2023 WSU Dryland Research Station (Lind, WA)

        WSU's Dry Land Research Station at Lind, Wa. is recognized as having the lowest annual precipitation of all the State and Federal dryland research facilities in the US.  It has a 105 year existence.   The 101 year average is 9.61" per year.  The lowest annual rainfall was 4.36 in 1977, and the highest annual rainfall was 22.71" in 1948.  The 2023 crop year (Sept--May) total is 7.42".  The take home points for me this year (June 15th) are the following:

    --Staff:  The Lind Station has a new Director, Dr. Surendra Singh, a new scientist, Dr. Shikha Singh, and a new Technician, Steven Jaurez.

     --Winter Peas:   There is an attempt expand the normal rotation of (winter wheat - fallow), by introducing winter peas into the rotation.  Current research has shown:  -- providing inoculant increases the yield an average of 6.6%, --discovery of a bacterium that surpasses diseases in peas,  -- discovered a bacterium that develop super sized nodules on pea roots,  -- pea pod weevil are present with no past history of growing peas in the area.  As a result research is ongoing to find resistant varieties to the pest, -- the plots were very short on residue.  The researcher stated that even a small amount of residue in row with the pea made a significant improvement in winter survivability, -- the microbial community was different for different pea varieties,  -- all variety trials were moment seeded in late October.

    -- Endangered Species Act (ESA):  New forms of regulation are being foisted on farming activities in the state.  Some of them may effect agriculture in our area.  I'm including two pic's of a brochure handed out offering some explanation.  It includes a website that we need to become familiar.  

-- Russian Thistles:  are a major pest in low precipitation growing areas.  Currently all control applications of Spartan, Charge, Fierce, and Metribuzin on the plots looked good.  Researchers will be looking for control differences when rain arrives.

2023 McGregor Research Tour

    I always find this to be an interesting tour.  Cat and her crew do a good job.  Take home points for me this year (June 13th)  are the following:

    --Canola:  A large trial plot with a number of different cultivar from different companies.  The plots all looked good, well into flowering.  The plots, visually, looked significantly better than the canola field that bordered the plots.  The field was streaky with, generally, thinner stand with fewer flowers, and the streaks being shorter and flowers turned white, and I didn't notice pods developing.  The cooperator prepared the field and plot area the same, applying 80ppa N, 10ppa S.  The field was seeded at 5ppa of canola seed.  The plot was seeded a week later and had an additional 5gpa of Kickstart for fertility, and was seeded at 6ppa of seed.  That is a lot of seed.  My preliminary information indicates that the Kickstart was the only difference, other than the type of drill used.  I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of Kickstart showing that much difference, but it was obvious right to the border that encircled the plot site.  Maybe waiting a week later helped the plot site.  Foliar feeding has shown some potential benefit, with the best timing being early rosette stage before rapid biomass increase.   [ Earlier, I conversed with Brian Caldbeck, of Caldbeck Consulting.  A couple of useful comments were: --1) he likes 6-7 established plants/sf, and not to count emerged plants because some will not survive.  --2) space the seed out.  When seed clumps together only one or two seeds will germinate.  The others just sit there doing nothing.  --3) hybrids tend to divide out as tall with slender branch spread and shorter with wider branch spread.  He prefers tall/slender on 7"-10" spacing and short/wide on 10"-15" row spacing.

--Wireworm:  They infest a lot of crop acreage and can do damage to yield.  Wireworms are the larva form of the Click Beetle.  They emit a clicking sound, and are highly attracted to the color of white.  An easy check is to park a white pickup in/by the field you are scouting, --if they are there, they will be all over the pickup.  Wireworms prefer soil temperatures in the 55-75ºF range with moisture.  They dive deep when soil temperature reaches ≥ 80ºF.   McGregor has found that a lot of perceived chemical damage is actually wireworm damage.  Wireworms are more widely spread then we realize.  Click Beetles survive in grasslands and crop residue.  Natural predators are: rodents, birds, bats, frogs, lizards, predatory beetles, predatory wasps, predatory mites,  Lacewings, spiders, and preying mantises.  Seed treat with Terassa is quite effective for control.  

--Seed Treats:  Terassa seems effective for wireworm control.  Systiva seems effective for Rhizoctonia.  Relenya seems effective for Bunt Smut.   The Guardian Blend controls 20 diseases, but not wireworm.

--Fertility:  Zinc is best applied to seed compared to in row, side band, broadcast.  Zinc is the #1 limiting micronutrient in Pacific Northwest.  Nitrogen applied at Tillering stage is best timing; however, stabilized N applied at time of seeding has given best yield.    Use foliar feed for needed elements found through SAP testing at flag leaf stage.

--Wheat:  Early-Late seeding.  Best yields appear to develop when seeding early with a late maturing cultivar, and when seeding late, choose an early maturing cultivar.  Winter wheats:  Shine is highly susceptible to dryland foot rot while Blackjack is tolerant to dryland foot rot.  M-Pire has high tolerance to grassy herbides.  --with an awned wheat, awnes indicate developing kernel.  A stubby(short) awn is questionable for development.  An exercise Cat had us do related to early-medium-late seeding of winter wheat.  Seeding dates for the same cultivar was Sept. 15th, Oct. 15th, Nov. 15th.  In all cases the heads were very similar in development.  The main difference was the number of tillers.  The lesson here was, plant higher seed rate as you go farther into late fall to compensate for lack of ability to tiller.

--Herbicide treatments:  This trial consisted of some common herbicides with different mixes and sprayed across several cultivar types to see the crop reaction.   Effectiveness of the treatments varied.  It was pointed out that Clethodim, Paraquat, and Glyphosate needed water conditioning to improve effectiveness.

