December 10, 2002. Dale Westermann, Rick Lentz and Gary Lehrsch, NWISRL, attended the University of Idaho Sugarbeet Working Group meeting in Twin Falls, ID. One purpose of the meeting was to review current and new research programs. Drs. Lentz and Lehrsch described newly funded research to control soil-borne sugarbeet diseases and to efficiently utilize agricultural byproducts in sugarbeet production. Approximately 35-40 people attended the meeting, including southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon sugarbeet growers, and representatives from sugarbeet seed companies, Idaho Sugarbeet Grower Association, and Oregon University Research and Extension.

November 26, 2002. Dale Westermann discussed the relationship between measures of soil phosphorus availability and phosphorus concentration and load in runoff from western agricultural land at a phosphorus workshop in Malheur County, Oregon. The purpose of this workshop was to help irrigated agriculture in eastern Oregon reduce phosphorus loads in irrigation return flows to the Malheur and Owyhee Rivers. Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for both rivers list phosphorus as a major contributor of water quality degradation. (KIM2002.1127N1)

November 26, 2002. Hank Mayland was interviewed by Virginia Hutchins, Twin Falls, ID, "Times News" writer about the role of light in agriculture. The impact of light on diurnal concentrations of simple sugars was described. The sugars provide energy for nutrient and water uptake and carbon skeletons for building plant cellular structures. The diurnal cycling of these simple sugars causes herbivores like cattle to prefer hay cut in afternoon vs cut in morning. Cows eating afternoon vs morning cut hay will produce more milk. Also, animals that change pastures every morning may produce more milk if they move to new pastures in the afternoon. The afternoon cut forages should ensile more quickly and successfully than early cut forage. (KIM2002.1127N2)

November 21, 2002. Dave Bjorneberg, agricultural engineer, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, discussed ways to control runoff from center pivot irrigation systems at a sprinkler irrigation workshop in Twin Falls, ID. The workshop was sponsored by three local soil conservation districts, NRCS and the Twin Falls Canal Company. The purpose of the workshop was to give information about system design and management to irrigators who recently converted or plan to convert to sprinkler irrigation. Approximately 65 farmers attended the workshop. (KIM2002.1127N3)

On November 10-14, 2002, several Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory scientists described key findings from their soil and water management research at the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting held in Indianapolis, IN.

November 11, 2002. Gary Lehrsch, soil scientist at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, served as the presiding officer at the symposium entitled "Advances in the Use of Polyacrylamide (PAM) for Soil and Water Management." Nine oral presentations were made on topics ranging from infiltration management to weed seed and coliform bacteria sequestration. About 40 scientists, engineers, and industry representatives attended the symposium.

November 7, 2002. Hank Mayland, soil scientist, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, and Glenn Shewmaker, University of Idaho, hosted two Australian agronomists from the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. Drs. Mary-Anne Lattimore, District Agronomist, and Libby Roesner, Forage Agronomist, were participating in a series of forage workshops and field tours in the northwest. (KIM2002.1127N4)

 September 17-18, 2002. Six research scientists from the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID, attended a two-day Pacific West ARS Irrigation and Drainage workshop in Parlier, CA. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss existing and new collaborative, multidisciplinary research on irrigation and drainage problems in the Western United States. ARS Scientists from Phoenix, Riverside and Parlier also attended this workshop. (KIM2002.0925N1)

September 3, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by Mr. Coleman Jones of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the program entitled MarketPlace. Mr. Jones requested some basic information about water soluble polyacrylamide, its interaction with plants and soils, and environmental fate. (KIM2002.0904N1)

September 4, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by Ms. Jenny Gimpel of New Media Publisher, Faversham House Group Ltd. Ms. Gimpel requested information about the use of polyacrylamide in irrigated agriculture for a web publication. The website provides interactive resources for water, waste, and environmental professionals, and publishes a weekly news summary and technology database. (KIM2002.0904N2)

August 27, 2002. Mike Matthews, South Idaho Regional Director, and Travis Jones, Agricultural Liaison- Washington, D.C., for Idaho Senator Larry Craig visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory. Mr. Matthews and Mr. Jones were updated on ARS's current research program and the potential direction of future research activities at Kimberly, and given a tour of the physical facilities by Dale Westermann, Research Leader and Location Coordinator. (KIM2002.0904N3)

August 2, 2002. Ms. Linda Mackay and family visited Hank Mayland to learn first-hand about some of the research programs being conducted here. She will be completing her senior year of high school in El Paso, Texas. She was returning from a visit to the University of Idaho where she plans to enroll in the Rangeland Resource Program. Ms. Mackay has competed regionally and nationally in various science fairs and has successfully placed in several of them. Dr. Mayland has provided mentoring services to Ms. Mackay for several years since she learned about the value of PM vs AM-cut hay while scanning the Internet. (KIM2002.0821N1) 

