Ramsey County Ag Column

By Bill Hodous

April 21, 2008

Howdy!!!

Tis the season to be either working on equipment or out on the prairie farming.  Farming has started around the county with minimum work being done in the Northeast and more work being done in the southern part of the county.  I have heard of barley and wheat being planted and with the bare ground temperature, at the Crary NDawn station this mourning of 47 degrees, would put the start date right on target.  There are other factors that play into this scenario and that being field readiness.  I was picking rocks over the weekend for Thomas and found varying field conditions.  Last year’s corn ground was extremely wet and last year’s pinto bean ground not dry but could have been tilled without turning around very much.  It is very unusual for us to be looking at low areas with little water.  We are so used to the norm that we are unsure of what is norm anymore.  Since 1993 storms have been dropping large amounts of water and prior to that year I can remember most storms being in the ¾ to 1.5 inches of rain.  Granted we did have storms with more rain than 1.5 inches but we still are not accustomed to the storms we get today.  Hopefully, we will have sufficient rains this summer with no bad weather.

As I was picking rocks it is very apparent of the salts that are moving towards the soil surface.  Areas that used to be relatively salt free are now showing either white or gray color to the surface.  As producers, we are going to need to manage these areas for salt or the conditions will only get worse, as we all know.  There are many different strategies that will not eliminate the salty areas but hopefully reduce the areas in size.  Cropping is one strategy.  There are crops that do fairly well in those areas and crops that cannot tolerate any salt such as pinto beans.  Barley, sunflowers, corn, and grass are crops that will grow but, as we all know, will not sustain a yield that is profitable.  So, what can we do to help reduce the moisture in those areas.  Producers, in general, do not like the word grass but if we can get something growing that will reduce the moisture content of the soil we can start reducing the size of the area holding all of this salt.  We are seeing salty spots showing up on, not only low areas but also side hills.  I would suggest that a field, I saw on Sunday, has about a third of the area showing salty areas.  A question I have for area producers is “Do you farm through these areas, with expenses like they are, or do we manage these areas, to reduce the salt, and hopefully return a small portion back into profitable production in the next 10-20 years”?  These salty areas are areas that will take many years to manage just the like the arrival of these spots seemly starting in the early 90’s.  We have had areas of salt forever but with the onslaught of rain since the early 90’s  the areas have definitely grown.  If you have cattle or know of someone with cattle, these areas could work to your benefit as there are many grasses which will grow in salty areas to include most wheatgrasses, which all could be used for hay and yet lowering the moisture level of these areas.  Another grass new to our area is something called NewHy wheatgrass.  This is a bluebunch-quackgrass hybrid.  It is a long lived, perennial grass with a moderate amount of vegetative spread developed as a hybrid between quackgrass and bluebunch wheatgrass.  This grass has demonstrated a relatively high tolerance to salinity.  NewHy is more saline tolerant than crested and intermediate wheatgrass (our faithful standards) and nearly as tolerant as tall wheatgrass.  This grass, generally, is recommended for pasture and hay on saline sites not suited for most other wheatgrasses.  NewHy is a more  palatable forage and drought tolerant than tall wheatgrass.  I mentioned this grass for two reasons: it is something that will grow and is a good “use” product, and it is found that after two years of growing this grass, the saline content has been lowered to the point of establishing Alfalfa.  I would offer this alternative to you to help eliminate production costs by not planting through these areas to complementing your income and yet trying to reduce the saline areas to a more manageable area.  Is a high cost of planting on these acres with a return year after year of nothing to zero worth the effort? Or is reducing the salt content of the area, with a plant that has a high use value in the livestock industry and could conceivably a pretty decent return on poor producing acres!!!!  This whole article came about as I was driving across, a once very productive piece of land.  Next week I will visit about another grass that producers might be overlooking, and that being Switch grass.

GOOD LUCK THIS SRPING WITH YOUR PLANTING DECISIONS AND MOST OF ALL BE SAFE!!!! 

524 4th Ave #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu