-mail (Wendy Peay
<wpeay@mcmgt.com>).
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