In the whirlwind of new technology swirling in the wake of Washington’s great no-till experiment, some bold new drills, deep shank machines, cultivators and chisels are nudging the concept closer to wider commercialization.

But tongues remain in check as products like Exactrix’ direct nitrogen injection no-till drill/airseeder system make their debut.  “We tried the unit for the first time last fall, so we really won’t have a true test until we see the spring results in the 2000 crop,”says Wilbur-Ellis service/sales agent Ric Murison, Fairfield.

Injecting fertilizer into the ground by cutting a very small slice in the soil makes it possible to apply NH3 with minimal disturbance of the ground, he explains.  “You don’t have to till the ground before using the machine,”Murison says. “This allows us to make a one-pass shot to inject anhydrous ammonia and liquid materials needed in this part of the state.”

Wilbur Ellis is trying the unit for possible use in its custom operations in the future. “We borrowed the machine from our Moscow, Idaho, plant to see how it would do, but this is a first-time trial, so it’s too early to say much about how successful it might be,”says Wilbur-Ellis salesman Adam Druffel. Wilbur-Ellis ran the unit at six area farms in 1999 on pea, lentil, barley and wheat stubble, and in a Kentucky bluegrass field.  “This will give us a chance to see how it performs in different situations, which is important before we can say this is a good or bad idea,” Druffel says.

If manufacturer claims that the Exactrix can enhance application precision, save $15,000 a year on 5,000 acres, and increase production up to 40 acres a day are true, “that’s pretty exciting news for those thinking about no-till,”says Druffel. The Exactrix manifold may help us put a more uniform rate on the field, says Murison.  “If we can get improved accuracy from each of the ports, growers running on hillsides will be able to get the same application from one side of the unit as the other, and that could be quite a valuable tool for no-till growers.” If bluegrass yields can be enhanced with the injector it would be good news to growers in Spokane County, where burning is banned.  “If we can get the fertilizer under the thatch where plants can use it more readily, we have hopes for better yields,”he says.  “It sure looks like something that will work, and we're encouraging growers to give it a try.  It’s a farmer-friendly machine, with low maintenance and easy to use with little expense.”

BLUEGRASS ECONOMICS Grower Wes Hein, using the injector for the first time in 1999 on old bluegrass stands, likes the added capability of getting the fertilizer under the thatch.  “It looks like a good idea, but the proof will be in the spring,” says the Fairfield producer.  He is comparing a 40-acre injector-treated planting with a 30-acre field on which he applied dry fertilizer in his conventional manner. “When we look at how yields come out this year, we’ll know if we have a great new idea or not, ”he says.  “If we find it works, it could help in our quest to find a way to grow bluegrass without burning.”

Unable to burn his 130 acres of bluegrass land, Hein is concerned whether he can continue to get economic yields and remain in the seed business.  “I have hopes, but like all new ideas it is still a stab in the dark,” he says.  “In a way, I guess you could say the future of bluegrass in Spokane County pretty much rides on how well this kind of new technology works out.” Hein’s bluegrass cleaned out at about 90 pounds in 1999, losing money for the grower who got 450 pounds an acre when burning prevented weeds and diseases.  Fire is also believed to stimulate high-yielding bluegrass seed heads.

Rockford grower Paul Dashiell, an Eastern Washington bluegrass producer, also tried the direct inject anhydrous unit for the first time last season on 200 acres. “When we continually topdress, the root mass forms close to the top of the ground, and this allows us a way to get the fertilizer deeper and improve the root system, he says.  The thin slice made in the soil surface improves water and oxygen health of the land, he adds. “I’ve injected aqua in the past, and found that when we burned it was able to stimulate the old stands.  Now using this device, we can inject gas and hopefully get improved yields as a result.”  The product injection places the material in a liquid, non-aberrant state above and below the ground line, the manufacturer states.

Dashiell, who says his bluegrass yields fell 75% as a result of not burning, says he cannot continue this below cost of production farming, and that new technology is “greatly needed by every bluegrass grower in the region today.” If the technology fails, bluegrass will be lost not only to his area, but throughout Washington as no-burning laws tighten down on the industry, he says.

“Already, a lot of growers have left the business, realizing that without burning, bluegrass isn’t economical,” he says.  “Fields have been plowed under in dryland areas, but some of us are trying to hang on to see if we can find new ways to meet the challenge.”

Bluegrass is the only Washington agricultural industry, which is threatened with total extinction, Dashiell believes.  “Wheat, forest, fruit - they can all still burn, but bluegrass growers lost 100% of their burning rights, and that’s discrimination against our farmers.”

