Author: Stacie Clary

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Growing the Field for Organic Conservation

Posted on by Stacie Clary

As producers work to meet regulations under the National Organic Program (NOP) and become certified organic, they often apply conservation practices that align well with the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) conservation activities, such as green manures, buffer strips, and rotational grazing. NRCS assistance is being sought by both new and established organic farmers to help meet resource stewardship goals.

Yet, NRCS staff, as well as other ag professionals such as organic certifiers, need an improved understanding of natural resource conservation on organic and transitioning farms in Oregon and California, according to Oregon Tilth and the Wild Farm Alliance. In answer to a survey administered by the two organizations, the majority of organic certifiers stated that they did not work with NRCS.

Oregon Tilth and Wild Farm Alliance, through their project  Growing the Field for Organic Conservation, expanded NRCS’ knowledge of soil health and conservation on organic and transitioning farms with the goal of reducing  the barriers to organic certification and increasing organic and transitioning farmers' participation in conservation programs.

As the project leaders developed a toolkit to advance knowledge of organic conservation practices and how certification and conservation programs work together, a thirty-page resource was developed to support NRCS conservation planners and other agricultural professionals as they work with organic producers. The National Organic Farming Handbook describes organic systems and identifies key resources to guide conservation planning and implementation on organic farms. The handbook was developed with a team comprised of NRCS staff and partner organizations from across the country and from a range of disciplines. Producers and other audiences may also find the handbook useful, particularly the resources listed in various sections.

Sarah Brown, Oregon Tilth, was pleased with the results. “We are incredibly pleased to have supported the development of the National Organic Handbook. This document provides the first comprehensive resource focused on the intersect of conservation and organic agriculture. It serves as a guide for conservation professionals, farmers, and others interested in supporting conservation on organic lands.”

In addition to the handbook, resources for organic certifiers were also developed. The Biodiversity Conservation: An Organic Farmer’s and Certifier’s Guide was created to clarify the National Organic Program’s new Natural Resources and Biodiversity Conservation Guidance. This guide gives farmers and certifiers practical and effective information to not only be in compliance but also to take advantage of the ecosystem benefits related to biodiversity. According to Jo Ann Baumgartner, Wild Farm Alliance, “The Biodiversity Conservation: An Organic Farmer’s and Certifier’s Guide has been well received by organic certifiers and is stimulating many to update their Organic System Plans.”

One clear outcome of the project, according to Al Kurki, Western SARE PDP Associate Coordinator, was that it catalyzed institutional change. “Not only did the project reach a lot of ag professionals and farmers, it also helped spur more frequent, regular dialogue and interaction between the National Organic Program and NRCS,” states  Kurki.

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Researchers Say Hill-Climbing Cows May Bring Big Benefits for Western Ranchers

Posted on by Stacie Clary

Conventional wisdom says cows don’t go up steep slopes. They don’t climb hills and don’t travel very far from water.

But some cows never got that memo.

“I’ve been watching cattle for years, and there are always some cows that just take off for the hills, like they didn’t know they weren’t elk,” said Derek Bailey, a professor of range science at New Mexico State University. “They could be belly-deep in green grass, and just bolt for the hills. They like it up there.”

That got Bailey thinking.

“We can breed for other traits,” he said. “Why not select for hill climbing?”

If ranchers could select for the hill-climbing trait, the same way they select for any number of other genetic traits, it could have huge implications throughout the rugged West. They could graze more cows on mountainous ranches. Rangeland would be more productive and more evenly utilized. Riparian areas could be more easily protected.

“We think this could make a big difference on the ground,” Bailey said. “In agriculture, if you can get a three to five percent improvement, it’s huge. We think if ranchers can get more use and grazing on slopes, they could increase stocking rates by as much as a third – and do it sustainably. In other places, it’ll solve riparian problems. There’s a lot of upside if we get it done.”

Bailey is working with a team of scientists located across the  West to investigate this opportunity, including Milt Thomas, Scott Speidel and Mark Enns at Colorado State University, Juan Medrano at UC Davis, and Larry Howery at University of Arizona.  They turned to the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program to fund the basic research that could soon turn into a cheap breeding test that would allow ranchers to select for hill-climbing traits.

“It’s very exciting research,” said Juan Medrano, a UC Davis animal geneticist. “DNA technology makes it relatively easy to test and breed for production traits like milk yield and growth rate. But it’s brand new to identify genetic markers linked to animal behavior. This could have a huge impact on food security and rangeland management.” 

