Building a Salinity Demonstration Network in North Dakota.

Nearly 90% of North Dakota producers are facing reduced crop yields as a result of soluble salt movement into crop rooting zones.  A 30-year wet cycle, the natural geology and a shift in agricultural management has led to water table levels closer to the surface and salt movement into the rooting zone via capillary action.   In the past year, we have set the groundwork for a network of salinity research and demonstration sites in Eastern ND.  The primary site for this network is a quarter section of land in Richland County, ND called the Soil Health and Agriculture Research Extension (SHARE) farm.  At this site, salinity dynamics and management practices are evaluated using long-term, full-sized equipment, replicated plots.   A local advisory group (formed with producers, consultants, commodity groups and NDSU) is used to guide the research and extension efforts at this location, keeping topics pertinent and connected to producers.  Information collected from the SHARE farm will be used in combination with a series of demonstration sites, which have been established in 12 counties expanding from the Canadian border to the southern-most part of ND.  Each location received similar treatments in a fully replicated design (including corn-soybean rotation, small grains into a cover crop, a perennial species and a “choice” treatment of interest to that specific county).   The long-term vision for this salinity research and extension network is to transfer information between the primary location (SHARE Farm) and demonstration locations throughout the eastern part of ND.  We plan to utilize local producer and consultant groups to disseminate information obtained from the SHARE farm and demonstration sites in each county.  Using this model of linking a primary site in combination with several, replicated demonstration sites in various counties improves our ability as a state institution to provide unbiased, timely, technical and practical assistance to producers facing yield reductions from salt-affected soils.