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PNW
STEEP II EXTENSION
CONSERVATION
FARMING UPDATE - MAY1996
New STEEP III Cropping Systems
Research Projects
Authors: Roger
Veseth, WSU/UI Conservation Tillage Specialist, Moscow, ID; Don Wysocki,
OSU Soil Scientist, Pendleton, OR; Donn Thill, UI Weed Scientist, Moscow,
ID; and Dwane Miller, WSU Crop Scientist, Pullman, WA.
Crop production systems
in the Northwest are undergoing major changes in response to increased
cropping flexibility and other opportunities in the new Farm Bill. Also
contributing to this change are the need to improve production efficiency
and profitability in an increasingly global market, and to increase protection
of natural resources. A Pacific Northwest research and education program
offers growers new technologies to help them make a successful transition
to more efficient and resource conserving crop production systems.
The STEEP III (Solutions
To Environmental and Economic Problems) program on technologies for conservation
farming is getting underway in 1996. Four new STEEP III research projects
selected for funding focus on developing conservation farming systems
technologies to improve farm profitability and solve critical soil and
water conservation problems in the region.
STEEP and
STEEP II Background
STEEP has been a national model for multi-state, multi-disciplinary efforts
among land grant universities, USDA-agencies, conservation districts,
grower commodity organizations and Ag advisers to work collectively to
solve regional environmental and economic problems. STEEP and STEEP II
grants were cost effective investments of federal funds. Project operating
funds (no faculty salary funding) has effectively leveraged state and
local funding for conservation farming research and education projects
in the region at a ratio of about 1 to 10.
STEEP was initiated
in 1976 as a 15-year program. Funding was provided annually as special
grants to Washington, Idaho and Oregon Agricultural Experiment Stations
and as an increase in base funds for the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
The original STEEP program generally provided about $200,000 per year
for each of the three agricultural experiment stations. About $440,000
was added to the base funds of USDA-ARS in 1976 to support STEEP research.
The program was renewed
as STEEP II in 1991 as a 5-year program. Funding was provided to the three
state experiment stations as special grants through USDA. The funding
level varied from $980,000 in 1991 to $829,000 in 1995. In addition, there
was a $200,000 increase to ARS base funds beginning in 1992. During each
year of the STEEP II program about 55 university and ARS scientists in
the Pacific Northwest cooperated on 30 to 35 projects per year.
STEEP and STEEP II
programs have made significant contributions in improving the profitability,
effectiveness and adoption of conservation farming systems in the Northwest.
Some examples of research accomplishments are:
- Documenting the
importance of deep banding of fertilizer near the seed row to improve
crop yield potential and reduce competition from weeds and diseases
-- technology that is guiding the design of conservation tillage equipment
- Adapting soil
erosion prediction models to Northwest conditions and determining the
effectiveness of surface residue, surface roughness, green cover and
field strips in soil erosion control
- Discovering the
“Green Bridge” impact of volunteer grain and weeds on root disease potential
in no-till and minimum tillage systems, and the importance of early
green bridge control
- Developing integrated
management strategies to improve control of several major weed, disease
and insect problems in conservation tillage
- Developing Hessian-fly
resistant spring wheat and supporting registration of Goucho seed treatment
for Hessian fly
- Developing varieties
and management technologies for alternate crops such as rapeseed, Canola
and mustard, for diversifying rotations to improve pest control, crop
yields and profitability
- Developing management
practices for returning CRP land to crop production
- Documenting the
economic impacts of soil erosion and the economic risks and profitability
of conservation systems
STEEP III
Funding and Projects
STEEP III was funded in 1996 at a total of only $469,000 for the tri-state
region, a level far below previous years and the requested annual budget
of $1.3 million. Although written as a 5-year project, STEEP III funding
needs Congressional approval each year. Strong support from Northwest
producer groups and conservation districts will be needed to continue
funding for STEEP III.
Cropping systems
research should be conducted for a minimum of 3 years, and preferably
5 to 7 years or more, before much confidence can be placed in the results
because of the high variability of weather and growing conditions from
year to year, and slow biological adjustment to changes in management
practices. Because of the budget reduction and uncertainty of future funding,
the STEEP III Grower Advisory, Technical Coordinating and Administrative
Committees jointly selected five multi-disciplinary team projects for
funding with the initial $469,000 grant over a 3-year period.
This provides a coordinated
systems approach to solving production problems. Each project consist
of multi-disciplinary teams of scientists from the PNW land-grant universities
and ARS, growers, and agricultural support industry and agency personnel
working to develop solutions to the critical conservation problems. More
than 45 scientists from WSU, OSU, UI and USDA-ARS are involved in the
projects. A STEEP III integrated cropping systems technology transfer
project also has been developed for the Northwest.
In the fall of 1995,
a questionnaire was sent to conservation districts, county grain producer
organizations and other grower groups in the three states. The purpose
of the questionnaire was to identify critical conservation farming problems
and prospective solutions on which to focus STEEP III research. Priorities
were identified for each of the three major wheat cropping systems in
the Inland Northwest. These systems include: (1) low-intermediate rainfall
areas with summer fallow, (2) annual cropping areas under high rainfall,
and (3) irrigated areas. The results of the questionnaire provided the
basis for developing and selecting STEEP III research projects.
