Project Overview
Commodities
- Agronomic: general hay and forage crops, grass (misc. perennial), hay
- Additional Plants: native plants
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer
- Farm Business Management: whole farm planning, value added
- Natural Resources/Environment: grass waterways, riparian buffers, riverbank protection, soil stabilization
- Pest Management: chemical control, field monitoring/scouting, physical control, prevention
- Production Systems: agroecosystems, holistic management
- Sustainable Communities: public participation, social networks, sustainability measures
Proposal summary:
This project is designed to address water quality, soil erosion and weed problems along seasonal drainage ditches in commercial grass fields in Oregon’s Upper Willamette Valley. It seeks to determine the most economical and efficient methods of stabilizing ditch banks to protect against erosion during heavy rains, at the same suppressing weeds without chemicals. The Western SARE funding continues an experiment begun in fall 2002 in which the ditch bank was graded and hydro-seeded with mulch, polyacrilimide and grass seed, and erosion-control fabric was staked along the bottom and sides. Early results indicate the technique succeeded, and this project will verify whether it can work on a larger scale along 1,200 feet of a high-flow, winter drainage ditch that is currently eroding.