10/11/05 No-till direct seeding, part two

Idaho and the Northwest are getting in on the tail end of the direct seed movement. AESCHLIMAN "Europe is probably 45 to 50 percent direct seeded. Australia is probably 65 percent direct seed. The Midwest is probably 45 to 50 percent. South America, Chile, all down in that area 65 to 70 percent direct seed." As president of the Northwest Direct Seed Association the question has to be asked of dryland farmer John Aeschliman, why haven't other growers done what he did 30 years ago? AESCHLIMAN "Number one its expensive to tool up for it." He knows that with low commodity prices farmers don't want another expense like new equipment but he insists the benefits are worth the cost, whether its dryland or irrigated farming. AESCHLIMAN "Irrigated growers that have switched to the direct seed system are claiming that they are saving five inches of water just in that one crop. That in itself is a big thing and then you put with that the fact that you are not going over that ground so many times anymore. In our system we go over it once. We fertilize it and plant it, everything it done in one pass." The Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association will be holding a two day conference next January in Kennewick, Washington. One of the issues certain to get attention is CSP, the Conservation Security Program which pays growers like direct seeders for what they're doing now. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott