Abstract:
This study represents an internship, as a requirement of the Professional Science
Masters program at Oregon State University, performed with Western Ag
Innovations Inc. The study consisted of two aspects -- one business and one science
oriented. The two objectives of this internship were to: 1) qualitatively evaluate how
two agrarian groups, Pesticide-Free Production Farmer’s Cooperative and
Shepherd’s Grain, benefit from environmentally-friendly production and
certification; and 2) quantitatively determine the belowground soil nutrient supply
dynamics of intercropping pea with wheat using PRSTM-probes in a dryland
agricultural region of Northeastern Oregon.
The agrarian group Shepherd’s Grain (SG) is located in the Pacific Northwest
(PNW), USA, and the Pesticide-Free Production (PFP) Farmer’s co-op was centered
in the Western Canadian prairies. These food producers were changing from
production-oriented models to consumer-driven systems by acquiring eco-friendly
production certification in order to access niche markets. SG was successful while
the PFP Farmer’s co-op was unable to find value-added markets for their
commodity products. A comparative case study was conducted to compare and
contrast the two agrarian groups with regard to organizational structure and third party
certification. This study identified several factors contributing to the success
or the failure of the agrarian groups. The major factors for success were establishing
contracts with consumers and preserving the identity of food products. Effective
direct marketing to consumers -- with a clear message backed by eco-friendly
certification, to initiate market demand for branded products -- was critical. By
comparing SG and the PFP Farmer’s co-op, I found that market incentives can
promote environmentally-friendly agricultural practices for sustainable crop
production and increase farm profitability. This is consistent with present trends in
agricultural production, which are driven by consumer demand for increased
transparency and sustainable food production.
Plant Root SimulatorTM (PRSTM)-probes sold commercially by Western Ag
Innovations in Saskatoon, Canada, were used to quantitatively determine nutrient
supply rates in a dryland intercropping wheat-pea system. Intercropping is an
agriculture system that is not practiced in the PNW of the USA. However,
intercropping has the potential to serve as a tool for increasing environmentally friendly
agricultural practices. PRSTM-probes are not used extensively in PNW
dryland cropping systems either. The purpose of this research was to determine the
potential benefits of intercropping by using the PRSTM-probes as a diagnostic tool.
PRSTM-probes were used to measure nutrient supply rates within established
agronomic trials at Pendleton, OR. PRSTM-probes showed an increase in nitrogen
(N) supply associated with the observed grain yield response to N fertilizer.
Similarly, PRSTM-probes did not show a difference in nutrient supply for
intercropping treatments when no grain yield response was observed. In general,
intercropping did not benefit grain yield in this dryland agricultural system. PRSTMprobe
measurements of nutrient supply were related to plant response to N fertilizer
and intercropping treatments in a 1-year field experiment.
