06/16/08 Bluegrass seed residue disposal study

This will be the seventh and final year of Kentucky bluegrass seed harvest trials for the University of Idaho's Don Thill. Seed was planted in 2001, harvested the next year and every year in plots that employed various residue management treatments in the wake of criticism from groups who wanted field burning halted. THILL "The treatments that we had were a full load burn, bale and burn where the residue is baled off soon after harvest and then what remains is burned and then a full mechanical treatment where we bale off the residue and then we mow and harrow to help facilitate the breakdown of residue but there is absolutely no burning. Each individual plot was 60 by 300 feet long and those were replicated four times each treatment so there were a total of 16 plots out there." And there was a fourth treatment, a system treatment as it was called but it varied over the years. THILL "Following the 2002 harvest it was a mechanical residue removal. After the 2003 harvest it was a bale and burn treatment, after 2004 it was a full load burn and then we repeated the same sequence over the next three years." Now they have data and tomorrow we'll tell you about seed yields and give you an economic perspective too. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott