of irrigation development were paid by the Bureau of Reclamation, under the terms of the farm lease. In addition, the Bureau provided a farm ditcher, float, and two-way plow for Froemke's use.

With the farm under construction and an operator selected, the committee was formally organized as the Ransom Development Farm Committee. The committee turned its attention toward the formulation of annual operating plans. While its recommendations have no official status, and are not binding on the operator, the committee has been very effective in assisting with the year-to-year planning of farm operations. Earl Sulerud, Ransom County Extension Agent, acts as the secretary of the committee and has called regular meetings to discuss the past year's results and next year's plans. Items such as crop varieties, fertilizer plans, feeding rations, tillage practices, weed control, and similar subjects are discussed.

During the past 6 years, the irrigated yields have steadily increased and have surpassed the

most optimistic estimates, due partially to the combination of good soil, water, fertilizer, and climate, but also due in a large measure to the high degree of management exhibited by the Froemkes.

Yields of corn for livestock feed have climbed from 60 bushels in 1958 to an average of 108 bushels per acre for the past 2 years, compared with the county dryland average of 30 bushels per acre. Corn silage has averaged 20.4 tons per acre over the past 5 years, with the county dryland average amounting to about 5.3 tons per acre for the same period. Similar results can be shown for alfalfa hay, where the irrigated production averaged 5.5 tons per acre against the county dryland average of 1.5 tons. Durum wheat, used as a nurse crop for alfalfa, has averaged 33.6 bushels per acre. The dryand average for durum in Ransom County is around 20 bushels.

At the time the farm was established, the Froemkes maintained a 50-cow beef cattle herd, pasturing the cows in a U.S. Forest Service coop

Approximately half (70 acres) of the irrigated acreage on the farm is planted to corn for livestock each year, with about 20 acres chopped for silage and the remaining 50 acres picked for com grain.

The use of preemergent chemical weed spray, applied at planting time in 14-inch bands in the corn rows, has been practiced for the past 3 years. and has resulted in the elimination of corn cultivation except for the irrigation-furrowing operation. Needless to say, the elimination of culti vating has saved many valuable hours during the peak-labor-demand period and, according to Froemke, has increased his corn production by the elimination of root pruning by the cultivator.

The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station's Department of Agronomy has conducted hybrid corn variety trials at the Ranson development farm since 1960, in conjunction with similar trials on dryland farms in various locations throughout the State. These trials have produced an abundance of information on the performance of various hybrid corn varieties that heretofore was not available for irrigated corn in North Dakota.

At least one organized public tour of the farm is held each year, to provide the interested public with an opportunity to witness the resutls obtained.

In addition to the organized public tour, there are many special group tours each year by such groups as the agricultural engineering class of ( North Dakota State University, local service clubs, and others. Many persons visit all through the crop season, just to drive around the roads surrounding the irrigated fields and possibly to make mental comparisons of the lush stands of irrigated crops with their own dryland crops. Each year, teachers attending summer school at the Conservation Camp at Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, devote a half day of their curriculum to a tour of the development farm. Many of the teachers have never seen a gravity irrigation system in operation prior to their visit.

It is interesting to note that the introduction of irrigation on the development farm has resulted in the establishment of irrigation systems on several other farms in the area where a water supply either from wells or from a river was available. Two years after the project was established, Froemke's neighbor to the south developed 200 acres for irrigation adjoining the development.

Froemke has leased the 200 acres for the 1964 season on a crop-share basis and will irrigate 336 acres this season.

"I will have to hire a full-time hired man," Froemke said, "but I will be able to support a cowherd of around 120 to 130 head which means I will be able to produce my own calves." In order to provide adequate pasture for his increased herd, he has seeded 30 acres to irrigated pasture this spring. This, along with his dryland pasture and the 60-head grazing quota in the cooperative pasture, should be sufficient for his enlarged herd.

Argil's wife, Holly, besides mothering their six children (ages nine years and younger), has devoted a large share of her time lately to planning and decorating their new modern split-level farm home. Electrically heated, the house represents several years of careful planning and "idea collecting." "We're finishing it off as we can afford it," said Argil. "We lived in the basement and firstfloor family room for the first few years, but last year we finished the kitchen and living room. This fall we will get the outside siding, and next year we hope to finish the job by completing the upstairs bedrooms and bath."

