Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1990)
-TV«:.,'’, ru » ■'yiMBMf'.ÆSiigJM B . '* ' ■ ••••>. •- • ' . ■-.. : ..V . . * v * v c • r: * y p B y H p a p iJ E K i1 - y -*5'' i f.l • r v vt ' * tV- •'! ff « *¥ * »,«•' ' A ^ • î , * -'-• '» .* ’ , ■ , « ’ V. '■ 'J '-?' r* J T*»» . "v •.* ' , •• ~ t~ 7 J j X » \ • ♦ '• , . .* * » • • ^ ‘ * , J* * » 1 ^ *» I. • *" Jk# fr *.* . * * ' * * ’ ’■ ■ . ' ■’ • ♦ « * ■’ • '•* .* . ' ‘ ' , • U . . .. . . . . . . ..• V .• V ,* .* • ,< . V « .-.•.. • • . . . ■ . a.*..« • A > V 4 \ ■ Tf MSWCD Supplement lu (hc H rppner l . i / d ^ l l m n , January 17, IWOdhtgc 3 CRP program targets fragile farmland The CONSF.R V ATION RESERVE PROGRAM was authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985. It targets the most fragile farmland by encouraging farmers to stop growing crops on cropland designates! by soil conservationists as "highly erodible" and plant it in grass or trees In return, the farmer receives an annual rental payment for the term of the ten-year contract Cost shares are also available to help establish the permanent planting of grass, legumes, trees, windbreaks, or wildlife plantings The C O N SER V A TIO N RESERVE PROGRAM or CRP lists a large number of benefits 1 Soil erosion reduction onsite and less sedimentation offsite Reducing soil erosion onsite saves money for the producer by ensuring sustained productivity Offsite benefits arc reduced costs of clean ing up streams and rivers clogged by sediments, herbicides, arvi fertilizers from cropland, improving water quality. 2 C rop surplus reduction, therefore reducing cost of commodi ty programs. 3 A guaranteed income for l(>-ycars and one-half the cost of establishing valuable, permanent stands of grass and/or trees on cligi blc acres, improving air quality and enhancing the esthetic value of cropland 4 Increased wildlife habitat and an opportunity for added income for landowners and operators through hunting, fishing, and other rccrea tional activities Nationwide, up to 45 million acres mas he retired and Morrow County has a limit of I lO.Otkf acres which is 25H of the total cropland To date, farmers and landowners in Morrow County have enrolled m s Ol.’ t e n s ->l wMeh I I I * 4I«| acres have been sees led to permanent grasses and legumes The 338 con tracts range from 2 8 acres to 1,912.2 acres and average <19 acres at an average rent of *48 44 per acre for a total rental income of •5.232.440 (8) for the County The operator must manage the grass stand during the length of the contract, 10-years, and no grazing or haying is allowed at this time, but Morrow County CRP 1 • I n f ' n- ,- 4 / V s , i t 3 k . 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V T h e shaded areas of this photo shows all the C R P in M orrow C ounty could change due to drought or natural disaster All noxious weeds on the County weed " A " list must be controlled at the operator's ex pensc Cost shares arc available for weed control within one year of planting if deemed necessary for the establishment of the grass stand T his control can be eith er mechanical dipping or chemical spraying and must be on the advice of a licensed consultant or the Oregon State University Extension Service Grass seed recommendations were made by USDA Soil Conservation Service and are based on "The In teragency Seeding Guide for Oregon " This guide takes into con sideration such factors as soil pH and, most importantly, annual precipitation zones In Morrow County. this ranges from 7-inches in the northern part to 18 inches in the south end Crested and Siberian wheatgrasses arc used in the lower precipitation areas along with Covar Sheep Fescue and Sherm an Higbluegrass, Whitmar beardless Bluehunch. Secar Rluebunch. and other native grasses when available As the precipitation increases, more plantings of Interm ediate wheatgrasses. such as Greenar. Greenleaf, and Oahe. are used for their rhizomonous characteristics Luna Pubescent wheat grass is also a very popular variety, and at high rainfall areas. Paiute Orchar dgrass was planted In addition, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Depart merit furnished one pound of dryland alfalfa seed per acre at no cost to the farmer Rambler and I udak were the most used alfalfa variety fhe use of legumes was to encourage big game habitat as well as for the nitrogen fixing property The seeding of the CRP ground was closely monitored by SCS per sonncl to assure accurate seeding depth, rates, and weed control to enhance grass stand establishment Seed was carefully analyzed to in sure quality and much of this was by Oregon State University Seed laboratory Methods of seeding ranged from broadcast seeding to the use of no- till drills to aerial seeding Perhaps the best stands of grasses were established using regular grain drills and were seeded into summer fallow in the springtime thereby eliminating most cheatgrass and using the available moisture as is done with planting a grain crop Individual reasons for enrolling acreage into the Conservation 9 * r t/r ' Vf Reserve Program varied from farm to farm but economics was prohably the most important with erosion con trol a distant second Many absentee landowners found the CRP program to their liking as they had less costs and many contracts were written whereby the operator would receive 2 3rds of the annual rental payment the first four or five years and the landowner 2 'rds for the remainder of the contract Many farmers were reaching retirement age and had no heirs or family members interested in farming the ground Some farmers were pressured by lending institutions to place eligible land in CRP to reduce operating costs and others put in fields that were isolated or loo small Many local businesses feared a loss of business due to the retirement o f m achinery, sm aller grain harvests, and fewer fami employees, and, to a small extent, this has hap pened Since most of the cropland that was retired was the poorest of soils, average crop yields are higher and farmers arc managing the re maining acres and increasing yields through wiser use of chemicals, fer tiliz e rs , and reduced tillage operations The one ami one half million tons of soil saved yearly in Morrow County will surely outweigh all the negative aspects the Conservation Reserve Program may have instill ed in the non farming community V a n A r sd a lo C o n st • Co. 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