Gathering the Data

To identify hill-climbing cattle, Bailey and his crew put Global Positioning System collars on cows on ranches in several Western states and took measurements every 10 minutes for months at a time. They tracked each cow’s movements and habits – their slope use, elevation gain and distance traveled from water.

“The secret to this is more data,” Bailey said. “So we’ve been tracking cows all over.”

They also take blood samples from all the collared cows that Medrano and his team analyzed for chromosomal commonalities. Medrano found overlap in genes linked to locomotion, motivation and spatial learning.

Dick and Erin Evans have the kind of spread where this research matters. They ranch on 24,000 acres in the Big Burro Mountains in Southwest New Mexico. It’s rough country and more than half of it is federal land or state land. To be profitable, the Evans’ cattle have to be efficient, and even before connecting with Bailey they were thinking along similar lines.

“We have one pasture that has one source of water,” Dick Evans said. “We started tracking how often the cows there visited water, and for some it was every day, for some it was every other day and for some it was every four or five days.”

They theorized that cows going several days without water were more efficient – water and grazing are linked – and that those cows were likely grazing further afield. But once they started working with Bailey, the GPS data told a different story.

“We had one cow we knew to be efficient and it would come to water every four or five days,” Dick Evans said. “But it never traveled more than a half-mile away from water.”

Like the Evans’ ranch, much Western rangeland is mountainous or hilly and managed for livestock production. Grazing on rangeland feeds livestock and also offers many environmental benefits such as keeping weeds and other invasive species in check, providing water storage and carbon sequestration, and supporting habitat for animals and plants found nowhere else in the world.

Problems arise, though, when rangeland is overgrazed and cattle spend too much time near running water where manure and calving can create water-quality risks for people downstream.

Researchers have been working for decades with ranchers to keep cattle from overgrazing and congregating by creeks. They build strategic fencing, for example, and provide water and salt licks on ridgetops away from running water. Cowboys often herd cattle from low-lying pastures, but all of those management practices are labor-intensive and only a temporary fix. Breeding for the behavior would be much more efficient.

But breeding for one trait can sometimes produce unintended consequences in others. The researchers are looking closely at that possibility, and have so far found no correlation between hill-climbing behavior and undesired traits.

“We’ve looked at calf-weaning weights, pregnancy rates, blood pressure, even disposition,” Bailey said. “We had one theory that hill-climbing cows tended toward the meaner end of the scale, but that’s not the case.

“Some cows just prefer to climb more than other cows,” he said. “And if breeding can move the bell curve in that direction, management tools like fencing and herding will be much more effective.”

Dick and Erin Evans said they would happily add those genetic traits to their carefully selected herd, and not even to increase the numbers they could graze. They’re excited for the benefits widely distributed grazing could bring to the land itself.

“A lot of people talk about range and a lot of people take about livestock,” said Erin Evans, who has gone back to school to get a Master’s degree in range science at New Mexico State University. “Those and habitat for wildlife are all tied together. It’s all connected. If you’re creating a better environment, it works for the plant community, it works for your cattle and it works for the wildlife the land supports.”

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Vegetable and Weed Degree-day Models

Posted on by Stacie Clary

Pest managers are familiar with the concept of using degree days to predict pest outbreaks. Insects, like many other organisms, develop according to the temperature around them and degree days are a way to measure accumulated temperature.

Plants – at least in part – also develop based on temperature, so a team in Oregon is adapting a degree-day modeling system built for pest management to make a tool for vegetable growers to better plan their planting and harvesting dates.

“The problem is when you’re trying to schedule a harvest, seed catalogs all give an expected maturity date in calendar days,” explained Oregon State University Small Farms Extension Agent Nick Andrews, who is spearheading the project. “Calendar days are pretty inaccurate, and growers recognize that.”

One seed catalog for example might say a broccoli variety needs 65 days to mature, while another claims the same variety requires 90 days. That range makes it tough to pick a planting day in May to hit a desired harvest date in August. And using calendar days ignores local temperature, which is a huge factor in how fast plants mature.

“Lots of things influence vegetable development rates so degree-day models aren’t perfect,”Andrews said. “But they seem to be more accurate than calendar days, and degree-day models are especially useful when crops are planted early or late, or when the weather is unusual.”

With a $203,000 grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program – Western SARE – the Oregon team created a website called Croptimeto predict the time-to-maturity for a number of vegetable varieties important to Willamette Valley growers. Croptime was built on the backbone of the USPest.org pest-management degree-day modeling site, which was itself supported by another U.S. Department of Agriculture regional program, the Western Integrated Pest Management Center.

The combination is not a stretch, explained Len Coop, the associate director of the Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State and architect of USPest.