August 6, 2002. ARS Scientists, Rick Lentz, Gary Lehrsch, Dennis Kincaid, April Leytem, Jim Entry, and Dale Westermann met with Rick Warren and Martin Mullane, Environmental Group, Glanbia Foods, Gooding, ID, to discuss ways to reduce phosphorus loadings on their waste disposal fields. Glanbia is a major processor of milk produced in southern Idaho and operates four plants. (KIM2002.0821N2) 

August 10-16, 2002. Mr. Keith Jackson, Victoria Natural Resources and Environment, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, visited southern Idaho. While here he developed an understanding of the land use planning as it impacts rural communities. He was particularly interested in large growth of the dairy industry and its impact on odor and water quality issues. (KIM2002.0821N3) 

August 20, 2002. Balanced Rock and Snake River Conservation Districts and the Twin Falls Canal Company sponsored a water quality field day north of Filer, ID, to discuss the total maximum daily load (TMDL) process, return flow water quality, and funding opportunities for conservation practices. April Leytem and Dave Bjorneberg from the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab presented information about sediment and phosphorus transport in irrigation return flow. Water quality data collected this summer by Drs. Leytem and Bjorneberg showed that large ponds constructed by the canal company effectively trap sediment but did little to reduce dissolved phosphorus. The field day was attended by about 50 farmers plus 20 agency and canal company people. (KIM2002.0821N4) 

Three representatives of SNF Floerger, a leading manufacturer of polyacrylamides (PAM) and related polymers, will vist the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL) on Monday, August 26, 2002. NWISRL scientists will introduce the SNF personnel to contacts at the Twin Falls Canal Company and accompany them on a tour of Southern Idaho's Magic Valley to observe PAM use, learn about specific environmental management problems that PAM is helping solve, and provide insight about potential new PAM products, applications and stumbling blocks to effective PAM application for existing uses. SNF personnel and NWISRL personnel have shared technical insights several times in the last two years, and anticipate developing projects to answer pressing questions affecting the technology as well as to develop new strategies for use of PAM to solve additional problems. (KIM2002.0821N5) 

July 16, 2002. Six senior engineers and directors from Desert Control Institutes, Departments of Forestry and a Division of Cooperation and Development, Gansu Province, China, visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory (NWISRL), Kimberly ID, to learn about irrigated farming, water allocation and use, irrigation scheduling, erosion control on irrigated lands and optimum irrigation capacity. The six visiting professionals were on the Gansu Anti Desertification Study Tour in the United States and were accompanied by an interpreter/assistant, a Beijing, China representative. A translator and two tour guides from Utah State University (USU) also accompanied the group. The USU, International Irrigation Center (IC), arranged the tour of the NWISRL through Dr. Richard Allen, University of Idaho, located at the NWISRL, who asked Dr. James Wright, ARS Research Soil Scientist, to review for the group the research at Kimberly on evapotranspiration (ET) and crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling. (KIM2002.0717N1) 

July 3, 2002. Rick Lentz was contacted by The Sunday Times (London), who requested two articles on acrylamide monomer. The inquiry stemmed from the recent discovery that acrylamide is produced in starchy foods that are baked or fried in oil. The findings of the two ARS articles, "Analysis of residual acrylamide in field crops" and "Fate of acrylamide monomer following application of polyacrylamide to cropland" were briefly discussed and more specific questions were referred to the ARS Information Officer. (KIM2002.0710N1)

June 20, 2002. Mr. Andrew Scoley met with Dave Bjorneberg at the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Lab to discuss conservation tillage, specifically no-till seeding sugarbeet, as part of his visit to the University of Idaho research farm at Kimberly, ID. Mr. Scoley is a farmer from the United Kingdom who raises cereals, oilseeds, sugarbeet and pulse crops on 1,150 acres. He visited several research farms across Canada and the United States. Mr. Scoley was a 2000 Nuffield Farming Scholar, which is a scholarship program to advance the standard of farming in the United Kingdom. (KIM2002.0625N2)

June 21, 2002. Mr. Rich Carlson of the Idaho Rural Council visited the Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, ID. Responding to Rich's requests for information, the staff provided him publications and other information addressing the movement of water, nutrients, and pathogens through southern Idaho soils. The engineering staff of the NWISRL also discussed water droplet spray drift from operating pressurized irrigation systems with Mr. Carlson. (KIM2002.0625N1)

May 22, 2002. Nineteen Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Engineers from Montana visited the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory, Kimberly, Idaho, to learn about recent advances in irrigation water management and irrigation-induced soil erosion control. In the morning, the group toured the Twin Falls Canal Company's cleanup projects on the LQ/LS drains and the ARS south farm, where the use of polyacrylamide (PAM) in furrow irrigation, deep percolation measurements, and drip vs. high efficiency linear irrigation were demonstrated. In the afternoon, the use of PAM in sprinkler irrigation, filter strips to trap nutrients and microorganisms, determining and predicting crop water use, sprinkler head designs, solute movement in soils, and phosphorus losses in irrigated systems were discussed. (KIM2002.0605N1)