The following are
titles and brief descriptions of the four STEEP III cropping systems team
research projects and the technology transfer project:
1) Development of Conservation Farming Systems for Protecting Soil
and Water Quality in Downy Brome Infested Dryland Farming Areas. This
project continues a STEEP II project initiated in 1992. Dan Ball, OSU
weed scientist, is coordinating the project with a team of eight investigators
and cooperators, and a 6-member grower advisory group. The goal is to
develop integrated methods of downy brome control in winter wheat cropping
systems. The project is investigating combinations of crop rotations,
herbicides, fallow management and timing of cultural operations to control
downy brome in 10- to 14-inch rainfall, shallow soil areas. Continuous
and flex cropping systems utilizing spring and winter cereals, and non-cereal
crops are also part of the study that includes seven different cropping
systems. Trials located near Pilot Rock, Oregon are managed in cooperation
with growers using field scale equipment. Disease control, fertility management,
and economic assessment are integral project components.
2) Integrated
Conservation Spring Cropping Systems for the Arid and Semiarid Wheat-Fallow
Region of the PNW. Spring cropping in the traditional winter wheat-fallow
region would largely eliminate the wind and water erosion associated with
summer fallow and the subsequent winter wheat crop. Frank Young, USDA-ARS
research agronomist, leads a 14-member team with scientists from 10 disciplines.
Cooperators also include a 12-member grower advisory group, Monsanto and
The McGregor Company. This research project is similar to a 9-year, large-scale,
integrated pest management project on conservation cropping systems conducted
earlier in the Palouse region near Pullman, WA. The main emphasis of this
5-year project is to examine the economic and environmental feasibility
of annual cropping systems under reduced-tillage and direct seeding to
replace or supplement the traditional winter wheat-fallow system. The
20-acre primary research site is near Ralston, south of Ritzville, WA.
Several satellite trials around the region address additional fertility,
weed management, and other agronomic considerations.
3) Residue Production
and Retention in Small Grain Cereal and Legume Rotations with Different
Tillage Practices. This cooperative Idaho/Washington project is lead
by Stephen Guy, UI crop management specialist, and involves an interdisciplinary
team of eight scientists. Soil erosion in winter wheat after dry pea,
lentil and chickpea has been difficult to control in the Inland Northwest
because of limited legume residue production and intensive tillage practices
traditionally used to establish both the legumes and winter wheat. The
project has two objectives: 1) evaluate the production and durability
of residue from different legume cultivars under a range of tillage practices
for winter wheat establishment; 2) develop integrated management systems
for minimum tillage and direct seeding of legumes after spring cereals
that retain adequate surface residue, surface roughness, and water infiltration
and storage potential to effectively control runoff and erosion during
legume establishment and in the following winter wheat crop. Agronomic
performance, weed and disease control, fertility management, erosion control
effectiveness, and economics are important aspects of the project.
4) Modified Wheat-Potato
Rotations to Reduce Wind Erosion. Wind erosion can be severe on sandy
irrigated soils after harvest of low residue crops such as potatoes. A
6-member interdisciplinary team project lead by Charlotte Eberlein, UI
potato weed specialist, is underway to help develop solutions to the problem.
The project is an extension and expansion of a 3-year STEEP II project
being conducted near Aberdeen, ID. Project objectives include: 1) evaluation
of winter wheat, and dormant-seeded spring wheat planted after potato
harvest for stand, winter and spring soil cover, weed suppression and
yield; 2) evaluation of reduced-till planting of Brassica crops (rapeseed)
for stand establishment, ground cover biomass production, and winter survival;
3) examination of the effects of alternative Brassica species on ground
cover, and weed control and disease suppression in potatoes; 4) assessment
of the effects of alternative wheat/tillage/Brassica systems on the economics
of wheat and potato production.
5) PNW STEEP III
Integrated Cropping Systems Technology Transfer. The project is a
tri-state cooperative effort by the extension cropping systems specialist
team of Roger Veseth (WSU/UI), Don Wysocki (OSU), Baird Miller (WSU),
Russ Karow (OSU), Stephen Guy (UI) and Tim Fiez (WSU). The project will
help provide growers and Ag support personnel with increased access to
STEEP III and related research technologies as integrated components of
conservation tillage systems for specific agronomic regions. The project
will have two educational thrusts: 1) printed and electronic versions
of the PNW STEEP III Conservation Farming Update newsletter and new PNW
Extension Conservation Tillage Handbook Series publications; and 2) a
World Wide Web (WWW) Home Page on PNW STEEP Conservation Farming Systems
Technology (http://www.cahe.wsu.edu/~pnwsteep/) with links to related
home pages. The WWW is rapidly becoming a major source of new agricultural
technology and information.
Future Needs
Although substantial
progress should be made over the next three years through the STEEP III
projects, the initial $469,000 grant is not adequate to effectively address
conservation problems affecting agricultural profitability and resource
sustainability in the region. Continuation of funding for the 5-year STEEP
III program is important so that these and other research and educational
projects can more effectively address the scope and complexity of developing
new conservation cropping systems for the major crop production areas
in the Northwest.
Northwest grower
input through conservation districts and grain producer organizations
has been vital in identifying critical conservation problems and prospective
solutions to be addressed through team efforts of scientists, growers
and Ag support personnel in the STEEP III program. Grower support for
continued funding will determine the future and effectiveness of STEEP
III.
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