Welcome

Wondering when to look for insects, combat weeds, or predict flowering?

Our approach to climate is through Growing Degree Days, or GDD. GDD is a cumulative measure of temperature during the growing season and we calculate the totals each Monday. GDDs can be used to: assess the suitability of a region for production of a particular crop; estimate the growth-stages of crops, weeds or even life stages of insects; predict maturity and cutting dates of forage crops; predict best timing of fertilizer or pesticide application; estimate the heat stress on crops; plan spacing of planting dates to produce separate harvest dates.

Preliminary Spring Wheat Variety Trial Results attachment.

Fall 2011 Ammonia Volatilization Research

Kentucky bluegrass seed fields in central use surface-applied nitrogen. Volatile nitrogen loss as ammonia is an economic and environmental concern. The objective of this second-year study was to quantify as pounds per acre ammonia volatilization from urea, Agrotain-coated urea at 1.5 lbs/ton, Agrotain-coated urea at 3 lbs/ton, and ammonium nitrate applied to the soil surface in the fall under commercial field conditions in central Oregon. Ammonia volatilization losses were measured with a modified passive flux method (Wood et al. 2000), which consists of a rotating 10-ft-tall mast placed at the center of each 100-ft-diameter circular plot. Nitrogen loss due to ammonium volatilization across both locations was highest with urea followed by Agrotain-coated urea at 1.5 lbs/ton and Agrotain-coated urea at 3 lbs/ton. Ammonium nitrate provided the least amount of volatilization.

Shown in the attachment is the results from a commercial fields in the study. Pleases note there are two pages on the attached newsletter.

Agricultural Industry Support for COARC

The following brochure describes the Dean’s challenge to the agricultural communities across Oregon for local support of the Agricultural Experimental Stations. Local growers and industry representatives, recognizing the economic value provided by COARC, developed a plan for voluntary contributions to support the station.

Also: