Educator receives farming systems grant

COLUMBIA BASIN - Andy McGuire shows farmers how they can farm their land with less energy and still yield a healthy crop.

McGuire, a Lauzier agricultural systems educator for Washington State University's Grant-Adams Area Extension, received a $50,000 grant to further his work with high-residue farming.

"(High-residue farming is) done a lot in the midwest, but not under irrigation systems and not in the complicated rotations that we have here," McGuire said. "We don't depend on rainfall so much as they do, and we grow a lot more corn and soybeans, so we have to figure out how to fit different crops in rotation using these systems."

The grant is going to be used to purchase a center-pivot sprinkler for irrigating several acres at the university's Othello Research Unit. High-residue farming demonstrations are currently held at leased farms south of Ephrata and north of Connell.

Grain corn is growing on both properties among wheat residue remaining from last spring. On Wednesday, McGuire visited the property near Ephrata with technician Sally Hubbs. They worked to record the distance between crops, and how many crops grew per acre.

"We had a target when we planted, and we want to see how close we are," McGuire said.

Because the corn does not grow as quickly as it would if it were growing on bare soil, seeds were planted with starter fertilizer, he said. That way, the plant does not need to grow as high to receive the initial fertilizer.

The plants were grown using a no-till, direct seeding process.

"We'll have enough acreage (with the grant) that we can do several different types of high-residue farming systems," he said.

Advantages of high-residue farming for the farmer include fuel and time savings, McGuire said.

In addition, not as much dust is going to come off the property with residue on it, he said.

"We can have a problem with spring wind erosion in areas that have sandy soils," he said. "Farmers worry about their crop blowing out in the spring, and we've seen a lot of high winds this year."

McGuire has worked on high-residue farming since 2004 and in his position since 1999.

Demonstrations are planned for the location south of Ephrata June 18 and north of Connell June 19. For more information, call Andy McGuire at 509-754-2011, ext. 413.