--RO Water:  Like last year, I think Cat used distilled water in 2023 and called it RO (reverse osmosis) water, but it's not!  McGregor's interest in RO water came about because of the buzz around a few operations using processed water and cutting chemical rates.  The trials looked poor and their warnings about escapements and potential for developing resistance are valid.   In 2023,  there are 9 active water processing units serving ~ 14 farm/ranch operations in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.   Since 2020 a group of us have been looking into the Pursanova Water System.  This system first filters the water, then run it through a reverse osmosis (RO) unit, and then on through "structure" tubes containing beads of specific types of ores.   These are not random rocks.  For more information about water see my posts on "Pursanova -- RO/S Water" by clicking on the "water" label.  There is a lot more to water than we generally recognize.

6/6/23 WHEAT COLLEGE

    Mostly an interesting meet.  It would have been better if the venue (Palouse Empire Fair Grounds Community Bldg) had better acoustics-sound system for those of us with hearing issues.  Sound is slightly off, reverberating, making a lot of words indistinct.  

    --Ted Labun from Canada speaking on "successfully growing dryland wheat".  My main interest was his comments on canola, after his talk.  Points he made: --different hybrids with, some growing tall with narrow branching, and others growing shorter with wider branching.  The first he likes seeding in 7" rows, and the latter in 10-14" rows.  --he likes plants every 6-7" along row.  --where a clump of seed drops, only 1-2 seeds will germinate.  The others do nothing.  Spacing out seed allows for reduction in seeding rate.  Instead of 400,000spa, you can go down to 250,000spa.  --he likes the wheat-canola rotation.  --his pics showed a lot of residue (flat) on the ground.  --he likes a black slot where residue has been moved to the side for seed to emerge.  He could not tell me if there are issues with growing canola in tall standing stubble (possible light interference).  His talk indicated he was more familiar with minimum till practices, compared to no-till. 

    --Pic below:  Aaron Esser promoted his color coded crop/field chart with chemistry groups used by year.  

This is a great tool for quick one page visual reference of chemistry when endeavoring to reduce weed resistance.  The problem I see is that his colors don't show enough contrast for some crops he has assigned.  We should develop this for our operation.  He likes using Liberty Link canola instead of RR canola.  It is an opportunity to reduce one or more applications of glyphosate in the rotation. I think it is a given that most of us use too much glyphosate and should look for alternatives where possible.

    His studies show that cultivar genetics was a better tool for disease control than applying fungicides.  From my biological farming study, fungicides are particularly bad for beneficial soil fungi, so it's preferable to avoid them when improving soil health is a goal.

    A new management tool he unveiled today was charting by field weed species, ranking them by worst as they impact crop yield.  *This suggests that we should not try to kill every weed in the crop/field.  *Changing that mindset toward weed management programs will likely reduce chemical applications, reducing potential weed resistance, by targeting weeds that impact crop yield.

    --Rick Wesselman from Syngenta talked about plant roots.  Roots are the foundation for the plant.  Healthy root system makes for better yield.  Seed coatings are being developed that enhance root growth early in root development.  Our operation is looking into these type products.  This year we have applied biological material to all our seeding either by seed coat applications or in-row with the seed.

    --Rachel Wieme from WSU gave information and demonstration about soil pH and why it matters for crop production.  She showed how varied the pH is by taking readings along a 12" soil probe sample.

       Several people in the group remarked that they were introducing cultivation back into their no-till operations because of their finding soil stratification of nutrients and pH.  *From a soil health aspect this is going backwards.  In our environment, growing sufficient biomass to move the needle on soil health in a positive direction is difficult.  *No-till, in and of itself, is not sufficient.  *No-till dramatically reduces the loss of SOM, and corresponding, slows the rate of deteriorating the soils health.  *Cultivation in any form accelerates the loss of soil organic matter, surface biomass, and soil structure.  *Natures plowmen (worms) disappear with cultivation.  *They need food on the surface, and in the form of soil organic matter.  *Along with food, they need undisturbed ground for reproduction.  * Worms, both vertical borers and horizontal borers breakup soil stratification by moving material around in the soil profile.

    --A spokesman from Altitude Agri Services gave a talk, and demonstrated a T30 agriculture drone.  This is new technology to agriculture and there are a lot of questions.  He stated that a drone set up with two extra batteries, charger and generator) costs between $30-40 thousand dollars.  I didn't hear him talk about licensing.  We have been looking into this technology since January. 

  *The T40 (pictured here) became available in the fall of 2022.  Licensing for legally flying these heavy drones is a pretty straight forward process, but is time consuming and can be expensive depending on how you go about it.  *There are individuals and companies scrambling to set up training/licensing programs.

(*my thoughts interjected into the info. presented.)

A 30 YEAR JOURNEY

This is a 15 minute presentation that I was suppose to give recently, but ended up in a snow bank.  I looked it over and decided that it was a pretty good representation and decided I would post it.

A  30 year  Journey To  Improve  Soil  Health

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My name is Tracy Eriksen.  My wife, April, and I farm as a family corporation.  My son Kye, joined us in 1994.  Most of our land in the 14-16” rainfall area between St.John and Ewan.  The remainder is in the 18-20” rainfall zone near Thornton. 

My journey started in 1975.  One hot summer day, riding a noisy steel tracked tractor with no cab, making one of those mindless passes round the field pulling a rod weeder, I come to realize that I just can’t do this any longer.  At that point in time I had already spent more than two decades doing that same operation, making that same pass, and watching the dirt flow down the hill.  Tillage erosion became real to me at that point.  

My farming experience has totaled more than six decades.  Two of those decades were spent farming like my grandfather and father farmed. 

    [pic-erosion 4]--This could have been our field but was not.  I never saw erosion on our place quite this bad.    The next three decades were spent with only one goal, —STOP EROSION!,—salvage what top soil we had left.  During that period there was never any consideration of  building topsoil.   The information stating that it took 100 years for natural processes to build 1” of soil was accepted.  I no longer accept that statement.  My belief is that we now have the knowledge to build soils much faster if we stop degrading our soils and fix the biology.    Articles printed back in the mid 1970’s described the wonders of the Palouse, and how soil erosion was destroying those deep rich soils.  Soil erosion in the 1930’s -40’s -50’s -60’s, and into the 70’s was bad, and not infrequently,—horrendous, as pictured here.  

Have we changed our farming practices so as to not revisit those bad old days??..  Some of us have, … but there is still a lot of vulnerable land in the region showing those scars regularly.  A miracle saved our region last winter.  Do we get two in a row??  Looking outside it appears we are set up for serious runoff with a lot of drifted snow on frozen ground late in the season.   Our climate appears to be in an erratic cycle with more extremes.  My hope is that the ground we steward is prepared for some serious rainfall and runoff event.  We are not yet prepared for a serious drought.  Our soil biological health is just not good enough.

My early attempts to reduce soil erosion took a four prong approach.  

—-the first prong was to mulch till.  I called it trashy fallow.

—-the second prong was having a strict three year rotation that included winter wheat, spring barley and fallow or peas. That was pretty common rotation for the day.  A two year rotation of wheat fallow was problematic.

—-the third prong was to strip out each field according to NRCS guidelines and put all three crop types in each field annually.  The extra moving time proved significant, but was done for many years.

—-the fourth prong was to modify the equipment to combine operations, and size to fit the strips, and also, be easily moved from field to field.  Since my interest, and education was in engineering I enjoyed those challenges that consumed most of two decades.  Some of the projects were to complex to be practical for long days in the field.   They were generally modified after a couple of years.  This was a time of continual evolution.  Today, computers and software are doing what I was doing manually with switches and levers.   

Everything that I had put in place to stop erosion at that point in time was marginally successful.  Come spring the fields still looked bad from erosion.  Dennis Roe, who, many of you know, would figuratively hold my hand from time to time and assure me that those few ditches carried less dirt than the rilled and sheet eroded fields that were so prevalent.  I was never completely convinced.  

By the 1990’s no-till technology had made significant advancements.  Glyphosate, available since 1974, was more reasonably priced.  There were several types drills being marketed.  Guy Swannson regularly sponsored seminars supporting the value of no-till and various soil topics.  He brought speakers in from all over the country, and Canada.

In the mid 1980’s I started doing some no-tilling.  For several years I had Dwayne Blankenship custom drill winter wheat into my pea ground.  I rented disc drills to seed my chem fallow ground for a few years.  In 1992 I bought an AgPro hoe drill.  We modified and reconfigured that drill many times.

Around the year 2000, while touring the long term field plots at Oregon State University’s Pendleton Station I learned that no-tilling, with fallow in the rotation was not building soil health.  The fallow year degraded our soil more than the two crop years could build.  No-tilling was obviously saving soil.  Our chem fallow looked a lot better than the fields at Pendleton, so our response was to improve the residue on our fallow ground.  By this point in time I come to realize that even using no-till, if the soil was loosened and the surface exposed, there would be erosion.  Our response was to build and preserve more residue.

From the beginning, I and then, we, continually fought with residue. There were days I spent more time under the drill than in the tractor seat.  When entering a field we were never confident we would be able seed it.  We always did, —but some of it didn’t look pretty.  Every winter, and summer we would modify the drill and finally, the fall of 2009 we hit the residue wall.  A decision had to be made, —do we go back to doing some strategic burning, or use a different type of drill.  Burning was a huge step backward, —not acceptable.

    Starting the spring of 2010, we hired custom operators that used the CrossSlot technology.  All our residue issues went away.  By 2014 we completely retooled, going to ULD (ultra-low disturbance) system. We use the CrossSlot drill to minimize soil disturbance, and we are able to drill through any residue.  We have a GVM sprayer to minimize field tracks and be more timely, and  we bought a Shelbourne stripper header to maximize snow capture, and reduce wind velocity across the ground surface.   What have we accomplished by going this route?

1—Soil erosion has disappeared, —but we are still losing some water.  The armor is protecting the soil, but water, and all the bushels it represents is still escaping.  The fields look a lot better without rills and gullies.

2—Weedy cultivars are fewer and less competitive.  The mat of residue we have on most of our ground makes a very hostile environment.  Seed needs to contact earth to grow competitively.   Drilling with minimum disturbance minimizes the planting of weed seed.  If we could remove wheel tracks we would do even better. 

3—Soil temperatures have moderated both in the summer and winter.  In 2015 and 2016,  I used HOBO sensors to measure temperatures at seed depth.  Ground with good armor is 3-5º warmer than bare ground in the winter, —and 20-25º cooler in the heat of summer.  

Early spring planting has not been a problem.  Our seed depth temperatures are 1-3º cooler than in cultivated ground at seeding time.  Once seeded though, within 2-3 days the armored field reaches the same temperature as the cultivated field.   Soil armor helps support and spread the weight of our equipment, reducing compaction.

4—The drill technology has given us good emergence and stand count for a variety of crops in very difficult seeding conditions.

Are we at the point where we are improving our soil health, building soil organic matter and related carbon?  I would say YES …. and NO!  

Soil health has many parameters.  The physical parameters of our soils have improved dramatically, but the biological parameters are definitely not where they should be.

Over the years we have included more crop diversity in our cropping rotation.  Crop diversity has certainly helped make no-till successful, but the biological soil component has not gained a perceptible amount.

The next step appears to be the introduction of cover crops. Inter-seeding holds some promise.  This will be a new and challenging experience.  

