Introduction to the Symposium: An Extension Worker's View

Abstract

Abstract Extension workers often identify production, marketing, managerial, or educational constraints that reduce agricultural efficiencies. In Oregon, problems expressed by growers of several horticultural crops appeared to have a common soil management component. Some Christmas tree growers, for example, complained about poor vigor and growth of 2nd- or 3rd-cycle trees that were planted immediately after harvest of the previous crop. Growers reasoned that poor growth (and reduced marketability) might be caused by increasing concentrations of herbicide residues that resulted from yearly applications of atrazine or hexazinone, rather than soil erosion and related soil management problems. Grape producers and lily bulb growers were concerned about soil erosion, since crops were planted parallel to the slope. Frequent mechanical harvesting of brambles led to growers’ fears of soil compaction, while fruit growers noted slower rates of water infiltration in orchards where natural vegetation is managed with a flail compared to areas interplanted with a sod.