12/19/06 Undercutter funding still available

Washington Ag December 19, 2006 That Pacific Northwest Undercutter Project has awarded cost share grants to help with the purchase of 25 undercutters but there is still funding available for another 25 of the low disturbance tillage implements. Gretchen Borck of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, who is administering the federal grant which is providing up to a 50 percent cost share for the purchase of an undercutter, says there are some Washington counties in particular she'd like to see more participation from. Borck; "We need some farmers from Douglas, Grant and Adams and Lincoln county to participate. We've had a lot of response from the Franklin, Benton county area, Walla Walla area and of course Oregon and the five counties there. But up north, and these under cutters will work up there. We have two different varieties. We have the Great Plains and we have the Haybuster. Don't be shy if you have rocks. Come see us. This will work." The goal of the three year project is to have widespread use of the undercutter method of summer-fallow farming which will result in significant reductions in wind erosion and suspended dust emissions, with direct benefits to air quality. The project targets wheat-summer fallow producers in 14 counties of eastern Washington and eastern Oregon where the rainfall is 12 inches or less. Get the full details and an application at wawg.org I'm Bob Hoff.