Forage Crop Research Dine College Land Grant Office Intern: Daniel Allen

Abstract This presentation demonstrates alternatives to a single cropping system. It can be viewed as non-traditional, since alfalfa has become nearly sole hay crop in this region, while three of the proposed forages are native plants Species. The project offers solutions to real-world problems, and reduced water demand by selecting drought resistant crop species or varieties. Presently, farmers on the Navajo Nation almost exclusively plant alfalfa as a hay crop. Oats are a secondary crop. Forage crops on the Navajo Nation need to be diversified to provide better hay security.

History Forage Crops Beardless wheat Triticale Orchard Grass Spring Crops Alfalfa Oats Barley Foxtail Millet Switchgrass Big Bluestem Four wing saltbush Teff Grass Fall Crops Beardless wheat Triticale Orchard Grass Smooth Bromegrass

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John H. Brock, Technical Consultant Land Grant Office Diné College Forage crops research stand counts August 26 and 27, 2015 for the Land Grant Office, Diné College John H. Brock, Technical Consultant Land Grant Office Diné College

Challenges/ Obstacles Animals Consumption of product Deer, Prairie dogs, Crows/Ravens Limited water Logistical problems with government Gold mine spill Water hauling 3000Gal/Field

2016 Forage Crops Research seedling stands Lower Wheatfields site = poor seedling establishment; much herbivory by prairie dogs. Dropped site in 2015. Tsaile site = fair to good response, best species establishment = triticale and millet Many Farms site = best establishment of all sites, wheat, triticale, millet, oats and barley had the best stands in July, site very dry in late August and most annual crop forages are dead. Dropped site in 2016. Teec Nos Pos site = very dry, but the same species as at Many Farms had the highest counts, in August many seedlings dead from drought, millet and Teff grass seedling emergence gave the highest counts. Dropped site in 2015. All sites had major death loss of seedlings from the lack of rain in July and August of 2015, especially at Many Farms and Teec Nos Pos

Lower Wheatfields study site: Seedling stand counts August 26, 2015 Species Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Sum avg/m2 avg/ft2 wheat teff 313 119 200 632 84.2 7.8 triticale 13 1.7 0.16 millet 3 6 0.8 0.07 switchgrass oats 1 0.12 0.01 alfalfa 4 7 17 2 0.18 smooth brome barley orchardgrass 45 58 0.4 0.037 4 wing saltbush big bluestem 0.24 0.02

Many Farms study site: Seedling stand counts August 27, 2015 Species Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Sum avg/m2 avg/ft2 wheat 12 2 1 15 0.18 teff 341 32 46 419 55.8 5.2 triticale 34 39 10 83 9.7 0.9 millet 222 126 95 443 59.1 5.5 switchgrass 28 33 61 8.1 0.76 oats 24 18 44 5.86 0.54 alfalfa 7 0.93 0.08 smooth brome barley 4 0.53 0.04 orchardgrass 0.13 0.01 4 wing saltbush big bluestem 26 3.46 0.32

Teec Nos Pos study site: Seedling stand counts August 27, 2015 Species Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Sum avg/m2 avg/ft2 wheat 7 4 1 12 1.6 0.15 teff 303 635 770 1708 227.2 21.3 triticale 28 8 36 4.8 0.45 millet 73 17 71 161 21.5 2 switchgrass 10 18 2.4 0.2 oats alfalfa smooth brome barley 30 32 4.3 0.4 orchardgrass 4 wing saltbush big bluestem 3 0.1 0.04

Tsaile study site: Seedling stand counts August 26, 2016 Species Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Sum avg/m2 avg/ft2 wheat 1 0.1 teff 9 10 1.3 triticale millet 25 91 49 18.3 183 24.4 switchgrass 17 21 3 4.5 45 6.0 oats 0.4 4 0.5 alfalfa 29 5 2.7 26.7 3.6 smooth brome 6 7 2.2 22 2.9 barley orchardgrass 0.7 0.9 4 wing saltbush big bluestem 83 9.6 96 12.8

Tsaile study site August 26, 2015. Millet plot above on left was harvested and yielded 1,481 lbs/ac of oven dried material, the triticale plot on the right yielded 1,305 lbs/ac of oven dried plants,.

1 established plant / (ft2) Summary table of forage crops stand counts in late August 2015/2016. Data are average plant number per square foot (ft2). Sites Lower wheatfields Tsaile 2016 Many Farms Teec Nos Pos Species wheat 0.1 0.18 0.15 Teff grass 7.8 1.3 5.2 21.3 triticale 0.16 0.9 0.45 millet 0.07 24.4 5.5 2 switchgrass 6.0 0.76 0.2 oats 0.01 0.5 0.54 alfalfa 3.6 0.08 smooth brome 2.9 barley 0.04 0.4 Orchard grass 0.037 4 wing saltbush big bluestem 0.02 12.8 0.32 1 established plant / (ft2) is considered to a good stand on rangelands. Less than 0.25 plants / (ft2) is considered marginal.

Diné College, Land Grant Office – Forage crops research Several species had good seedling counts at the study sites. Most consistently were millet, triticale, and teff grass. Earlier in the spring; oats, barley and beardless wheat had good seedling stand counts. The mid summer dry hot weather provided much death loss of those crop seedlings. Seedling stand counts and the harvest data demonstrate the potential of these sites for forage crops establishment under management. The summer dryness common to this area and the 2015 forage crops response shows the need for beneficial irrigation of these crops to bring then to good yield at the end of their growing period. The Lower Wheatfields (LWF) and Tsaile sites have significant populations of prairie dogs that especially impacted all the plots at the LWF site and those plots on the west replication block at Tsaile. The preseeding herbicide treatment provided good weed control, but also caused stand reduction of many of the seeded forages. Especially noticeable was the fewer millet plants. For the forage crops = wheat, barley and oats, many of the seedlings showed yellowing in the early summer. In the future, the herbicide rate of Streamline could be reduced or perhaps an old standard of 2,4-D would give control of the existing weeds and give some advantage to the seeded crops.

Educating local farmers Chapter house presentation Wheatfields, Manyfarms, Teec Nos Pos Producer workshops Held at Dine College Land Grant Office Agriculture Expo Local workshop held on Dine college Campus FALCON 2015 Presented by Tiko Tsinnijinnie

Acknowledgements: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Diné College – Land Grant Office John Brock, Consultant of Brock Habit Restoration and Invasion Plant Management LLC Tsaile, Teec Nos Pos, Many Farms, Upper Wheatfields and Lower Wheatfields Land Grant Intern: Daniel Allen