Researchers go with the grains

“Some of the best soil in the state is right here,” Larry Krum from the Helena office of the Montana Department of Agriculture said as we milled around at the start of the Montana Agricultural Experimental Station’s annual field day in Creston early last month. 

Navy blue mountains poked into cerulean sky. Amber grain, warming up after a cold June, shivered in the morning breeze.

Farmers are consummate problem solvers as they work to get something out of a seed plus dirt. In a culture that seems to favor disruption over data, ag is that old-school field that looks to, and relies on, science.  

Ready to serve it up with staff and colleagues was Jessica Torrion, superintendent of Montana State University’s Northwestern Agricultural Research Center, who welcomed the 120 attendees, most from the industry, with: “We are here to do research and to do adjustments for weather, economics, politics ... We do the things we have to do for our clientele, which is you.” 

Before we climbed onto flatbed trailers, Torrion reminded us, “Please ask questions. We need them.” One farmer with her son got right to it, asking Torrion as she hopped aboard, “Have you tried a winter pea?” 

Over about a half-dozen stops, we saw and learned about the applied results of inquiry, such as the impacts of nano fertilizers, deficit irrigation, grazing forages, and Hessian flies as well as potential alternative crops.  

As hard as things have been for farmers, there’s hope.  

The nano fertilizer application pointed to a possible 50% to 75% reduction in conventional fertilizer and hinted at enhanced plant health. The small lightweight particles of nano fertilizer are more easily absorbed by plants. Producer Tryg Koch described the nano evolution as similar to the change from “the bag phone in the truck to talking on your watch.”  

“We saw the difference in the beginning, but not now,” Torrion said of spring wheat treated with nano versus without. The truth will come at harvest, with determination of yield. 

Also tested on spring wheat, reduced watering seemed to be beneficial. Researchers found last year that a crop watered at 50% of usual came in with yield similar to the crop watered at 100% and the protein content was higher. Intrigued, they repeated the experiment this year. 

One farmer lamented, “You haven’t given us anything we can use,” to which Torrion mentioned the range of factors, such as soil and crop type, season and weather, and that an irrigation panel later that day would dig deeper. Everybody wants certainty, especially when inputs are expensive. 

Tools like moisture sensors and drone sensing make “more crop per drop” possible. 

Stopping at a test field planted to compare two spring wheat varieties, Torrion said with a smile, “Do you want all the good things in one package?” It’s just like dating. 

Sitting next to me on a hay bale, Clara Griffith, a junior studying mechanical engineering at Montana State University who grew up on 4-H, had come to field day to help conduct drone flights for aerial imaging. 

“It’s been really interesting to mix tradition with technology,” she said, referring to advances in precision agriculture. “Consulting’s going to blow up." 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at [email protected].