The Lisbon, N. Dak., Junior Chamber of Commerce selected Froemke as the Ransom County Outstanding Young Farmer for 1962, and presented him with a handsome plaque and a trip to Mandan to compete in the State contest. It is significant to note that this was the first such award ever presented in Ransom County.

The farm-lease agreement was revised in 1961 to eliminate the lease payments by the Bureau and the crop-share payments by Froemke. Under the new agreement the Bureau furnished the irrigation water, specialized irrigation equipment, and some weed-control chemicals. In return, Froemke agreed to a development farm operation to furnish data on yields, fertilizers, water use, and related items. He also agreed to provide research plots for irrigation research, and to cooperate with the Bureau and extension service in making the farm available for public tours.

"It's a lot of work," says Argil, "but with irrigation water available I know I won't have to stand helplessly by and watch my crops wither away in the dry-hot periods. It would be very difficult for me to return to dryland farming after these past 5 years of the irrigated type."

Deep River Development Farm

The Deep River development farm was established in 1953 to demonstrate the feasibility of irrigation in the Souris area; a 500,000-acre block of irrigable land extending south from the Canadian border in the north central part of the State. In the early years, this farm was operated on a cropshare basis by a local dryland operator, to show what other local farmers might accomplish with irrigation on their own places. The lease arrangement was modified in 1963 to eliminate the cropshare provisions and to provide for the farm operator to pay for the lease rentals, with the Bureau of Reclamation furnishing the irrigation water, specialized irrigation equipment, and the buildings.

In 1957, William H. Sallee moved from his own dryland farm near Granville, N. Dak., to take over the operation of the Deep River development. Bill, as he is known throughout the area, is one of the very few Negro farmers in North Dakota. Raised on his father's homestead near Granville, he later took over the Deep River farm and established a sound reputation as a good farmer and cattle feeder.

Bill learned very early that irrigation farming was different in many ways from the dryland operation he was used to, but it did not take long before he was handling the situation like a veteran irrigator. Active in civic and community affairs, he is currently chairman of the Upham PTA unit, chairman of the board of directors of the Middle Souris Irrigation District, and represented McHenry County as a delegate to one of the State political conventions in 1964.

Irrigation water is pumped with a propanepowered pump unit from an arm of Deep Creek, a part of the Lower Souris National Wildlife Refuge. Four cubic feet per second are furnished to a distribution box, near the farm buildings, from which it is turned into several different ditches leading to the various fields. All irrigation is by gravity, with several different-sized siphon tubes in common use.

Basically a cattle feeding and fattening enterprise, the farm produces alfalfa, corn silage, and feed grains on the 136 irrigated acres, to feed the 125 head of feeder cattle usually found in the feedlot. Small grains and potatoes are also grown as cash crops.

The Agricultural Research Service and the North Dakota Experiment Station utilized portions of the farm for irrigation research during the period 1953-58. ARS produced a large quar tity of valuable data on fertilizers, water requirements, crop varieties, tillage practices, irrigated pasture management, and other facets of irrigated agriculture in the Northern Great Plains.

An unusual problem encountered at the Deep River farm is that of crop damage by blackbirds from the nearby Lower Souris National Wildlife Refuge. During the drought year of 1961, when it was one of the very few "green spots" in the entire county, the blackbirds could be counted by the thousands, feeding on the grains and causing extensive damage. Acetylene "cannons" firing at preset intervals were later used with some success in the fields to scare the birds away.

However, production and yields have demonstrated to area farmers that irrigation in the Souris area is a paying proposition. Average yields during the 1957-63 period show that irrigated corn silage, alfalfa hay, and potatoes have exceeded county dryland yields by a ratio of 3 to 1 or more.

Other irrigated crops have shown similar yield increases. The many visitors, from all over the State, who tour the farm each year attests to the interest in irrigation.

As is the practice at the Ransom development farm, a sense of local participation in the farm operation is achieved through a development farm committee, composed of successful local dryland farmers who help formulate farm plans each year, with the assistance of the State extension service and Bureau agriculturists. Items such as cropping plans, plant varieties, fertilizer requirements, tillage practices, weed control, and many other similar subjects are discussed with the committee, and general recommendations made.

Alvin Kramer, Ward County Agent from Minot, and who acts as secretary to the committee, said that the farm has created a lot of interest in irrigation in Ward, McHenry, and Bottineau Counties during the past few years. # # #

Bill Sallee, operator of the Deep River Farm, checks his cattle being fattened by feedlot.