J983
Morrow Soil & Water
Conservation District
Annual Report
Supplement to the lleppner Gazette-Times, March 1, 1984
'STEEP' organizes in the Northwest
Each year an estimated 110
million tons of oil are eroded
from the 8 5 million acres of
cropland in the Pacific North
west. This is equivalent to losing
two inches of topsoil from 330,000
acres of land per year. Severe
events such as thunderstorms or
frozen ground conditions in Mor
row County can account for as
much as one inch of loss (160
tons) per acre. The ability to
maintain high yields in this ero
sion prone area will depend more
and more in years to come on the
ability to check the loss of topsoil.
An effort was started in the mid
,70's to cope with this problem.
The states of Oregon, Washington
and Idaho developed a program
termed STEEP-Solutions to En-
Terraces reduce runoff
r
. 4
Level terraces such as this have worked effectively to reduce
erosion and runoff, Terraces are designed to store 1.3 inches of runoff
per acre.
vironmental and Economic Prob
lems. Producer groups such as
the Wheat Commission were very
instrumental in helping to fund
this effort.
The program is an interagency
and multidisciplinary approach
to Soil Conservation. It involves
the Agricultural Experiment Sta
tions of the three states and the
Agricultural Research Service.
Nearly 100 scientists concentrate
their efforts in all aspects on
seeking solutions to soil erosion.
The STEEP research effort has
identified five main objectives.
These briefly are as follows:
(1) Tillage and plant manage
ment. Research is aimed at
developing combinations of til
lage, crop, and residue manage
ment systems to control erosion
and maintain crop production.
(2) Plant design Emphasis is
on developing cerial varieties
with characteristics that will help
reduce erosion and maintain pro
duction with conservalion tillage
systems.
(3) Erosion and runoff predic
tion. Scientists are working to
improve the predictive capability
of the Universal Soil Loss Equa-
(5) Economics and socioeco
nomics of erosion control. Studies
have been done to better under
stand the reasons for acceptance
or lack of acceptance of conser
vation measures.
The STEEP effort has given
impetus to soil and water conser
vation in the Pacific Northwest.
Morrow County farmers have a
lot to gain in this program as it
continues to seek solutions to soil
and water problems.
tion by measuring soil loss over a
range of slope lengths and steep
nesses and by adapting factors in
the equation to conditions in the
Pacific Northwest.
(4) Pest Management. Weed
scientists are working to identify
and better understand weed
communities and crop changes
associated with conservation til
lage systems. Also being investi
gated is the disease and insect
status with changes in tillage and
cropping systems.
Soil conservation
even more important
By BOB COSTA
OSC Extension Agent
.Morrow County
Has yield boosting technology
created a false sense of secuiity
about future yields and topsoil
loss?
Agricultural research and the
resulting technical progress have
increased yields in spite of wide
spread soil erosion. However,
technical progress does not eli
minate the need for soil conser
vation but rather makes con
servation more important.
Newer varieties and farming
practices will not substantially
boost yields on exposed subsoils;
topsoil is necessary. Potential
yield gains from technology are
even greater on deeper tnpsoil.
Technology actually increases
the yield damage from erosion,
making conservation more im
portant in terms of farm income.
Agricultural technology and
.soil conservation practices are
both necessary to maintain fu
ture crop yields and to protect the
resource for future generations.
Neglecting one could severely
shrink the payoff from the other.
Weed control district proposed for Morrow Co.
We have been working to estab
lish a functioning wed control
district in Morrow County, We
have investigated different ways
to fund the district but find that
by State Law the weed control
district is a County responsibili
ty. It can be financed either by a
line item on the county budget or
by a county serial levy. Therefore
we presented to the county court
and the budget committee a
proposed budget.
There should be some mention
of what a weed control district
can do and what it cannot do. A
weed control district can go onto
private land and control weeds
only if the weeds in question are
on the State "A List" and are
listed in the County ordinance.
The A list weeds are weeds that
are not well established in an
area and weeds that are capable
of having a very serious econo
mic impact on the area. The most
important function of a weed
control district is to identify and
wipe out first colonies of these
weeds. Some of the weeds that we
are especially concerned with
are; Skeleton Weed, this is a very
severe weed in crop lands, It can
take wheat land out of production
and can make it impossible to
harvest potatoes. This weed is
prevalent in northern Iduho,
eastern Washington and also
southern Oregon. Other weeds on
this list are some very serious
range weeds such as Mediterra
nean Sage, w hich is along High
way 395 from California to Grant
County, but has not yet ben
found in this County. Leafy
Spurge has been found in Mon
tana, northern Idaho and eastern
Washington, Dalmation Toadflax
is along 184 in Morrow County.
We must also watch very care
fully for Tansy Ragwort both in
the forested areas of the county
and in the irrigated pastures. The
cost of intercepting these weeds
would be far less than coping with
thern.
It is easy to overlook the
danger from these weeds as we
do not think of them as being
capable of long migrations. But
they can and do travel as seeds
not just by wind and water, but
also in imported hay and as
impurities in grain and grass
seed and in and on animals that
are moved from place to place.
Seeds are also transported in
mud on vehicles.
As for the weeds that we have
that are severely impacting the
county already, the function of a
weed control district manager
would be to help organize com
munity or area agreements to
effect the control or suppression
of weeds where economically
feasible. We must recognize that
whree there is no economically
practical method to control or
eradicate a weed we cannot
bankrupt a person in a futile
effort to wipe out a weed infesta
tion. The cost to the county to
maintain a weed control district
is minimal in comparison to the
cost of not organizing and allow
ing new weeds to become estab
lished. There is the need for a
trained district manager, trained
to identify weeds and plants, and
trained to handle chemicals. This
person must have the ability to
work well with people. Control
costs for chemicals and time will
lie on the landowner not the tax
payer, recognizing that an area
of prime consideration is county
roads where many weeds get
their start and that would be a
direct cost to the taxpayer. Weed
control work on road right-of-way
should not be confused with road
shoulder sterilization which is
being done already. This is not
weed control, it is road mainte
nance which allows the road to
drain better and saves gravel in
road maintenance. Sometimes
this removes the competition and
allows tough weeds a seedbed.
We urge every one to support
this budget item. We feel that it
would be and has been a false
economy not to have had an
operational Weed Control Dis
trict. One only need look at the
extent of the knapweed infesta
tion to realize this, or consider
the hazard of the Hemlock along
our creeks and roads not just in
the county but throughout the
towns where our children often
play along the creeks. We also
feel that to be effective this
district must have continuity in
its funding and in personnel. For
continuity we would prefer that
the district have its own tax base
established by the voters of the
county, but the law as now
written assigns this to the ocunty
and does not allow for a taxing
arrangement such as other
special purpose district have.
1983
12th Annual Meeting Morrow SWCD
Tuesday, March 6, 1984
7:30p.m., Lexington Grange Hall
Public cordially invited and urged to meet the directors of
the Morrow SWCD and participate in our program.
Program
Featured Speaker-Darrel Maxwell
Area Extension Agronomist (STEEP)-Pendleton
1. Review development of STEEP program and research
efforts.
2. Discuss straw distribution behind combines.
3. Slide program on conservation tillage.
Refreshments will be served after the meeting.