Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1984)
FOURSpeclal Farm Section. Thursday, March 1. lM Research service reports soil erosion findings ' V " " rv .'. .. ' .-' . s, -0 -r y -. . J Agricultural Research Service and OSV Experiment Station Scientists measure erosion losses under the STEEP program. Soil erosion research has been conducted in Morrow County by the Agricultural Research Ser vice since the fall of 1979. A major conclusion of these studies has been that the erosion problem results primarily from rain on snow, melting snow, or rain, all occurring when the ground is frozen. In most cases a layered soil, that is a thawed surface over a frozen layer, is largely the moft potentially erosive winter condi tion in the dryland grain region east of the Cascades. Moreover, experiments conducted at the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center showed that different soil heat flows and frost penetration is related to the amount of surface residue and possibly green cover. Our re search site this year is located on land farmed by Ken Turner in the Stingle Canyon area. It is com pletely equipped with instru ments which continuously record air temperature, relative humi dity, soil temperature and pre cipitation. The site is visited weekly by either ARS or SCS personnel who record frost of erosion on soil productivity. This research is being conducted by Ray Allmaras, Paul Rasmus sen, and Clyde Douglas. There are a total of 33 sample sites in Umatilla, Morrow, Cilliam, Sherman, Wasco, and Walla Walla Counties, five of which are in Morrow County. The objec tives of the research are to determine the effects of slope steepness, slope aspect, soil depth, depth of A and B horizons, Fertilizer trials conducted with no-till annual cropped grains depths, snow depths and snow water equivalent. The objectives and slope position on grain yield, of this research are to define the Yields were taken on different climatic, soil, and physiographic slope positions and aspects within factors responsible for runoff and a field. Soil samples were collec erosion and to define the effects- ted at these sites to a depth of six of residue, green cover, surface feet or to bedrock. Soil samples roughness and tillage practices are being analyzed for soil depth, on these events. topsoil depth, pii, water storage, Another area of research con- organic matter level, and nitro ducted in Morrow County is to gn content to relate erosion to determine the long-term impact y'J ! This is a summary of a re search report by Bob Ramig, USDA Soil Scientist, Pendleton. Repleated fertilizer trials with no-till annual cropped small grains were conducted by Bob Ramig on the Frank Anderson Ranch in Morrow County in 1383. The trials were seeded with a Noble DK5 drill equipped with USDA modified openers trailed by split press wheels. The modi fied openers permit no-till seed ing and placement of liquid ferti lizer two inches below the seed. Row spacing was 10 inches. Drill performance was satisfactory in clearing residues, keeping seed and fertilizer separated, and seed placement. Similar trials are being continued in 1984 in Umatil la and Sherman Counties. Conclusions drawn from this single trial in a series of continu ing experiments are: 1. Chem-Hoe applied before planting at l.S quarts per acre gave good weed control but damaged stands of shallow late seeded fall small grains. 2. Clean at 0.5 ounce per acre in a tank mix applied before seeding damaged stands of winter barley. 3. A tank mix of 16 ounces of Roundup plus 0 5 ounce of Glean per acre applied before seeding gave excellent season long weed and volunteer control for Ste phens winter wheat. 4. Eighty pounds of nitrogen per acre gave optimum yields in Morrow County. Bank placement two inches below the seed was better than surface broadcasting for spring wheat but not for winter wheat or spring barley in 1383. 5. We do not recommend band ing more than 12 to 15 pounds of sulfur per acre as Thio-Sul two inches below the Seed. Five to Tucker honored by SWCD Cv Y ft j J. : 11 Morrow SWCD chairman, Dick McElligott (right), presents the Outstanding Cooper a tor award to Brok Tucker of Wagon Trail Farms. "T3 TURNER VAN MARTER fUt BRYANT i' .Jiiiauwne IBNo mam srw.tr icmn, owoon mil OoxaCC uoux Jnuixanct nczAi. La VERNE VuMARTER, JR. HOWARD BRYANT ROBERT KAHL MARIANNE KAHL eight pounds of sulfur per acre per crop should be adequate. 6. The best treatment of no-till annual cropped winter wheat yielded 72 percent of the yield of winter wheat after fallow. 7. No-till seeding of annual cropped spring cereals using proper herbicides and fertilizers is a viable option. More research on a single application tank mix for season long weed control is needed for no-till annual cropped fall seeded small grains. 8 More research is needed on the fertilizer needs of no-till annual cropped small grains. 9. No-till annual cropping gave excellent erosion control. WELDING & FABRICATION TRACTOR CABS BIG CASTINGS WELDED Large or Small GOOSENECK TRAILERS TILTED TRAILERS HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS IMS AX AUTO PARTS FLATBEDS Made to order PUMP TO REPLACE BEGE AVAILABLE B&C REPAIRS, INC. lOrte 422 7409 or 422-7418 r in 'All Your Irrigation Needs PUMPS PVCpipo Va-inch to 12-inch SPRINKLERS VALVES TIMERS HERMISTON ELECTRIC & PLUMBING SUPPLY Hermiaton-McIVary Hwy 567-3317