Dashiell and others have launched a lawsuit against the state of Washington for failure to compensate growers because of the burning ban.  “We have not been compensated for the established stands which experienced shortened productive life,” he says.

If the state would relax its burning ban to allow a “bale-and-burn” technique that is now used by some farmers on Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation “we would have more hope for bluegrass in Washington,” he argues.  In Idaho, farmers are finding successful yields, and even some increases, by baling straw following harvest, then burning the remaining stubble only.  This reduces smoke by 80% or more, says Dashiell.

The bales are shipped to Pacific Northwest Fiber Company in Plummer, Idaho, for use in plywood manufacturing.  Dashiell is president of the company that began operations in late 1999.

Baling, which he is currently doing in Washington, costs him about 25% more in production expenses over burning, which does not pencil out in view of reduced yields due to the inability to burn remaining residue, he says.  He ships his bales to the Plummer strawboard plant.

“New techniques in burning, new varieties that will grow well without burning and new machines like this injector are what are needed today by bluegrass industry,”he says. “But it is needed now.”

Trying to fill that last part of the order is Exactrix planning and development spokesman Guy Swanson, Spokane, who worked closely with Dashiell on his rootbound problems.

ROOTBOUND PROBLEMS

“Our work to get nutrients down where they’re needed most became more critical as regulations against burning increased,” he says.

Relatively opposite of the function of most similar machines, the injector applies the NH3 as a liquid, maintaining that state all the way to the injection point, which helps increase accuracy from each port, he explains. Growers who must compensate for uneven applications with other machines usually over-apply nitrogen on parts of the field.

While nitrogen costs are low, and adding extra N does not represent a major added expense, today’s nitrate groundwater contamination concerns bring new emphasis to application methods which do not lead to overdosing.

Heavy surface runoff common to bluegrass that hauls surface applied nutrients into waterways underscore the need for injections of fertilizer. “Getting the nutrients off the surface and into the ground is perhaps the biggest advantage the injector offers,” Swanson says.“Once the ground freezes in Washington during the winter, a lot of water and nutrients can run off these fields if they are not banded.”

Cost savings using ammonia, about half to two-thirds the cost of top dressed urea can be important over time.  “Growers might be looking at as much as $12 an acre savings at the 120 pound Nrate,” he estimates.Additionally, rigs can run further using ammonia without refilling, giving another potential operational savings

“This can make things more competitive for firms like Wilbur-Ellis,”he says. “They can bid up against urea, and take away that business using the injector. I believe with a new piece of technology, fertilizer dealers will be able to expand their client base.”

Improved port-to-port accuracy of the injector provides a potential for tonnage increases, he adds. “The injector isn’t the key to making no-till work, but can be an important piece in the puzzle,” he says.

Variable-rate, site-specific farming interests will like the new unit, he feels, because of its quarter-of-a-second response to rate change callouts.  “NH3 has not been able to be used in variable rate technology because in a gas system it takes 15 seconds for the volume in the lines to recompress at rate changes, ”Swanson says.

“Getting rates super accurate is vital to today’s agriculture, ”he believes.  The injector, the company claims, is about three times more accurate than a ground sprayer.

Exactrix advertises the unit’s variances as low as 1%.

NO-TILL TILT

A side effect of no-till farming practices, which more Washington growers are trying, is a proliferation of “no-serve”customers for companies like Wilbur-Ellis “More farmers are buying their own applicators and doing it themselves, versus renting machines from us,” says Wilbur-Ellis sales and service agent Ric Murison, Fairfield.

“It has definitely cut into our business,” he says.  “Growers may be savings some money, but some of us in the service end may see some profit losses as technology changes.”

But the problem has been gradual rather than severe, he says. “Not everyone can run out and buy a no-till drill, so we still have that business, and we still sell the fertilizer and chemicals they need.  Where we’re losing out is in the running of the rigs.”

No-till and minimum-till is growing in Spokane County, which has banned field burning, he says. “A lot of growers are going this way because of the erosion control it offers.”

But Wilbur-Ellis isn’t resting on convention. “Ag changes and we change,” Murison says. “No- till is a good thing, and we’re 100% in back of the idea if it works out economically for farmers.”

Editor’s Note:
For more information please contact Susan Wherley at Yetter 1-800-447-5777 Yetter Manufacturing Company, Colchester, IL 62326 (309) 776-4111 FAX (309) 776-3222 Web site: http://www.yetterco.com