Center Sustainability Heppner
The plots in Heppner were established in 1999 and need to continue beyond 2003. We will take over from Monsanto and fund all the operations. Bill Jepsen will continue to plant, apply herbicides, and harvest the crops. We will help him in all the operations and in addition we will sample soils as above beginning in the fall of 2003 and repeat after every 5 years. Soil moisture, water infiltration, water and wind erosion, disease, weeds, and soil microorganisms will also be monitored. Cropping systems may be modified later to match the cropping systems at the Sherman Experiment Station.
Table 2. Cropping and Tillage Systems under evaluation at the Center of Sustainability Study at Bill Jepsen's farm in Heppner.
| Treatment No. | Description |
| 1 | Conventional winter wheat/conventional fallow |
| 2 | Winter wheat/chemical fallow-direct seeding |
| 3 | Continuous spring barley-direct seeding |
| 4 | Continuous spring wheat-direct seending |
| 5 | Continuous spring DNS-direct seeding |
| 6 | Spring barley/mustard/spring wheat-direct seeding |
| 7 | Spring barley/canola/spring wheat |
| 8 | Spring barley/lentil/spring wheat |
Expected outcomes and anticipated impacts for research and extension:
At the Sherman Experiment Station, we expect to establish the basic information on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties of the plots from which information on sustainable cropping systems will be derived.
At the Center of Sustainability, extensive soil sampling and analysis will reveal how the alternate cropping systems have affected the physical, chemical, biological, and moisture properties of the soil. More useful information will be obtained if the study is continued.
Information obtained from these experiments will go a long way to influence growers to adopt sustainable cropping practices that reduce wind erosion.