At this point we have been replacing some of our fallow ground with a mixture of cover crop species, —making it green fallow.  In the short run green fallow is showing a yield drag because of the late emergence of our winter wheat crop.  My hope is that this yield drag disappears when we can get the right biology in the ground to provide the nutritional elements needed for a stronger, faster growing plant.  That sounded crazy a few years ago, but we now have a better understanding of plant nutrition and the problems that arrive from imbalances.  We are still trying to figure out what species and how many species need to be in cover crop mixes.  There are lots of ideas about that.

Seeding radish with our winter wheat will be pursued. It’s cheap and holds promise.  The idea here is for the radish to develop a finger size tuber that  extends below the frost layer before winter sets in.   When the radish dies, it shrinks quickly leaving a hole in the frozen ground for surface water to enter the soil profile.  I first saw the possibility in February of 2017, while walking a field during the spring flush.   I noticed that water was visibly moving across all of our winter wheat field except where we had grown the cover crop.  This observation supported earlier soil tests where our cover crops were using 3” of moisture, but nearly all of that moisture was replaced by the following spring.  I believe radish played a big part in that.  Except for radish all the other cover crop cultivars die leaving roots or tubers intact through the winter.

Seeding a perma-cover of a short statured perennial legume intrigues me.  I visualize seeding them onto our eroded hill tops.  This will help armor those vulnerable areas.  It will displace weedy cultivars.  It will add nitrogen, for a cash crop that will be seeded into it.  

I am currently part of a small group that is looking at soil additives, testing methods, composting, and application of compost teas and extracts to our soils and crops.  The purpose is to enhance the soil biota, and eventually reduce dependency on commercial inputs of fertilizer and chemistry. 

We are living in exciting times, and the future will be more so.  Since the mid 1980’s a great deal of work has been done on soil biology and how that component interacts with plants.  After hearing, Dr. Elaine Ingham’s story on how to rebuild soil health, I have been fascinated with the subject.  The more I delve into it, the more complex it becomes, but it holds hope where there was none before.  I doubt that there will ever be a play book on how to put all of this together, —but similar to the set of principals established for successful no-tilling, I envision a set of  principals to be developed that a farmer can follow for successfully developing a biologically healthy soil.

         This concludes my presentation.  I pray it invokes some thought about the future of FARMING THE PALOUSE.

2018 Wheat University

I recently attended the WSU Wheat University.  They had  a diverse agenda of subject matter, with presentations from researchers at Washington State University, Oregon State University, and University of Idaho.  Concurrent classes were going, and I didn't get to all the presentations.  From those that I did attend there were several things that I found important, hence, chronicle here.
     Water Movement:   --Soil type effects rate of moisture infiltration, shown by a demonstration using Walla Walla and Ritzville soil types.           --Soil particles are quickly transported by surface water and block passages into the soil profile, sealing the surface.  Runoff begins at that point.  No-till fields have more channels into the soil profile than cultivated fields and usually more surface residue.   --Surface residue retards water flowing across the soil surface.  The more residue the better.       Even though some moisture is trapped and evaporated from the residue, more residue translates to more moisture in the profile.   --The demo. in the pic above, shows a Ritzville soil with two containers of soils from a cultivated field.  One container had surface residue, the other did not.  The third container of Ritzville soil is from a no-till field.  The no-till container had no water loss from the simulated rain event.   The cultivated containers both had water loss but the container with residue had less loss and notably less soil loss.    --Water is held under tension until a path or condition breaks the tension.  Water is attracted to surfaces, going down the sides of channels into the soil profile.

      Nutrients in straw:   --A ton of wheat straw ranges from $10-$19 in nutrient value.  Straw nutrients vary depending on nutrient level found in the soil plus the  amount applied, and the value placed on the various nutrients.    --Rough estimate for straw residue is 100# per bushel of grain.    --Swath and bale removes approximately 50% of the residue.  Feeding baler directly from combine increases the loss of leaves and chaff raising the total loss a  couple of percentage points.  (A 100bu/ac yield translates to ~$25 to $47 per acre loss of nutrients).     --When a field is burned, you lose nearly all the C-N-S, and less of the remaining elements if the ash has not blown away.    --K & P can be washed out of the residue from rainfall or irrigation.
        Crop Insects:   
              --Wire worms: come in three species (Great Basin - Western - Sugar beet).    --The are identified by the shape of the little pincer type protrusion on their tail.    --The Western feeds actively in April & May.     --Sugar beet variety feeds later in the season.   --You may not encounter the Great Basin variety at economic levels.   --Seed treatment works pretty good on the Western.     --Check edges of bare areas for dead and dying new leaves on cereal plants, then dig around plant crowns.      --Wire worms prefer spring wheat over winter wheat.  It is probably a worm life cycle issue.    --They are found mostly in bottom land and may not need treating on hills.   --Wire worms are attracted to cereal grains, with the exception of oats.      --They have little attraction to Pulses, Brassica's, or chemical fallow.    --Wireworms may feed in chem fallow fields but they will not lay eggs.                    --Proximity to CRP fields will likely increase wireworm pressure.    -- ≥ 45ºF worms will be active.
             --Hession Fly: The female population is what does the damage.  She lays the eggs in the stem.   --The fly does not move far.     --The fly overwinters in grain (not oat) residue.    --Cereal plant resistance to Hession Fly is declining.  We need to pay attention to cultural practices like expanding crop rotation to help keep losses from this fly to a minimum.
             --Weevils:  Pea Weevil (not a true weevil because it has no elbow in it's antenna), Pea Leaf Weevil, Cabbage Seedpod Weevil are the three main types that cause economic damage in peas and canola.  The pea weevil scallops the lower leaves weakening the plant making it more susceptible to aphid attack.  These don't seem to be as prevalent as the pea leaf weevil.  The cabbage seedpod weevil lays eggs in the pea and canola seedpods.  In canola the pods become misshapen when attacked.
            --Aphid:  They tend to attack weakened plants/stands due to nutrition deficiencies or weevil attack.    --Scout field edges for infestations.  It's possible you will only have to treat the border which will minimize damage to beneficial insects.    --When possible spray late in the day to minimize impact on beneficial insects (specifically bees).

