By
Diana Roberts, WSU Extension Agronomist, Spokane County; Herb Hinman, WSU Extension Farm Management Specialist, Pullman; Timothy Paulitz, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, Pullman; Dennis Roe, NRCS, Pullman; Roger Veseth, WSU/UI Conservation Tillage Specialist (deceased); Dennis Pittmann, WSU Crops and Soils Department (formerly WSU Extension research technician); Mary Fauci, WSU Crops and Soils Department

In 1997, a group of farmers from Whitman and Garfield counties, WA, initiated an on-farm testing project to help answer their questions about transitioning to direct seeding. Their reasons for wanting to use direct seeding systems follow:

• Reduce soil erosion
• Manage crop residue without field burning
• Improve farm economic stability in an era of volatile markets

The project ran for 6 seasons, 1998 through 2003. WSU Extension, along with NRCS, USDA-ARS, and WSU research faculty provided technical support. A research grant from USDA-SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) funded the project from 2001 through 2003, with support from the Palouse, Palouse-Rock Lake, Pine Creek, and Whitman conservation districts. Grower cooperators were John and Cory Aeschliman (Colfax), Lee Druffel (Colton), Tracy and Kye Eriksen (St. John), Ron Kile (Pine City), Steve and Dan Moore (Lacrosse), Randy and Aaron Repp (Dusty), David and Paul Ruark (Pomeroy), and Steve and Ann Swannack (Lamont).

We gratefully acknowledge the project statistician, J. Richard Alldredge, Department of Statistics, WSU, for his help and patience in assisting with the data analyses.