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

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. annual), sorghum (milo), other
• Fruits: other
• Nuts: other
• Vegetables: other
• Additional Plants: other
• Animals: other
• Animal Products: other
• Miscellaneous: other

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.