WCRC 2006 Native Plant Update
The second year of research on the Native Plant Project at Colorado State University’s Western Colorado Research Center at Rogers Mesa began in March with many of the perennials beginning to green up. The Uncompahgre Plateau Project provided one half acre of new transplants which were added to the main field in May and include one new grass and five new forb species. May was also the first month of harvest, which stretched through to early September. A hand held seed stripper was used for harvesting the larger plots. The Irrigation and Spacing Studies and other small plots were hand harvested. Selected clean seed yields are found in the table below.
Select Species |
Yield in lbs/acre |
|
Field acreage |
2005 |
2006 |
Achilea lanulosa ( ½ acre) |
237 |
1 |
Erigeron speciosus ( 1/3 acre ) |
128 |
9.5 |
Eriogonum umbellatum ( ½ acre) |
NA |
45 |
Hedysarum boreale ( ½ acre) |
NA |
36 |
Koeleria macrantha ( 1/3 acre) |
NA |
26 |
Linum lewisii ( 1/5 acre) |
NA |
45 |
Penstemon cyanocaulis ( 1/3 acre) |
NA |
40 |
Senecio multilobatus ( 1/100 acre) |
NA |
36 |
Smaller yields from other grasses and forbs were obtained but not included in the above table. As seen in the yields for Achilea lanulosa and Erigeron speciosus, some species are proving to be short lived and may need new plantings each year to insure high seed production each year. Other species should produce more consistently over several years.
Rhizoctonia, a fungal pathogen, destroyed the majority of the population of a few species including Senecio multilobatus, Astragulus eastwoodiae, and Erigeron pumilus. Increased soil moisture monitoring and possible use of a biofungicide for next season may help limit future loss due to this disease.
Once seed lots were inside drying down, the field was cleaned up using mechanical cultivation and appropriate herbicides to preclude new weeds trying to take hold. The dried seed was threshed when needed and cleaned using the newly obtained state of the art Clipper seed cleaners.
Technician, Jim Rohde cleaning seed with the UP Project's new Clipper Seed Cleaner.
With yields calculated and clean seed available, two highly productive species were chosen to fill in the remaining two acres of ground. An acre each of Utah Sweetvetch (Hedysarum boreale) and Bluestem Penstemon (Penstemon cyanocaulis) were planted in November once the soil temperatures were sufficiently low to ensure dormant planting. One new grower cooperator was added this fall with just under an acre of native grass direct seeded bringing the cooperator number to four.