Dryland Farming

The last two years I worked on the Quinn Organic Farm in Big Sandy, Montana experimenting with dryland vegetable production. Dryland farming is simply farming without irrigation. It's common for small grains, but certainly not in vegetable production. Superfarmer Bob Quinn wanted to try growing high-value crops on his 3,000 acre dryland farm and decided to experiment with vegetables (as well as continue to grow organic wheat, safflower, green manures, sunflowers, and other crops). I was hired to help him and we planted a few acres of a wide variety of vegetables. Many of the vegetable types were direct-seeded early in the spring and some were started in a greenhouse as per usual (tomatoes, eggplant, onions). Once the plants were in the field from the greenhouse, we stopped watering them (and in the case of the direct-seeded ones, we didn't water them ever). We kept them well-weeded so there was little competition for the available water. We also planted them further apart than you would in a normal irrigated setting (for example 6' between tomatoes and 6-8" between onions). The average precipitation for the farm is between 11-13". During the growing season, there is anywhere from 6-8" of rainfall. It's been remarkable seeing the results of these experiments. I don't think we give plants enough credit for what they can survive. Most did pretty well and all made it through the season. Many of the vegetables didn't produce as much as if they had been watered, but they produced nonetheless. We grew sweet corn, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, leeks, onions, potatoes, black corn, eggplant, bush beans, and green peppers.

We also experimented in a saline seep by planting a wide variety of vegetables the first year (2007) and just tomatoes and onions the second year (2008). A saline seep is an area where the water table is very high, but also high in salts and other minerals. One is created on a farm when water falls to the ground and passes through soil that doesn't have enough vegetation to soak it up. The water leaches out salts and minerals before hitting an impermeable layer and flowing downhill where it rises to the surface, evaporates and leaves a white crust on the ground. The soil is full of moisture, but it's salty and doesn't grow much of anything. The first year we planted in straight rows and the second in semi-circle arcs, which more closely mimics the salt concentration of the seep (imagine a target with the inner circles the highest in salt and outer circles with less salt concentration). We wanted to know if vegetables could access the water and also deal with the high salt content. We got mixed results - the onions did pretty well though were inconsistent across the seep, and the tomatoes suffered quite a bit of blossom end rot. I've been saving seeds from the tomatoes and hope to have salt-tolerant varieties in a few generations.

This year, on my own farm, I will continue to experiment with dryland vegetables on a smaller scale (since I'm now trying to make a living from my vegetable production), likely with potatoes, winter squash, and a few tomato varieties. I saved seed from the open-pollinated tomato varieties the past 2 seasons and hope to develop dryland-specific varieties over the course of a few generations. Water use/disuse and water as a waning natural resource are discussed but certainly not enough, in my opinion. Fuel prices (peak oil) and climate change usually dominate the conversation and overshadow impending (and presently occurring) water shortages. Experimenting with different crops and water use (without using GMO technology) is essential. Stay tuned for how my experiments progress. Bob Quinn will also continue his extended variety trials as well. See www.QuinnOrganic.com.