01/25/06 More farmers turning to green manure crop

Several Idaho growers have gone to green manure crops between potato and wheat rotations. The program coordinator for the Northwest Coalition of Alternatives to Pesticides Jennifer Miller says there are obvious benefits from these crops. MILLER First of all there turning it into the soil adding a lot of organic matter. Another is that it really helps with water infiltration and water retention. When you add these green manure it helps to make larger soil aggregates so that the soil clumps up together, bigger pieces and particles so it takes a lot more wind to actually blow it away." Farmers have planted their green manure crops in early August and into October. Many of them are familiar with two different mustards, Pacific Gold which was developed at the University of Idaho and Caliente. MILLER "An it's actually a blend of two different mustards. That one has been selected by the breeders because, one, it has a really high glucosynulate level. That's the chemical that's involved in controlling a lot of the nematodes. And then the other one in that blend has the higher enzyme content that helps to break down the glucosynulates. More about managing the crop in tomorrow's report. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott