FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2004
CONTACT: Jennifer Miller (208) 850-6504

Fort Hall, Idaho -- A report summarizing the findings from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Alternative Cropping Demonstration noted important benefits for potatoes grown with an alternative to chemical fumigant treatment. The report's findings will be presented at the upcoming Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' annual farmer's certification program on February 27 in Pocatello.

"The results are encouraging. We are excited about the potential that more potato growers on the Reservation will consider this alternative practice," says Rosphine Coby-Jack, land use commissioner for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.

Instead of treating the soil with the chemical fumigant metam sodium, a green manure crop was grown in the fall of 2002 between the wheat and potato crops. Green manure crops are turned into the soil to add nutrients, improve soil characteristics and control pests and diseases.

The 160-acre demonstration field on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation showed that planting a mustard green manure crop was an economically viable alternative to fumigant use in potatoes. This finding resulted from completion of the first alternative rotation of wheat/green manure-potato on the demonstration field. Another trial of the wheat/green manure-potato rotation will be completed this fall to confirm these results.

A concern for many farmers is the cost of growing the green manure crop. In this demonstration, the cost of the green manure crop was less than metam sodium treatment. And with comparable to better potato yields and quality, the mustard green manure practice was profitable.

Todd Jensen of Cedar Farms, Inc. farmed the demonstration project field.

"We were early enough in the season to get the mustard in and established," says Jensen. "It works with the timing of fall activities."

"The only issue is the amount of water," says Jensen. "We normally use three inches of water in the fall to water up the harvested grain field. We had deep wells available, but with canal water it could be questionable."

"I see lots of potential for my operation," says Jensen. "Like anything else, I need to replicate it a few years and make sure we get the same results. If so, I would like to plant a whole pivot with the mustard."

Jennifer Miller, coordinator of the project, says, "We are currently seeking other potato growers who would like to try the green manure. This is one way that pesticide use can be reduced, while producing quality potatoes and good returns; a benefit for the Tribes and the farmers."

The demonstration project is sponsored by Three Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) and is made possible with the continued support from Cedar Farms, Inc., Western Ag Research, Western Laboratory, NRCS, Fort Hall Extension System, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Land Use Commission. The demonstration project was made possible by grants from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the Environmental Protection Agency. For more information on the project or to receive the report on the project findings, contact Jennifer Miller at NCAP at (208) 850-6504.

Picture caption: A mustard green manure crop was found to be a viable alternative to metam sodium treatment in the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Alternative Cropping Demonstration.