GOOD SCIENCE, NOT IDEOLOGY

[Update 3/6/18] How Do You Assess if a Chemical Causes Cancer?  This is a good read, written by Dr. Guy-Andre Pelouze as published in the digital magazine "SLATE".  He is a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon who did cancer research during his training, and lung cancer treatment during his practice.  Five things stuck in my mind from this article: --He states that when scientists and policymakers carelessly substitute risk for hazard, flawed conclusions are drawn. --there was a study of 89,000 farmers in Iowa and North Carolina showing no raised health risk.  --IARC being taken to task for publishing findings not consistent with their research.  --Benefit-risk ratio is important when it comes to regulatory action.  --Glyphosate is less toxic to humans than common chemicals like aspirin.
     At the recent Direct Seed Conference in Kennewick, Washington, one of the speaker presentations dealt with the anti-GMO, Glyphosate campaign that is gaining public acceptance world wide. Advocacy groups are driven by ideology, --good science be damned.  They are quite comfortable in substituting "it's possible" or "it probably is", for, "it does", and hype it "as fact", when it means nothing of the sort.  A lot of the public is gullible and  Laws are being written and products band or boycotted as a result of this hype.
      As near as I can determine, this demonizing of glyphosate and GMO's originates from the Organic Farming Industry.

      This is nothing more than a tug-of-war between holding on to the ways of the past, and moving on with new ways of the future.  Like everything else we encounter in life, we have to muddle through it.                              

                               ---  SCIENCE OVER ADVOCACY ---

       Below I'm including two websites that support science over advocacy.  The first is "Biology Fortified" < Biology Fortified >.   The second is the "Genetic Literacy Project" <  Science Not Ideology >
       I've also included two of the 501(c)(3) organizations that fund much, if not most, of the tirade against Monsanto and GMO's.  They are the Rodale Institute, and The Sustainable Food Alliance Inc.
                        _________________________________________________________

Biology Fortified explains the science behind GMO's and exposes the pseudo-science propaganda that shows up in the media.  < Biology Fortified >

Genetic Literacy Project (GLP), advocates “Science, not Ideology”.   Information about GLP can be obtained at:  < https://geneticliteracyproject.org/glp-board/ >  
I have pulled parts of the profiles of the individuals named below from the GLP website.  They are names that many of us recognize in the anti-GMO campaign. 

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ABOUT RODALE INSTITUTE

Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. For over seventy years, the Institute has been researching the best practices of organic agriculture and sharing findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world, advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest option for people and the planet. Learn more at www.rodaleInstitute.org.

The Sustainable Food Alliance, Inc. (SFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, EIN 33-1123944 registered in the state of Delaware.

The aim of the SFA is to act as a catalyst to encourage collaborative engagement between individuals and organizations working in the field of sustainable agriculture.

Our mission is to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food and farming systems.

The SFA’s programs of work are delivered primarily by working in partnership with other organizations. We fundraise for and make grants to organizations working in the field of sustainable food and agriculture. We work alongside the Sustainable Food Trust, a UK-based charity that works internationally to advance our shared mission. The link to the summary article of: The Hidden Cost of UK Food .  I found this an interesting short read.  They include a lot of different elements into "the cost".  I can't disagree with what they are saying, but, (they don't lay out the details for feeding the world population)  I can't get my mind around replacing our high capacity production with "Organic Farming".

                             ______________________________________________

Judy Carman: Activist researcher promotes GMO scare studies in fringe journals?

Updated on November 29, 2017 | [wpv-post-taxonomy type="glp-types

PROFILE DETAILS

Judy Carman (born January 31, 1964) is an academic and anti-GMO activist. Her vanity site—GMO Judy Carman—was established by Henry Rowlands, the cybermaster behind GMO Seralini and the pro-organic website SustainablePulse, which promotes claims that genetically modified foods are unsafe despite the findings of every major independent science organizations that they are as safe or safer than other conventional or organic foods.

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Jeffrey Smith: Former flying yogic instructor now 'most trusted source' for anti-GMO advocacy

Updated on November 29, 2017 

PROFILE DETAILS

Jeffrey M. Smith (born 1956) is a self-published American author, independent film producer, professional dance instructor and former politician known for his work in transcendental meditation and yogic flying, Lindy Hop swing dance and activism in opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

[Note: See Daily Show takedown of Smith]

Smith ran for the U.S. Congress as a candidate for the Natural Law Party (United_States), has authored several self-published books, DVDs and a movie on the dangers of genetic engineering,[1] serves on the Genetic Engineering Committee of the Sierra Club, and is a frequent conference speaker at advocacy, alternative health, organic and natural products conferences and his work is promoted on such nationally syndicated television programs as The Dr. Oz Show. Smith claims to have a background in communications and marketing,[2] has served as an occasional contributor to his local newspaper[3] and attended school at the Maharishi Institute of Management in Fairfield, Iowa where he resides.

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Gilles-Éric Séralini: Activist professor and face of anti-GMO industry

Updated on November 29, 2017 

PROFILE DETAILS

      Gilles-Éric Séralini is a French scientist who has been a professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen since 1991. He is known for his controversial research concluding that genetically modified food and the pesticide glyphosate are unsafe for human consumption.

      Séralini was born August 23, 1960 in Annaba, Algeria, then known as Bône. He is president and chairman of the board of CRIIGEN (Committee of Independent Research and Information. He has published multiple studies alleging health risks associated with plant biotechnology which have been called flawed and biased by various regulatory and academic groups.

      A professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Caen, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I.B.F.A., Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen Cedex, France. Séralini studied in Nice and became a Doctor in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Montpellier in 1987. He left then for North America to carry out fundamental research for four years, at the University of Western Ontario and Laval University Medical Center, doing research on corticosteroid-binding globulin. Qualified to supervise research, he passed, at the age of 30, the French national competitive exam for University Professors.

       Séralini chose to focus on the interface of cancer research and endocrinology at the University of Caen, where he was appointed professor in June 1991, a position he has held ever since. He has written about 100 scientific articles and conference papers for international specialist symposiums. He assumes several roles in the Commissions of the University of Caen, where he leads a research team associated to CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and INRA."

       Funding for much of Séralini's research has come directly from the alternative health and organic industries, and in particular by various organizations tied to the Rodale Institute, that bills itself as "advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest option for people and the planet."  Anthony Rodale–chairman emeritus of Rodale’s Organic and grandson of the founder, is a vocal supporter of Séralini's work.

       The funds are funneled to the French scientist through the Sustainable Food Alliance (SFA), headed by Patrick Holden, former director of the UK Soil Association--Britain's organic industry trade group--which is a "charity campaigning for planet-friendly organic practices" and "healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use”.  A study released in December 2016 claiming GM corn is not "substantially equilvent" to non-GMO varieties was financed by SFA.

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Don Huber: Science still looking for Purdue professor's GMO pathogen time bomb

Updated on November 29, 2017 

PROFILE DETAILS

Don M. Huber (born 1935) is a former Purdue University professor who goes on publicity tours sponsored by organic[1], alternative health[2] and anti-GMO interest groups[3] claiming glyphosate and herbicide tolerant GM crops are causing health problems in people and animals. He also claims he discovered years ago a novel pathogenic microbe caused by agricultural genetic engineering–a GMO time bomb that is wreaking havoc on humans and animals.

    Huber maintains glyphosate and GMO herbicide tolerant crops are linked to human and animal health risks. He says animals fed GM crops are dying in record numbers and that their is a correlation between GM soy and GM corn with inflammatory bowel disease in humans in the United States. He alleges glyphosate is linked to alzheimer's disease, gout, diabetes, Parkinson's, allergies and fertility issues.  To support his claims, he cites research by a Maharishi movement expert in yogic flying Jeffrey M. Smith, and the debunked activist researcher Gilles-Eric Séralini.[5]

Huber has collaborated with anti-GMO activist researchers Judy Carman and Jack Heinemann in support of anti-GMO claims sponsored by extreme organic and biodynamic food and farming products company president Howard Vlieger.

WHEAT U --- 2017

      There was a good attendance and age diversity at the Wheat U in Spokane, Dec. 5th.   All the presentations will be available on < Wheat U > in the near future.  An earlier Conference in Kansas can also be viewed on that website.   I'll limit my comments to two parts of the agenda that most interested me, --the luncheon speaker,  Dr. Pete Berry (Crop Physiologist for ADAS,UK Ltd.), and Cat Solois' (McGregor's Director of Research & Technology) presentations.
        Berry:   Dr. Berry's presentation described the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) which is part of the ADAS (stands for ??).  The YEN links producers that share information on how to enhance yields.  They have a competition that is broke down to several categories that include soil capability.  Fields are ≥5ac, with the average size ≈10ac.  Many of the participants have relative small acreages, or small fields for their farm operation.  Out-of-the-box ideas are encouraged.  Berry shared a lengthy list of ideas, some sounding ridiculous.
        I didn't have much interest in this presentation until it dawned on me that this concept may be useful to gain experience and ideas on cover crops, --how to use plant cultivars to replace commercial inputs.  The idea here would be to solicit participation of farmers around the region to devote a small acreage to a project where all plant nutrients and weed control would be done through the use of plant cultivars, whether they be cash crop or cover crop cultivars.  The only rule for a participant would be that no applications of commercial inputs would be allowed on that acreage.  A business plan with more detail of the project needs to be worked up along with rewards/awards that participants may expect.  This is an idea in early development stage.
        Solois:  Cat started by showing the locations around the region of McGregor plants.  She stated that they have 2 years of data taken in fields they service to baseline soil fertility levels.  These are taken in three locations within each field indicating high-medium-low management areas.  In the midwest, when you pull up a fertility map of a region it is very detailed about what the usage is and what element is short.  In the west it is a grey page with no data.  Her general topic was plant nutrition.  She talked about factors that effect the efficiency of plants taking in various nutritional elements like, N-P-K.  She also showed that the Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW) soils were very complex and pH varied dramatically in short distances.  Inadequate levels of K are showing up in low and medium management areas.  These are basically the eroded areas.  Taking core samples need to be done with care about location.  An example she shared, was where one core from a low management area included in a 10 core sample from a high management area moved the K from a high level to a marginal level.
      All in all, a day well spent.  These events are great for exchanging information with like minded people, along with the event presentations.

"DIRT" and more

David R. Montgomery has recently put out the third book of a trilogy about soil.    

     [ --DIRT, --HIDDEN HALF OF NATURE, --GROWING A REVOLUTION ].      

Event Photo: 

    All are books that we as farmers should read, and reflect on what we are doing to the soil and how to become better stewards of the land.  By our actions we have demonstrated that we really don't understand the asset we have in our soil.  We continue to flush it's productivity down the ditch year after year where it does no-one an good.  There are several uTube presentations that give you a short course on what each book is about.  The following link is the public kickoff presentation for:  < Growing a Revolution >.  I found this to be very good.  The total video is an hour and eleven minutes.  His presentation is ≈58min and than question/answer period.  I spotted this while looking at the agenda for the National Conference on Cover Crops & Soil Health, sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation Society.   Enjoy, and think about what you are doing to the land and how you can improve your stewardship.

2017 Wheat College

This year's Washington Association of Wheat Growers "Wheat College" was held in the Three Rivers Convention Hall, Kennewick, WA., 4/28/17.  The Three Rivers facility is a great venue.  I found the program interesting.  Attendance was low.  I counted ≈55 total (staff, speakers, producers).  I'm guessing most producers are still in the fields trying to get crops seeded.  The weather has provided an abundance of moisture and a late start for field work.

           CHEMICAL APPLICATION:  The key note speaker was Greg Kruger from North Platte, NE, a professor/researcher.  The organizers should have extended the day by 1-1.5hrs and gave him a second session.  He didn't tell us anything that a licensed applicator shouldn't already know; however, he did emphasize drift issues, their causes, that resulted in lawsuits.  I am listing a few of the points he made about spray applications and off target drift potential.
      ----Spray crops at the right height.  A good rule of thumb is one inch above the targeted plant for every inch of spray nozzle spacing.  20" spacing means 20" above the target plant.  The information below, where appropriate, is taken 90 feet downwind and at the appropriate tip height, as the base measurement being compared.
      ----Wind speed should be checked at application height, not 12' off the ground from a self-propelled rig. ( Well, in Nebraska or other flat land areas, maybe that caution has merit; however, in our steep rolling terrain, I don't see that as a useful factor.)
      ----Drift has two facets: one, is particle, where particles are physically carried off target by wind.  The second is vapor.  Vapor is controlled by chemical structure and is out of the hands of operators to manage.
      ----Each herbicide has a preferred application droplet size.  You should choose the proper tip for the application speed, and related pressure range to maintain that droplet size.
     ----You can visually see a 25 micron change in droplet size.  Learning the proper spray pattern will  help you keep the spray pattern within the preferred droplet size.
     ----Air inversions are common in early morning and evening with still air.  The Pacific Northwest has more air inversions than any other part of the US.  Avoid spraying during periods of air inversions.  Chemistry can be carried a long way off target with inversions.
     ----Chemistry can be carried 7 times farther with wind speed that has been doubled.
     ----Chemistry can be carried 3.5 times farther when booms are raised double their appropriate height.
      ----Doubling the distance to a susceptible crop will reduce the damage to that crop by 80%.
      ----Check tip specification and replace any that are more than 10% off rate.  Worn tips will dramatically effect droplet size, and coverage.
     ----AI tips are used to increase droplet size by introducing air into the solution stream.  With AI's, you are sacrificing potential coverage, depending on target weed, for a coarser droplet.  The presenter likes the AI-XR's for an all purpose tip.  They have a droplet size of 400/450.  The standard AI's are 500/600 micron.
      ----To maximize the use of any given tip, keep your pressure at least 10psi above the low end recommendation, and 15/20psi below the high end recommendation.
     ----Dry herbicide products come with their own measuring cups.  They are accurate within 7-15% depending on the chemistry.  Always use the cup that comes with the box of chemistry.  These calibration marks change with the manufacturing source of the chemical.  For real accuracy a calibrated scale should be used.  Suitable scales can be purchase for ≈ $80.
     ----The first agricultural applied herbicide was 2-4D (dry) in 1947.
     ----The last "mode of action" for plant protection herbicides was discovered in 1986.  All the new herbicides are reformulations of old ones.  Any new "mode" would take 8-10 years before it could be on the market.  Protecting the effectiveness of our current chemistry is paramount, and managing to reduce potential plant resistance should be a priority for your farm.
     ----Chemical specific crops (roundup ready, liberty link, ect.) limits the interest and financial ability to discover new chemical control for weeds in crop cultivars.
     ----Any type of cultural practice used over a long period of time will promote resistant bio-types regardless of whether it is through the use of a chemical, cultivation, hand weeding, or is "organic".  The first resistant bio-type, for the culture of the time, can be tracked back ten thousand years.  A rotation of crops, chemistry, and practices, is the best method of reducing resistant bio-types in agriculture.

Dana Herron & Jay Atchison gave a Wheat Commission report:
      ----Heaven forbid a kernel of GMO wheat reaching an export terminal.  Trade would be disrupted for a year or more.
      ----Buckwheat:  Be careful if you use buckwheat as an alternate crop.  Manage so that there will be no buckwheat show in your wheat sample.  Japan treats buckwheat like we do peanuts.  If you do find buckwheat in your wheat fields, let it be known.  There is no trade issues other than with Japan for buckwheat.  The contaminated wheat/buckwheat lot can be directed to other buyers.

Drew Lions:
      ---Rattail fescue control.  Zigua (brand name) has shown good control of rattail fescue.  The active ingredient is Pyroxisulphome (sp).
      ---Mixing two chemicals with the same mode of action does not increase the effectiveness over using either chemical. --there is a slight chance that using two chemicals with the same mode of action, but are from different families of chemistry, may improve control of a specific weed, but that's not very likely.
     ---All chemical applications are better and more consistent when spraying with more solution, except Glyphosate.  With Glyphosate more water means more chemical will be tied up with the mineral content in the water.  Ammonium nitrate is used to buffer the water, filling the sites that would be filled  with the glyphosate molecule.  This means that is very important to put nearly all the water along with the ammonium sulfate into the tank before adding in the glyphosate.  WSU website has a calculator for the amount of ammonium sulfate to use for a specific hardness of the water being used.

