On my afternoon walk, I noticed some OSU students by the alfalfa field. It now clear to me why they are getting such high yields and why they seem to cut at the right time when others especially Eastern Washington Columbia Basin alfalfa growers had their 1st cutting rained on. They sold it for $150 a ton and that is a $50-$100 a ton loss over a premium 1st cutting. The field that I walk by is in the OSU Ag Extention program and every detail is studied by scientists and ag students. I was amazed that they test the soil after every cutting and fertilize it accordingly. They also keep a daily check on moisture. In this sandy loam, while overwatering is almost impossible during the heat, this week with cooler temperatures, monitoring moisture is important for disease control.
So these participating ranchers have a host of scientists and methodologists advising them. The thing with these fields is they have all the water they can use for the entire season. While in the past they had to ration water use when they watered 100 acres, now cutting that down to smaller plots, they seldom use all their water. It is amazing to me what science can accomplish for agriculture with these experimental plots, but still this year with water in short supply, all this high yield info doesn't help except a few.
Anyway, these students were there to study rodent control. I guess they use a gopher bait that shows some success, but they said the increase in gopher snakes was what was keeping rodents at a minimum. I told them of the Rattlesnake sighting and their crossing the road from the rocks. I think the reason is all their old habitat is now new houses and building right up to the alfalfa field. That area was once rocks and grass filled with rodents and a buffet for rattlesnakes that didn't need to ever be seen as there were no roads to cross for food.
They told me to walk the ditch road and I would see some gopher snakes that were providing great rodent control. I hate snakes but just this once took the road and sure enough the first 50 feet in a 1/2 mile road, I saw what I have always called a Racer. It looks as though it has already eaten a gopher and in search of another. I got this cell phone photo and then turned around and beat cheeks out of there. Yes, I know they are harmless but they frighten me, and taking this photo caused me bad dreams last night.