Title : Developing Sustainable and Profitable Cropping Systems for North - Central Oregon

of Research Findings The project has now completed two crop-years of experimentation. Four more crop-years are required for all crop rotations to complete a full cycle. This report covers the 2004-05 cropyear results. CBARC experiment (Moro): Grain yields of winter wheat following fallow (conventional or chemical) produced significantly higher yields than yields of annual cropping systems involving winter wheat, spring wheat, spring barley, and winter pea following winter wheat. Downy brome populations increased in direct-seeded winter wheat, with the greatest increase in re-crop direct-seeded winter wheat. Rotation and herbicide applications were effective at reducing knotweed. Prickly lettuce and tumble mustard increased with tumble mustard increasing the most in spring crops. Root diseases caused by Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Pythium, and root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus thornei, and P. neglectus) varied between treatments. Center of Sustainability (Heppner): Continuous spring barley produced the highest grain yields followed by winter wheat following fallow (conventional or chemical). The lowest yield was obtained from continuous Alpowa spring wheat that was very susceptible to root-lesion nematodes. Objectives The project is now in the implementation phase. The objective of this phase is to establish and maintain long-term experiments that compare conventional wheat/fallow system with alternate cropping systems with potential crop management practices such as direct seeding that reduce wind and water erosion. Specific objectives include determining systems that • increase residue cover,