Research - Road to Nowhere.

1960 - 1980

A series of straw removal/dethatching studies were conducted during the 1960s and 70s at Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Idaho (U of I). Results of these studies were always the same. Success without fire was dependent upon variety, weather, location and possibly other unknown variables. No research was done to promote or develop the varieties of bluegrass which did well without fire.

In the early 1970's, research was directed toward the design and development of a mobile field burning machine. After several years of research, the machine was found to be economically and functionally unacceptable.

In 1976, WSU researchers compared emissions from fields burned with and without straw. They concluded that more emissions resulted when fields were burned after straw had been removed. A regulation requiring straw removal was repealed.
In 1977, WSU economists concluded that bluegrass could be grown profitably if straw markets could be developed.

"A $.35/pound price (for grass seed) would imply a net return of $21/acre for open burning production. If the (straw) could be sold or used at a value of $55/ton, the $105/acre loss for straw removal could be turned into a $21/acre net return - the same as under open burning." Wirth, Burt, Canode, & Law; Economics of Alternatives to Open Burning of Kentucky Bluegrass Residue, Agriculture Research Center, WSU, September, 1977

No research to develop straw markets was ever funded.

In 1978, a U of I study showed the feasibility of alternate year burning. This research was not pursued.

1980 - 1991

In the l980's, there was virtually no research done. The only significant project funded between 1979 and 1991 was for the design and development of a mobile field burning machine - research which had been tried and rejected both in Washington and in Oregon a decade earlier. After 11 years of research costing nearly $160,000, the industry rejected the mobile burner as economically and functionally unacceptable.

In 1988, a farm trial was conducted in South Spokane County comparing several non-burning management practices against burning. The results showed increased seed yields in the absence of burning. Although the cooperator expressed enthusiasm about the research and strongly recommended a continuation, the project was not pursued. The results were never made public.

In 1989, a farm trial explored the possibility of removing the straw immediately after harvest (a practice which Oregon researchers had determined to be essential to maintain seed yields without burning). The results showed increased seed yields in the absence of burning. The cooperator expressed a desire to continue the research but the project was not pursued and the results were never made public. No official research on early straw removal has ever been done in this area.

1991 - 1998

In 1991, for the first time, the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) made the decision to fund an independent research project without prior input from the industry. Over their strenuous objections, the DOE funded a 3-year project conducted by Art Krenzel from Oregon. His first year results in 1992 showed increased seed yields in the absence of burning.

The growers responded with hostility and declared Mr. Krenzel's research unacceptable, unscientific and inaccurate. Using their influence, the industry transferred the project to WSU and by 1993, Mr. Krenzel was on his way back to Oregon. Shortly thereafter, industry representatives went to Olympia and initiated legislation concerning funding of grass research. Senate Bill 5898, which was signed into law in April 1995, makes it illegal for the State of Washington to fund independent research. Funding is the sole prerogative of the growers and their researchers who are dependen upon the industry for funding.

Since 1991, research has expanded due to the influx of federal tax dollars. Over $1 million annually is being spent on grass research in this region but very few projects have been directed toward finding practical solutions to the problems facing bluegrass growers.

For example, the industry has chosen to fund genetics research. According to the geneticist, it will be at least 10 - 12 years before any results will be available and the time-line for "useful" results is open-ended. Tax money spent on genetics research so far totals well over $160,000.

Dethatching studies were funded, testing more and more varieties against burning - each new variety tested requiring 3-5 more years for evaluation. A study was funded to measure dust emissions from dethatching machines. How 'measuring dust' will lead to finding alternatives to burning is not explained. Smoke emissions were not included in the study due to "lack of money."

Subsequent to the DOE's 1996 restrictions on burning in Washington, growers have begun to argue that removing the straw prior to burning will solve the smoke problem. They have ear-marked $150,000 for a research project to prove it. Ironically, this contradicts the industry's own 1976 study. At that time, the industry was faced with a regulation requiring straw removal.

Asking for a delay in implementation of this regulation, the industry funded a project to measure emissions. WSU researchers concluded: "The particulate emissions were lower from fields on which the straw remained (and) we cannot recommend straw removal as a viable method per se to reduce visible emissions from open field burning."(1)

Based upon this research, the straw removal regulation was repealed and the growers have been arguing ever since that they need all the straw on the fields to generate a proper hot fire. Until now.

The industry is also funding research into 'propane flaming' -- a process by which a field is propane burned after straw removal. Propane flaming was extensively researched in Oregon over a decade ago. Researchers concluded: "The most critical impact measure, exposure, shows the dramatic effects of the high emission factor and low plume rise of propane flaming. Exposure values per unit area burned are an order of magnitude greater than those for open field burning. Clearly, this effect argues for the use of open burning as the moredesirable alternative."(2) Propane flaming in Oregon proved to be smoky, expensive, labor intensive and unnecessary.

Forty years after an accident introduced fire to bluegrass fields, grass researchers are willing to admit that bluegrass can be produced without fire. Recent research also suggests that this can be done profitably. University of Idaho grass researcher, Dr. Murray, has demonstrated that the key to producing bluegrass without fire is selecting the right varieties.(3) He has already identified many varieties which, in a four year rotation, appear to be more profitable than what dry land growers claim to be making with burning. Even with this information available, grass growers still argue that they cannot survive without fire. The industry continues to fund projects to justify burning.

The future?

The Washington State Department of Ecology's regulation on grass burning offered the industry an opportunity to follow the example of Oregon growers who now direct all of their research toward finding solutions to problems in a non-burn environment. We hope that industry leaders will reconsider their research priorities and begin to fund practical projects which will help the growers prosper without fire. The days of funding decades-long research studies to buy time and justify a continuation of burning should be over.

(1) Alternatives To Open Field Burning of Grass Seed Field Residues, A Progress Report, WSU & ARS, November 10, 1976

(2) Determinations of Emissions and Impacts from Propane Flaming and Stack Burning of Grass Seed Crop Residues, OMNI Environmental Services, Inc, for Oregon DEQ, March 3, 1987)

(3) STEEP II, "Bluegrass Seed Production Without Open Field Burning," 1992-1995

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