2005 Producer Grant Program Recipients

—David Redhage

The Kerr Center’s Oklahoma Producer Grant Program has awarded four grants to Oklahoma farmers and ranchers. The grant program focused on three priority areas: Alternative Crop Production Systems, Alternative Livestock Production Systems, and Alternative Marketing Methods.
A technical committee of agricultural producers and professionals evaluated grant proposals.

1. Daci Farms is owned by David Walter and is located in northeast Delaware County, near Grove.
This is a family owned and operated farm with a dairy/compost business.

The demonstration grant is entitled “Compost Usage to Reduce Harmful Insect Damage in Vegetable Crops.”
A large digester will be used to make compost using poultry litter, hardwood sawdust and a small percentage of dairy cow manure.

Three garden plots will be set up with 1) no compost incorporated, weed control by tilling, hoeing and hand with irrigation; 2) one inch of compost incorporated into the top six inches of soil, weed control by tilling, hoeing, and hand with water as needed 3) one inch of compost into the top six inches of soil with approximately 1/2 inch of compost as a mulch initially, with more as the plants grow, weed control with compost mulch only.

The goal of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of well-made compost on garden plants. Cooperators include Jason Hollenback, OSU Extension Educator, Delaware County and Ron Foster of Flower Beds by Ron in Grove.

2. Sam McClure’s farm and ranch operation is located along the South Canadian River in Hughes County. Peanuts were previously an important part of the operation but are no longer produced. Onions are an increasingly important part of the operation.

Several short and intermediate day onion varieties have been identified as adapted to Oklahoma growing conditions. As the markets for onions have grown, so has the need to determine the best methods for harvesting, curing and storing onions.

The research will help determine the best procedures to do this, using equipment already on hand.

Project cooperators include Jim Shrefler, Horticulture Extension Specialist; Dr. Penny Perkins-Veazie, Postharvest Psystiologist USDA-ARS; Michael Carter, Extension Educator from Hughes County, and Dr. Merrit Taylor, Agricultural Economist at OSU-Lane.

3. Sue Selman from Buffalo, Oklahoma received a three-year demonstration grant to set up a non-traditional multi-species grazing system for increasing profitability. Selman is a third generation owner and operator of a historic ranch in Harper County. Traditional production has been livestock with some hay.

The ranch has some problems with invasive species such as salt cedar, willows and Eastern red cedar. The goal is to add Droper Croix sheep and goats to help control the invasive species without resorting to chemical control methods.
The test area consists of 500 acres set aside for a six-pasture rotation. Cooperators on the project include Dr Phil Sims, USDA-ARS; Jim Shaffer, USDA-NRCS; Trapper Heglin, Oklahoma Wildlife and Prairie Heritage Alliance; and Wade Free of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

4. The fourth grant was awarded to Thad Doye of Walters, Oklahoma. The three-year research grant will look at sunflower oil as a fuel source.

The farm/ranch operation consists of a small cow/ calf operation with wheat production. The goal of the project is to dedicate 40 acres to sunflower production and determine the yield in gallons of fuel per acre.

The production costs will be used to determine the price per gallon for the fuel. Project cooperators include Marty New, Comanche County Extension; George Weber of Webers Diesel Service; Damona Doye, Extension Economist and OSU Regents Professor; and Kathy NcNally, Director of Field Services and Commodities for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.

Read an article on Thad Doye's sunflower biodiesel project from the summer 2006 issue of Field Notes.

See a breakdown of the economics of Thad Doye's sunflower biodiesel enterprise from the fall 2007 issue of Field Notes.

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