Identifying Climate-resilient Warm Season Food and Forage Species in Western Oregon

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. annual), sorghum (milo)

Practices

• Crop Production: drought tolerance
• Production Systems: dryland farming, integrated crop and livestock systems

Despite its reputation as part of the rainy Pacific Northwest, western Oregon has a Mediterranean climate with a distinct and extended summer dry season–a season which is becoming less predictable and more extreme as climate change accelerates. The timing of the start of the dry season is increasingly variable and the levels of heat and evapotranspirative stress on crops are intensifying. Producers need crops which are better adapted to climate extremes than current common species. Similarly, the increasing population and concomitant increases in water demand necessitates crops with higher water use efficiency to reduce irrigation use. Crop species from regions with a long history of adaptation to climatic conditions analogous to Oregon’s future could be essential. Many such species are also multipurpose in their regions of origin, serving as food for humans and fodder for livestock, which can expand producers’ management options and products. This study proposes to evaluate several multipurpose species for their productivity as livestock forage, cover crops, and human-suitable food in dry-farmed (i.e. unirrigated) production systems. Eight species will be tested individually and in two mixes on several sites in western Oregon in 2024. We anticipate three primary outcomes: 1) Producers in western Oregon will have a wider variety of climate-resilient forage, food, and cover crops with reduced water inputs. 2) The combination of on-farm trials, producer-centered outreach and networking will facilitate adoption of useful novel species in local and regional production systems. 3) Networking and outreach will also generate new ideas for future trials and evaluation.

Overall Objective: To expand the number of agronomically viable multipurpose food & forage species capable of growing in Oregon’s increasingly hot and dry summers.

Research Objectives:

1)    Evaluate novel, warm-season crop species for suitability as dual-or-multi-use human food, cover crops, and/or livestock forage in western Oregon under dry farmed conditions.

2)    Evaluate mixes of novel warm-season crops for dual use as cover crops and
livestock forage under dry farmed conditions. 

3)    Determine the primary factors that predict a given site’s suitability for dry farmed warm season crops in western Oregon.

4)    Collect feedback on the relative economic advantage or disadvantage of incorporating species/mixes onto participant farms.

Educational Objectives:

1) Establish Dry Farm Forages focus group for producers in Western Oregon.

2) Increase the accessibility of information for dry farm forages research and education.

3) Educate producers & consumers about culinary uses and market opportunities for warm-season food-and-forage crops.