“Temperature integrates everything. It drives the development of everything,” said Coop, who is a contributor to the new project. “It was never a foreign idea to merge crop models with degree-day models.” 

Maximizing Profits

Here’s why it matters. For fresh vegetable growers, harvest timing is critical. Processors want a consistent supply of produce throughout a growing season, not a glut followed by a shortage then another glut. And growers want to time their harvest when labor is available and demand is high so they can maximize profits.Harvest-timing helps ensure a consistent supply of fresh produce for local restaurants and for community-supported agriculture operations that deliver fresh produce to customers.

“We plan for each week's (CSA) share very carefully,”said Tanya Murray from Sauvie Island Organics in Oregon. “The dramatically different weather we’ve had this spring, and last, makes it hard to know what to expect. Using degree days to predict days to maturity would be very helpful.”

Crop timing can also be a way growers avoid pests, an important integrated pest management principle. In fact, the Croptime model includes certain weed species to help growers – especially organic producers – pick varieties and planting dates to minimize weed issues.

Grower workshops identified the initial varieties to include in the Croptime system: 34 varieties of fruiting crops like beans, squash and sweet corn, seven varieties of carrots and parsnips, 15 varieties of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale, and seven varieties of spinach and lettuce.

The team has more than a dozen of those models up on the Croptime site now, and plans to have 50 loaded by spring 2017. The number of models it will take for the site to become widely used is an open question.

“Vegetable growers typically grow several varieties of the same crop, so we might have to get close to 200 models for it to really be noticed,” Coop said. “It’ll take a lot of effort to get to that.”

One way the system might be most useful is helping growers choose unfamiliar varieties to meet unexpected needs.

“When we have a couple weeks of wet weather in spring, we could use Croptime to choose varieties we might not be familiar with but that would help keep our production up,” explained Bob Egger of the Pumpkin Patch farm in Sauvie Island, Oregon.

To help build the number of models, the team is looking at the idea of developing a standard for each crop, then indexing individual varieties to that standard, Coop said. So one carrot variety might develop 10 percent faster than the standard carrot and another 10 percent slower, and Croptime could automatically make the adjustment.

Local Conditions

The whole system is based on using local weather conditions and forecasts, so growers can select the weather station nearest their farm. They then select from a number of different forecasts, including the 30-year historical average, 10-year historical average, last year’s weather, two years ago’s weather, and a new forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration built from several different climate models.

“The default is the NOAA model, but if a grower thinks conditions are a lot like last year, or two years ago, they can select those instead,” Andrews said.

Once they’ve chosen a weather station and forecast to use, growers select the vegetable variety they are interested in and enter up to four different planting dates. Croptime then displays a report showing the dates that crop will go through critical stages – first leaves, flowering and reaching maturity for harvest.

Growers testing the site quickly pointed out a way to make it more useful.

“They want to enter a harvest date and have it display the planting date,” Andrews said. “It’s a really good feature and we thought, ‘Huh, we should have thought of that.’”

The team is also looking to add resources to the system, such as an irrigation scheduler developed by Washington State University. They also want to share Croptime models with other states and verify models indifferent climate zones to expand its usefulness beyond the Willamette Valley.

“It’s a long-term project,” Coop said. “We need to keep finding funding, and then we can expand it regionally, expand the database of varieties and focus on different crop types, such as winter vegetables and cover crops.”

Learn more on the Croptime website

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Integrating Traditional Foods with Aquaponics in the Desert Southwest

Posted on by Stacie Clary

The Challenge

Cochise County, Arizona, where Aaron Cardona’s Arevalos Farm is located, is classified by the USDA as a food desert with high poverty rates, as well as high rates of diabetes and obesity. To help confront these problems, Cardona decided to look into aquaponics, which had not been experimented with in the desert regions of the Southwest or in areas with low-income populations. He designed his Western SARE Farmer/Rancher project, “Integrating Traditional Foods with Aquaponics in the Desert Southwest (project number FW13-142)” to research building a more affordable aquaponic system on his farm, which could be replicated by others in the region, creating an economic opportunity. The system would also produce culturally relevant food as a means of bringing back traditional foods into the local population’s diet; thus, improving the health of the community.

Searching for a Solution

Through the life of the project, Cardona looked to build a more economically viable aquaponic system for people of low income and integrate two traditional greens, verdolagas (purslane) and berros (watercress) with tilapia, while cooling the greenhouse from the harsh Arizona sun solar power. His objectives were:

  • explore the viability of aquaponics in the Desert Southwest;
  • increase the availability of traditional foods locally;
  • construct a more economically viable aquaponics system;
  • make a greenhouse operation truly sustainable by using solar energy;
  • serve as an example of sustainable agriculture for the local agriculture community.

Outcomes

Cardona claims the project has proved to be a success, stating “knowledge of fish grown in a greenhouse has spread far and wide, bringing many to come and ask how to set up their own system. By fulfilling one of the project goals of constructing an aquaponics system for half of the cost of a pre-manufactured system, it is now more accessible to a wider range of people of different backgrounds and income.”

Purslane did not develop in the system but watercress was a success. Due to the publicity of the project and availability of watercress, Cardona estimates that nearly 40% of his sales at the farmers’ market were to people of Hispanic descent, typically a much lower percentage of farmers’ market customers. He believes that integrating more traditional foods can increase the participation of the Hispanic community at farmers’ markets.

As far as the fresh water tilapia, Cardona says “it’s virtually an unexplored world with colossal potential. Although my fish are barely getting to the point to eat, I have been approached by many at farmers markets asking to buy them and was sought out by a popular four-star restaurant salivating over the potential to serve locally grown tilapia.”

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Training in Marine Ornamental Farming for Extension Professionals in Micronesia

Posted on by Stacie Clary

The Challenge

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are fledgling sovereign nations. Both nations have low per capita GDP and high unemployment. Like many developing small island nations, the FSM and RMI are economically marginalized. The people of FSM and RMI have skills and resources for aquaculture, agriculture, and agro-forestry but the nations’ economic development lags far behind the potential. According to Simon Ellis, director of the Marine and Environmental Research Institute of Pohnpei (MERIP), one of the most successful aquaculture enterprises in the FSM and RMI to date has been farming of marine ornamental invertebrates for supplying home aquariums in the United States and Europe. Giant clams, hard and soft corals, ornamental sponges, zooanthids, and corallimorphs are all cultured using simple techniques for live export via air freight. Ellis states, “Importantly, these methods of farming are considered highly sustainable with extremely low environmental impact and are endorsed and promoted by conservation groups and local governments as a means of income generation and poverty alleviation for rural communities. In addition, marine ornamental farming is identified as a key economic development activity for the FSM and RMI.” Ellis designed his Western SARE Professional Development Program project, “Training in Marine Ornamental Farming for Extension Professionals in Micronesia (project number EW11-001),” with the assumption that the marine ornamental aquaculture industry in Micronesia could be improved by better skills, knowledge, and communication between practitioners.

Searching for a Solution

This project’s objectives were:

  1. Improved communication and coordination between practitioners and extension professionals in the FSM and RMI.
  2. Increased skill levels of extension professionals and practitioners in marine ornamental culture methods.
  3. New and improved partnerships within and between existing producers and extension professionals.
  4. Increased number of individuals entering into marine ornamental farming either at the community or commercial level.

The project aimed for 25-30 individuals with outreach responsibilities to receive training. Land grant and faculty professionals who work in aquaculture education and outreach from the College of Micronesia – FSM (COM-FSM) and College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) were the primary audience. In addition, MERIP staff and private sector practitioners from Kosrae and Majuro were part of the learning group, as well as members from the local fisheries management agencies in Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Majuro and key personnel from grass roots conservation groups that promote sustainable aquaculture in the region.

Outcomes

In total 53 people involved in the marine ornamental industry received training or outreach from this project. According to Ellis, in 2012, three activities occurred:

  • A training workshop in Pohnpei;
  • A study tour of Majuro and Kosrae; and
  • A study tour to the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America annual meeting. 

Project follow-ups were conducted in 2013 and early 2015 and technical assistance was provided throughout the project period.

Key participants reported sustained increased productivity, activity and coordination between producers and extension workers; increased skill levels; and new partnerships. Results of an exit survey from the Pohnpei workshop indicate that all participants strongly felt they had a better understanding of the marine ornamental industry. Further, all felt the workshop would help them with their work and 86% said they would use methods used in their training in the next six months.

Ellis described the project as a “massive success.” Testimonials include:

  • Micronesian Marketing and Management Enterprises (MMME) owner and manager Martin Selch in Kosrae reported greatly improved communication with Kosrae Fisheries staff following the workshops in 2012.
  • Kosrae Fisheries staff member Bruno Ned, who also attended the workshops in 2012, reported “an increased appreciation of the needs of the private sector” and a stronger partnership with MMME.
  • Provan Crump, manager of the largest giant clam and marine ornamental farm in the RMI, also felt that interactions and exchange of ideas were the most important aspect of the workshops and trainings. He keeps in touch with the two other wholesalers in Palau and Kosrae on a regular basis. He also stated that there was a better understanding between him and his public sector partners.

Ellis says, “While number of producers in the Micronesia region is quite small, the workshops and site visits helped greatly to garner collaboration.” Examples of changes include:

  • MMME formed a new business relationship with Watson Mariculture in Palau. Mr. Selch visited Palau twice following the Pohnpei workshop in 2012 and has subsequently begun importing products from Palau to add to his own product line in Kosrae. 
  • All exporters/wholesalers, including MERIP, reported record sales in 2013. 
  • Private sector exporters were reluctant to give details of export figures. However, MERIP, as a quasi-private entity was willing to share this information. Coral exports in 2012 for MERIP were 14,735 and in 2013 this grew to 21,392, an increase of 45%. 
  • Through improved communication between MERIP and Marshall Island Mariculture Farm (MIMF) in 2013, MIMF’s parent company, Ocean Reefs and Aquariums in Fort Pierce, Florida entered into an agreement with Petco to purchase corals sold by MERIP. This has significantly improved exports for both companies.  This increase continued into 2014 and early 2015. 

Where to Learn More

MERIP website

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Western Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course

Posted on by Stacie Clary

The Challenge

Hives of European honeybees, commonly purchased for pollination services, have become more difficult to obtain due to decline from disease and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Native bees can make a significant contribution to crop pollination. Protecting, enhancing, or providing natural habitat on farms is the best way to conserve native pollinators. The USDA, through language included in past Farm Bills, has made pollinators a priority of all of their conservation programs. According to Eric Mader, National Pollinator Outreach Coordinator of the Xerces Society, they had collaborated with NRCS at the state and national level on developing guidelines on how to provide pollinator foraging and nesting habitat in agricultural landscapes. However, the knowledge necessary to implement these habitat enhancements had not been cultivated at the field office level. Mader claimed that this lack of knowledge was a constraint to wider adoption of pollinator conservation. NRCS surveys themselves demonstrated that farmers desired to provide additional habitat for pollinators but needed technical assistance to do so. Education for ag professionals would develop that technical expertise needed by farmers.

Searching for a Solution

To provide information on habitat enhancements to ag professionals, Mader developed the Professional Development (PDP) project “Western Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course.” This project aimed to supply in-depth pollinator conservation training to farm educators and resource conservation professionals in 11 Western States. Mader planned to partner with academic institutions, Extension, and NRCS to present the Short Course in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Washington.  Based upon extensive reporting, that each participant in past trainings in other states, on average, goes on to influence (as an educator) at least 100 acres of land in a way that benefits pollinator conservation. Using these assumptions, Mader estimated that eleven events with 30 participants could directly benefit pollinators on 33,000 acres of land.

A core curriculum on pollinator conservation planning in agricultural landscapes was created and included modules on the importance of bees, their decline and conservation threats, native bee ecology, pollinator habitat assessment, bee-safe farm management, pollinator habitat restoration, and financial and technical support from USDA conservation programs and personnel. Wherever possible, the Short Course curriculum was supplemented by presentations from conservation experts based in each individual state. An open lab period to observe pinned native bee specimens, native bee materials, and informational displays enhanced the classroom component. Outdoor field components were also incorporated as possible. The conclusion of each Short Course included a discussion of local technical and financial resources to support the independent ongoing efforts of workshop participants.

What was Learned

Mader and the Xerces Society leveraged additional funds to provide 25 Short Courses in 13 states, adding trainings in California and Oregon to the original list. Their specific target originally was 200 participants; they greatly surpassed this target by reaching 1,000 participants (averaging 40 participants per course). The extra funds allowed for multiple trainings in some states. Participants included staff from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), Certified Crop Advisors, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), and Extension personnel, as well as farm organizations and individual farmers.

Participants answered survey questions immediately after the Short Course and then again one year after the training. Results from these surveys demonstrated increased awareness of pollinator population trends and specific practices to conserve these vital insects.

In the year since participants attended the Short Course, 95% of respondents reported that they had utilized the information they learned at the training. Participants utilized the information in the following ways: providing additional habitat (71%), in education and outreach programs to their peers (60%), assisted others (farmer-peers) in implementing pollinator conservation practices (50%), incorporated pollinator conservation practices into their land management systems (47%), considered pesticide impacts on pollinators (42%), enrolled (4%), encouraged or assisted with enrollment in NRCS conservation programs (30%), included pollinator conservation information in written publications (28%), and adjusted land management practices to benefit pollinators (25%).

According to Mader, “field staff from NRCS, FSA, Extension, and Soil and Water Conservation Districts who attended the Short Courses went on to directly implement pollinator conservation strategies with their client farmers. Thousands of acres of land are being managed for pollinators as a result of these trainings.”

The surveys also show that over the long term this project will result in increased participation among growers of bee-pollinated crops in USDA conservation programs like Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Testimonials include:

“Everything was really great. I work for NRCS and have to implement pollinator habitats and received little training—this was exactly what I needed. Thank you!”  -  NRCS Field Conservationist, Washington

“Learn more about how to incorporate pollinator considerations to conservation planning; Yes—I feel more informed about pollinators, which will help in talking to producers. Great job!” -  Agricultural Support Staff, Bridger, Montana

Post-Project Impacts

The Xerces Society is the only organization to have had their project in all four SARE regions in the PDP program. This came about after Mader received his Western SARE funding. Mader claims that one of the most critical outcomes from his project is that the Xerces Society developed at totally new model for delivering their information; the short course model. As Mader states, this very comprehensive training given in a short time frame allowed participants to leave with the understanding of how they could create a pollinator meadow and begin thinking about their plan, how to implement it, and how to manage it for success. This idea was allowed to incubate due to SARE funding and has become quite successful (educationally and financially) as the Xerces Society continues to conduct pollinator short courses around the country, with about one per week. Mader claims that word about the short courses spread throughout the farming community and agencies from SARE participants which has created a constant drumbeat for these courses.

The pollinator program at the Xerces Society has grown from two staff members to almost 25, in large part due to the short courses and their now formalized structure to communicate and go into new communities.

All of this work has translated to real world, on-farm conservation. To the best of Mader’s ability, he estimates that these courses have supported approximately 200,000 acres of habitat plantings on farms.

Mader received future funding from Western SARE for the Conservation Biological Control Short Course (project number EW14-035) which synthesizes research on natural pest control and offers realistic solutions for enhancing beneficial insect populations on farms. This short course is built on the pollinator short course and came about when Mader and his staff heard feedback from participants in the pollinator courses that they would like information on conservation biological control.

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Water Management in Sonoma County Grape Production

Posted on by Stacie Clary

The Challenge

As in all of California, water is a scarce resource in Sonoma County, a region in Northern California with more than 400 wineries and almost 60,000 acres of vineyards. Wine grape growers face increasing competition for water from different interests, various regulations, and a need to protect threatened and endangered salmonids found in the local watershed. To meet these challenges, producers must improve their water use efficiency for both frost protection and irrigation. If they can do so, they would be able to maintain grape production while at the same time minimizing impacts on stream flows critical to salmonid survival. The use of water for frost protection and seasonal irrigation specifically in vineyards has come under scrutiny by California's State Water Resources Control Board and the National Marine Fisheries. According to Karen Thomas of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, their regional wine grape growers needed “information on alternatives to frost protection using overhead sprinklers, on irrigation management strategies to reduce water use, and on Best Management Practices for water conservation when frost protecting and irrigating grape vines.” In order to provide this information, Thomas designed the Western SARE Professional + Producer project Water Management in Sonoma County Grape Production.

Searching for a Solution

To meet growers’ needs, Thomas’ project included a spring frost workshop along with other outreach and aimed to give guidance for the best decision-making for frost protection. The team worked with producers to fine-tune their irrigation scheduling and duration based on soil and plant water status data, vine observations, and overall strategies for wine grape production. Soil and plant moisture status were measured at vineyard sites, giving producers exposure to the technologies. The demonstration plots were located on two sites with very different soils. The team applied different irrigation regimes to different blocks and made commercial-scale wines from each block to compare to one another in tastings. The project team shared the demonstration results through workshops and field days, newsletter articles, and on the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission’s website. 

What was Learned

According to Thomas, the project “demonstrated a water management technique for drip irrigation that relies on measurement, both of soil moisture and plant moisture status. The above and below ground measurements provide an excellent picture of the soil moisture dynamics of the vineyard. This gives us the confidence to push our vines further into levels of controlled stress that have benefits well beyond that of water conservation. It also allows us to produce riper fruit at lower brix while preventing excessive stress that could lead to reduced vineyard productivity and lower yields… The irrigation management demonstrations produced dramatic results. Plant and soil water status measurements resulted in delayed irrigation initiation compared to standard practices in both demonstration vineyards. Then, irrigation frequency and duration were optimized to minimize irrigation water movement beyond the active root zone. The total irrigation water supplied in the two years was 8% to 32% of crop ET at the Red Fan vineyard and 11% to 24% of crop ET at the Landslide vineyard. Those percentages are below typical deficit irrigation targets of 60% or more using crop ET models to manage irrigation.”