CLIMATE CHANGE

     This is the climate portion of the PNW weather prediction given at the Spokane Farm Forum and Ag Show last February featuring Dr. Art Douglas.
     In preparation for this post I found that I needed to bolster my vocabulary and knowledge about the Milankovitch Cycle. < Milankovitch Cycle >  It's one thing to listen and get the drift of what Douglas is saying, and it's something else to restate the information without attaching a 20min recording of the presentation, --so I'm not going to try!
      I do have a better understanding of why the media doesn't report this phenomena.  It's complex with a lot of interaction and timing of various facets, and, although there is a great body of data that backs up the Milankovitch Cycle, there are two phenomena that it doesn't adequately explain so it's still considered a theory.  Hence, the only thing the media can get their teeth into, and the public can understand, is all the CO2 we are dumping into our atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels.  We are bombarded with this "fact" daily.   It's the "chicken little" syndrome that won't go away anytime soon.  My thought is that fossil fuels will be the worlds principal fuel until it becomes scarce, because of economics and infrastructure world wide.  The money that was/is being spent on inefficient wind monstrosities should have been directed to advances in scrubbing and sequestering end material from burning fossil fuel.  Unlike wind, the money spent on solar technology appears to be a good investment, with efficiency and new technology being announced on nearly a monthly basis.

    [IN SUMMARY]  What I got out of this presentation is:  Human activity is contributing to our warming planet; however, it's insignificant compared to the effects of energy supplied by "Sun Spot Activity", and factors associated with the Milankovitch Cycle.  The data is starting to show a change. Is this change a flattening out, or a move to a down trend in temperature?  It may take a decade or two for that to become clear.  [My thought] --in the short term, (40-50yr), the planet will continue to warm, with some rise in ocean levels.  This is going to be devastating for population around the world living at sea level, and will effect food production.  This will, in itself, cause a lot of political unrest.  In the media there is a lot of handwringing and support for solutions based on chasing symptoms instead of solutions based on projected outcome, --moving populations and developing water storage for instance.  GMO technology will likely keep food production ahead of our shrinking productive land base.

 [ CLIMATE CHANGE PRESENTATION ]: Dr. Art Douglas has a Master's, in SST (sea surface temperature).  Three quarters of the earth is covered by water, hence, the oceans drive our weather.  Temperature change creates ocean currents and how they act.  This in turn moves temperature differentials around the globe effecting air temperature, and rainfall and whether CO2 is released or absorbed.  The oceans are the largest source, and sink, for CO2.  A little change in ocean temperatures makes a huge difference in Atmospheric CO2.   Since a significant part of his talk this year centered around climate change I have been waiting to see what would be written in the local papers.  So far, I haven't seen a word printed on the subject.  Douglas' statement at the beginning of his presentation was "he hoped we were at the end of politicizing the changing climate".  (I don't see that happening.)
      I'll go over a few points that he made and include pic's of some of his slide presentation.

      He started with three antidotal topics to set the stage.  I found these fascinating, but way to detailed to regurgitate here.  This is a snippet of his presentation.   IN SUMMARY, THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE DATA.  Over time each innovation has resulted in the temperature being stepped up 1-3 degrees from the previous method.  These discrepancies are enough on their own to explain the temperature rise.  The following, three sources of change/discrepancy are discussed.

        In/around his yard, he has about an 80 foot elevation difference.  He put out three thermometers, top-middle-bottom, and found several degrees difference. I have noticed that as well.  In 30 feet elevation to the hill behind my house the temperature differential ranges from 1-3 degrees compared to the house.

        The SST gained a degree when data acquisition changed.  This data collection was mandated, starting in 1860.  At intervals mariners would toss a bucket into the ocean and then put a thermometer in it.  Between WWI & WWII, the mariners started taking the SST by induction.  This is where sea water was used to cool the ship propulsion system and they put a thermometer in the induction line to the engine.  That elevated temperature over the previous method by a degree.

        The NWS (national weather service) changed out their weather stations and went to electronic remote sensing.  I believe he mentioned that this was world wide in the early 2000's.  The old stations were read by humans and placed 4.5 feet above the ground.  The new stations are placed 20 feet above ground and remotely sent to the data collection facility.  I think Douglas mentioned that this created a change of about 3 degrees difference from the old readings.  When this change out was done, Douglas was able to acquire all of the thermometers from the Nebraska weather stations.  he did studies with these and found that there was a degree difference between the highest and lowest readings of these instruments.

       You get the picture, --world wide, there is a huge data base, taken by a lot of people taken over a long span of time with different methods employed.  To me this is a perfect scenario to start a cause and have data to back it up.

       Art Douglas is a strong advocate of the power of natural phenomena that originates with the sun and the orbits of planets, specifically earth and it's relationships with the sun and planets.  He does acknowledge that human activity plays a role.  Without saying so, he left me with the impression that human activity is a minor player in the drama of climate change.   The orbit of the earth around the sun changes shape over time.  These are cyclic.   The tilt of the earth changes over time and is also cyclic. 

This graph shows that the present time is the lowest temperature and CO2 levels for the last 300 million years of earths history.  We can't take comfort in that information because a level that can be devastating for us may not even show as a bump on this graph's time frame.  It does show how fragile our hold on existence may be.

 The Milankovitch Cycles consist of earths elliptical orbit around the sun  -- The earth's tilt as it circles the sun, which changes over time --The Precession is the wobble of the earth on it's axis.  At any moment in time, these three cycles, along with sunspots, interact and produce an effect on the earth.  These forces effect the earth in totality, as well as differences in points across the earth's surface from pole to pole.

Sun spots are flares of burning gas that extend great (and varying) distances from the surface of the sun.  On rare occasions, the energy from a flare reaching the earth is so intense that it interrupts communications and has shut down a power grid in the northeast US.   Intensity and frequency of sun spots effect our atmosphere and surface temperatures.

This graph displays what has happened over the past 400 years of Sunspot observations.

These models are predicting a cooling trend for the future.  One or two years ago, Dr. Douglas mentioned that data supporting the temperature trend line was starting to show a change.  Whether that was an indication of flattening out, or moving on to trend low, I can't say.

I struggle with this chart.  What I remember being associated with it is that the current data indicates that time has been lengthened out another 50K-100K years to the next major accumulation of ice.

Dr. Douglas' presentation was ended with this statement from a team of scientists in Denmark.