AURORA, Ore. — Surendra Dara opened the 2022 Ag Innovations Conference at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center with an attempt at defining this year’s theme of “sustainable agriculture.”

Not only must farmers produce enough food at an affordable price to feed a growing population, he said, but do it in a way that allows them to make money while minimizing disruptions to the environment.

Dara was hired as station director at NWREC in January, guiding scientific research designed to do just that — making the region’s growers more profitable and efficient.

He spent the previous 13 years with the University of California Cooperative Extension in San Luis Obispo as an entomologist specializing in small fruits and vegetables.

While project leaders have made serious strides, Dara said the biggest obstacle has been a gap in communication. That is why he started the Ag Innovations Conference during his time in California, bringing farmers and researchers together.

“It is to bring everyone together, provide networking opportunities and explore developing practical solutions for everybody,” Dara said.

A first for Oregon

There have now been five Ag Innovations Conferences, with the first in 2014 and the most recent in 2020, each with its own unique theme. The latest installment, from Sept. 22-23, was the first in Oregon.

Speakers discussed a wide variety of topics, including “dry farming” of fruits and vegetables; novel approaches to managing snails and slugs; and electric weed control in hazelnuts.

Growing crops without irrigation may be most closely associated with wheat production in low-rainfall areas of Eastern Oregon, though OSU is leading efforts to expand dry farming techniques for more fruits and vegetables statewide.

About 50 farmers have participated in projects involving corn, tomatoes, melons and winter squash, said Amy Garrett, associate professor of practice for OSU Extension Service.

As climate change brings hotter, drier summers across the Pacific Northwest, Garrett said dry farming can help conserve water and energy, and allow farmers to cultivate otherwise productive land that might not have water rights.

Crops grown with dry farming also have an enhanced flavor, and in some cases may store longer than their irrigated counterparts, Garrett said.

A new niche

“There’s a niche marketing opportunity for growers as well,” she said.

Dry farming works best in locations with deep silt loam or silty clay soils that better hold water, Garrett said. Rows should also be given wider spacing, and diligently managed for weeds to reduce competition for soil moisture.

In one study, Garrett said her team has found dry farming of Oaxacan Green dent corn works particularly well in Oregon. The variety is highly prized by tortillerias.

Gastropods are a major pest affecting Oregon crops, including grass seed where slugs and snails cause an estimated $60 million in damage every year.

“We’re really in a constant battle with gastropods, and it’s a battle we’re struggling to win,” said Rory McDonnell, OSU associate professor.

In that battle, McDonnell has discovered a novel tool that could help farmers turn the tide without relying too heavily on chemical pellets, which although effective can be poisonous to cats and dogs.

Lab research and field trials have repeatedly demonstrated that bread dough is an effective bait for snails, McDonnell said. In one study conducted in Montana, bread dough lured 18,000 invasive Eastern heath snails into traps.

“There’s concerns about this pest coming to Oregon,” McDonnell said. “If this pest does come to Eastern Oregon, it’s going to be a massive problem for wheat production.”

His team is now working with a chemist in Canada to examine whether the smell of bread dough can be synthesized and incorporated into existing treatments.

Zapping weeds

Using electricity to zap weeds is not a new concept for U.S. agriculture. The first patent was granted in the 1880s, and commercial units have been available since the 1970s, said Marcelo Moretti, an assistant professor for OSU Extension.

Electricity works as a thermal weed control. It is applied directly to the weed and once it gets inside, travels to the roots and comes out through the soil, killing the weed.

Moretti’s research is finding that electricity is effective at controlling certain types of herbaceous weeds — such as horsetail, field bindweed and Canada thistle — in hazelnut orchards, without harming the tree or irrigation drip lines.

Killing weeds with electricity can reduce the need for chemical herbicides. However, it doesn’t come completely without risk, and at a cost.

The most significant risk is starting a fire in dry vegetation, he said. Growers should be careful to do treatments when fire risk is low.

Between cost of equipment and power, Moretti said electric weed management pencils out to about $34 per acre.

“Right now, with the cost, I don’t think it’s a standalone weed control,” he said. “But you could complement what you are doing (with electricity).”