Dryland wheat production is a cornerstone of agriculture in Eastern Oregon, where growers operate in a semiarid climate with limited rainfall and narrow margins for managing soil moisture, fertility and crop risk.

May 2026
Story Source
Stephen Machado
Dryland Cropping System Agronomist

For decades, winter wheat–summer fallow systems helped farms produce reliable wheat crops by conserving precipitation. But over time, low crop residue, intensive production and long-term use of ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers have contributed to two growing soil health problems: declining soil organic carbon and increasing soil acidity.

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Researchers Paulina B. Ramírez and Stephen Machado at the OSU’s Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center (CBARC) near Pendleton and Shikha Singh of Washington State University at Lind Dryland Research Station evaluated a long-term field experiment established in 2013 on Walla Walla silt loam soil near Pendleton.

The study tested biochar made from forest waste and applied once at three rates in a winter wheat–spring pea rotation. Researchers compared those plots with plots that received no biochar and with plots that received nitrogen fertilizer alone.

After more than a decade, the results showed that the one-time biochar application in 2013 continued to improve soil conditions for more than 10 years.

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