Rainfall makes a good dryland farmer out of anybody” isn’t that the truth? I think and make that statement several times each spring (please forgive the redundancy). You know as well as I do, that it is the amount of rainfall received that so dominates success and/or failure in dryland farming each year. This year, most of the fields in the region look good. One could declare: “Wow! we really did things right this time, just look at that wheat crop!” “Must be the new variety and it looks like our fertility program is really paying off!” The reality is, we did the same thing the year before and the results were not so great. The point is: precipitation received, is making the wheat looks nice. We could take pride in the result, but it is really “Mother nature” who deserves most of the credit for the beautiful wheat crop.

We can’t make it rain but we can use management to stack the (soil water storage) deck in our favor. We can manage our crops, crop residues and soils to maximize a crops use of the precipitation that is received. As dryland farmers, our goal in managing our fields with “superior dryland management practices” is to maximize the storage of precipitation in the soil for crop growth. This concept of soil-stored usable precipitation versus total precipitation received is called “Precipitation Storage Efficiency” (PSE). As dryland farmers we hope to maximize PSE, because PSE is the percentage of precipitation that falls that is actually available for crop growth. How might we use (soil, crop and residue) management to enhance PSE?

The answer to that question will be addressed at the 102^nd USDA-ARS Central Great Plains Research Station Field Day” where many of these “dryland management practices” will be discussed and investigated in detail.  The Field Day event is scheduled for: Wednesday, June 17, at the ARS Research Station, 4 miles east of Akron on Highway 34.   The day begins at 7:30 am.

This year at the “102^nd Research Station Field Day”we will have two concurrent tours with ARS and CSU scientists making presentations in the field. We will have Dr. Scott Hayleywith the CSU wheat-breeding project as a major attraction. This year = s program is jam-packed with the latest in dryland research. You will want to come a little early to register (Registration is at 7:30-7:50)and get in on A The Annual Weather Summary with Dr. Wayne Shawcroft at 7:50 am. Dr. Pat Byrne will follow Wayne and will demonstrate the “Extraction of wheat DNA” at 8:10am. Our special guest speaker this year: Dr. Frank Young will then share his experiences with dryland canola production from the Pacific North West. Next, Dr. Vigil will share recent residue management research “Enhanced Grain Yields with Stripper Header Stubble Management”, Followed by Doug Schmale‘s presentation on “Jointed goat grass control in wheat production systems”.Dr. Francisco Calderon will visit about his research with “Alternative dryland Legumes”.Alan Helm will introduce a new crop sequencing experiment. Dr.Joe Benjamin will present ”Maintaining Organic C levels in irrigated agriculture and Dr. Maysoon Mikha will speak on ”Soil Aggregates and C sequestration in Long-term tillage plots.  All of this, plus CSU's Dr. Scott Haley, sharing the latest A Winter Wheat Variety Research.  Come join us for an information packed morning and see and hear what your scientists have to share about the latest in dryland research.

The first tour starts at 7:50 am and ends at 12:30 noon when lunch will be provided. The Lunch and promotion for the day is sponsored by your local Cope and Washington county Soil Conservation Districts, CCTA, Citizens National Bank, Dekalb & Asgrow Seeds, Kay-Jan John Deere, Akron M & M Co-op, Triumph Seed, Quality Systems Inc, Wickham Tractor and Bayer Chemical Company, Agri-Inject of Yuma, Becker Underwood, Centennial Ag, NK/Syngneta, Pawnee Buttes seed Inc, Pioneer Hybrid International, and Wagers seed.

The field day is open to anyone interested in Dryland research. Continuation Education Units (CEU credits) will be available to certified crop advisors attending the events. The station, located 4 miles east of Akron on Highway 34 (established in 1907) is a federal research site (USDA-ARS). With close ties to CSU, the University of Nebraska, and Kansas State University, the station is funded by your tax dollars and exists for your benefit. So come on out, tour the research, and see what your station scientists have been busy with this past year.

Dr Merle F. Vigil

Research Leader/soil scientist

USDA-ARS-CGPRS