Impacts

Thomas maintains that Sonoma County growers have increased adoption of frost protection BMPs and use of weather station data to improve accurate decision making about frost protection.

Three frost/drought workshops were held and one Water Conservation Field Day event.  These events were attended by 477 producers and partners. A survey following the Water Field Day indicated a number of producers will change practices or investigate wind machines as an alternative frost protection method. All respondents indicated they would change practices based upon the irrigation management presentation.

Post-projects Activities and Impacts

By sticking with good science and best practices, the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission is assisting producers meet the challenges provided by both Mother Nature and the politics surrounding an endangered species in a region with increasing urban-ag interface. According to Thomas, the area’s wine grape growers continue to adopt the project’s recommended practices. Because of the on-going drought in California and the need to minimize impacts to an endangered species, producers affirm the importance of changing practices in favor of greater water efficiency. To that end, the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission continues to sponsor frost protection and irrigation workshops that remind them of the recommended practices and keep them motivated toward making changes. Importantly, they have been able to demonstrate to producers that saving water saves money.

View Sonoma County Winegrape Commission Sustainability Website.

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Water Use Efficiency in Tomatoes

Posted on by Stacie Clary

University of California at Davis graduate student Felipe Barrios-Masias and Professor Louise Jackson saw promise in alternative irrigation methods that could use less water but still produce high yields, leading to increased agricultural sustainability and efficiency. Until successfully obtaining Western SARE funds, they were finding it difficult to receive funding for the on-farm research. However, in 2010 Barrios-Masias received $25,000 from the Western SARE Graduate Student Research and Education program for Irrigation Alternatives for Sustainable Water Use of Processing Tomatoes.

Barrios-Masias and Jackson say that due to the potential shown by the research results and the data collected, they were able to leverage the funds in the form of a specialty crop grant and expand to do more research.

Agricultural water consumption in California is at least 75% of the water supply. To improve crop water economy, this project looked at using the partial root drying (PRD) technique to reduce the amount of water supplied and increase crop water use efficiency (yield/water applied) on tomatoes. The trials evaluated yield and cultivar response to alternate furrow irrigation (one furrow of a bed received water at each irrigation to every furrow irrigation).

Campbell Research and Development was a project collaborator and they, along with and the Jackson Lab at UCD, assisted Barrios-Masias in outreach to growers. Field trials were held at the Campbell Research and Development Station and also on four farms in adjacent fields with three different field types. Barrios-Masias states that Campbell’s was a good collaborator by introducing him to the growers, supporting sustainability and showing interest in reducing water use, making it a great first experience for him in working with industry.

Barrios-Masias and Jackson were pleased with the results, with Barrios-Masias claiming he was surprised by how much reduction in water use they saw. The solid repeated data demonstrated that higher water use efficiency is possible with irrigation reductions of at least 25% in on-farm trials, with no affect on yields and fruit quality. This reduction could help keep ag land in production, especially in drought years.

Some tomato growers were previously using the irrigation technique to manage disease. Barrios-Masias has presented the results from his project at tomato growers meetings to good reception. Area farm advisors know about the results as well. Currently most growers do not think they have to implement the practice in regard to water use. However, during future drought, with the new data they will have a choice; they can plant less area or reduce their water use.

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Exploring Energy Efficiency and Alternatives Curriculum

Posted on by Stacie Clary

According to Sarah Hamlen, Montana State University Extension, and Milton Grieger, University of Wyoming Extension, Western producers’ profitability is closely linked to the consumption and production of energy resources. Decisions made by these producers on energy issues have long-term implications for the sustainability of agricultural production, they assert.

To increase producers’ knowledge of energy issues, Hamlen and Grieger led the “E3A Project” that created energy education resources targeted at meeting the needs of producers and ag professionals by developing materials, web-based tools, an in-depth energy training and educational toolkits.

The project resulted in the creation of the E3A toolkit, containing over 100 fact sheets plus lesson plans and supplemental materials. Most fact sheets and resources can be found online at e3a4u.info. Topics included in the toolkit include:

  • Home Energy Efficiency
  • Farm Energy Efficiency
  • Small Wind
  • Solar Photovoltaic
  • Solar Hot Water
  • Anaerobic Digestion
  • Microhydro Electric
  • Biodiesel
  • Mobile Home Energy Efficiency
  • Heating with Wood
  • User Guide, including basic energy fact sheets
  • User Guide Supplement (lesson plans, press tools, etc.)

Leading educational events was another key element of the project; both direct-to-consumer and train-the-trainer. For example, 40 direct-to-consumer workshops reached 1,217 people in Montana. Various events in Montana and Wyoming that focused on small acreage, sustainability, local foods and agricultural expos included E3A energy programming. Specific topics include a general overview of renewable energy options, solar-powered livestock watering, small hydropower and farmstead energy. Educators have offered informal renewable energy assessments, conducted trainings and provided input into a general discussion of energy literacy, such as where energy originates or how to read a utility bill.

Train-the-trainer workshops were held in Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico, with Extension personnel in 11 additional states receiving training as well. In Montana, 55.6% of faculty has been trained in teaching E3A. Wyoming trained 18.8% of extended-term educators, and 7.4% of faculty in New Mexico were trained. Montana NRCS trained their field office personnel in E3A as well.

As Hamlen and Grieger report, this project provided an educational framework for engaging educators in energy education. The information design, lesson plans, online collaboration tools and self-contained nature of the project can be applied to energy education efforts in other subjects, but can also be used for other agricultural education projects. Hamlen and Grieger have recently received another Western SARE grant to develop additional content that is required to address specific agricultural producer needs, offer additional training opportunities for other states desiring to utilize the E3A curriculum, and enhance support options for currently trained educators to improve the effectiveness of programming for producers.

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Low-Till Forage Production

Posted on by Stacie Clary

To fill their need for year-round, inexpensive forages, California dairy producers typically plant and harvest a series of forage crops: small grains, corn for silage, milo and sorghum sudan.

While this requires considerable tillage and seed-bed preparation ahead of each successive crop, the production systems lend themselves to conservation tillage approaches developed in other regions. Adopting these approaches could:

  • Reduce the time between the harvest of one crop and the planting of the next
  • Lower costs
  • Lessen dust by as much as two-thirds

To address these issues, Jeff Mitchell of the University of California Kearny Agricultural Center, was awarded a Western SARE Professional + Producer Grant for $9,400 to evaluate and refine strip-till and no-till planting systems for corn forage production and no-till drill winter forage planting at the San Joaquin Valley in terms of crop establishment, weed control and profitability (Conservation Tillage Forage Production in California‘s San Joaquin Valley, FW06-308).

The work, conducted on the Larry and Daniel Soares dairy in Hanford, also sought to determine whether conservation tillage practices could enhance the quality of life of dairy producers as measured by profitability and the easing of time and labor requirements.

The project team evaluated strip-till silage corn production following wheat for-age at the 600-cow dairy. In 2006, the trials evaluated conventional, no-till and strip-till in replicated strips, each 10 acres, in an 80-acre field. After the 2005–06 winter wheat forage crop was chopped in April 2006, a 6-row 30-inch Case DMI Ecolo-Till strip-tiller was used to subsoil to 12 inches and clear soil for planting. The traditional tillage strips were disked and listed before planting.

In 2007, because of irrigation pump challenges, the demonstration was moved to two fields, where an 8-row 30-inch Schlagel strip-tiller was used for the strip-till comparison.

The results for 2006 were compromised by irrigation challenges, but in the 2007 demonstration, corn plant populations were higher in the strip-tilled fields, and weed populations and yields were roughly equal in both fields.

On the whole, said Mitchell, the results were positive and encouraging.

Indeed, since the project started in 2005, interest in conservation tillage has increased markedly in the San Joaquin Valley. Growers have learned that strip-tillage involves less intercrop tillage than normally employed following winter wheat chopping in preparation for spring corn silage planting.

By converting to strip-tillage, a typical dairy producer could eliminate four to five tractor passes. With high fuel costs, fewer passes across the field are better not only for the field but also for the dairy producer.

It has also been shown that strip-tillage and no-tillage for forage production can reduce particulate matter emissions by 50-90% compared with traditional tillage.

“We estimate a reduction in costs of $50 an acre by using strip-tillage instead of traditional tillage,” said Mitchell. “However, it is important to understand that strip-tillage may not work in all soil types; heavier soils may be more difficult than coarser soils.”

Mitchell offers these thoughts for producers considering strip-tillage:

  • When strip-tilling, having some moisture in the soil precludes bringing up large clods
  • Timely weed management is needed – time herbicide applications close to planting (within a week)
  • Using the same GPS system for both the strip-tilling and planting operations will keep the planter on the strip-tilled area

Improved strip-tilling could enable triple-cropping—the sequential growing of three crops in a year—which could help San Joaquin dairy producers manage manure nitrogen with minimal risk of losses. Mitchell is currently assessing this in a Western SARE Research and Education Grant, Triple-Cropping Dairy Forage Production Systems through Conservation Tillage in California‘s San Joaquin Valley (SW08-060).

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