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Show Page 4A, SPECIAL SECTION, LEADER-GARLAN- D TIMES, February 17. 1977 i I Efeter is precious sfraff on Ohasfey Taylor Water, to a farmer, could mean the difference between 20 to 25 bushels of grain per acre every other year, or over a hundred bushels per acre every year. The Curlew Valley in Northern Box Elder County stretches 42 miles long and is 30 miles wide. It straddles the Utah-Idah- o border and its volcanic ash and clay loam soil receives less than 10 inches of rain per year. At one time there was talk by the Bureau of Reclamation, of irrigating the valley from the Bear River Basin but today the only irrigating water for crops come from deep wells that pull water from underground streams that run under the valley floor some 300 to 400 feet deep, with the exception of the flood water coming from the Stone Reservoir, for some of the farms around Snowville. Unlike the nearby Poca-tell- o Valley which doesn't have high enough mountains for sufficient run-of- f, the Curlew Valley is situated to receive the melting snow-pac- k from Black Pine and the North Hills. These were the features that caught Ralph Taylor's eye when he and his son, Charlie, first toured the Curlew Valley back in the early fifties. "I remember Dad pointing out to me that there was snow on the mountains but no streams or dry water courses down in the valley," recalled the rancher who is primarily credited with opening the valley up to irrigation and development. In 1955, when the Taylors purchased the land from Peterson Brothers and the Browning family, along with trading for government land, there were no fences, power, gravel roads, irrigation wells or culinary wells, wells. culinary " "What there was was a lot of sagebrush and rabbits," quipped Taylor. To say the least, everybody became concerned about the Taylor family losing their money. Everybody thought we were crazy," clarified Taylor. The only well in the area, up until 1955 was the culinary well at the Rose Ranch. Ralph had drilled wells on his farms in western Kansas but nobody knew how deep the first one in Curlew Valley would have to be or how much water they would hit. Cy Burkhardt of Tremonton drilled the first well. It was 360 feet deep and pumped 1350 gallons per minute. All but 5 of the 19 wells which dot the landscape were eventually dug by Wayman Yar-boroug- h. About this same time, the Taylors began to reclaim the ground from the desert by clearing the sagebrush and planting grass. "We started with undercutting plows then windrow-e- d the brush so it could later be burned. Then we plowed it all under for soil buildup." So the native grass and sweetsage was replaced by a grass that could do well with only 10 inches of rain a year and the extreme weather conditions. Out of 7 varieties of grass Taylor chose, the Nordon-Fairvie- w much water is under the valley floor. Each well is different, no two are ever the same, underneath. "Even wells that are only a quarter mile different apart show strata," Taylor said. "We know there is a 4,000 foot crested wheat grass is used for fall and spring pasture for our cow herd," Taylor revealed. The ground was left to graze for several years then it was planted in grain or alfalfa and irrigated with the many wells at the ranch. Today, with the high horsepower tractors and the big disc plows, deep tillage is possible and clearing ground is more, efficient than in 1955. "After the burning practice, we also used brush beaters for a while before plowing but the heavier plows made that unnecessary." His fondness for farm machinery and tractors led him to take over the Moline franchise in 1958 in Tremonton and in 1961 he took over the John Deere franchise and for nearly 20 years Taylor has been selling and servicing farm equipment in the area. Up until 1960 all the pumps on the wells were run by diesel. In that year Taylor encouraged the Bonneville Power Administration to bring power to the ranch from Malta. "They originally brought a 15,000 volt line in, thinking we would never need more than that, but this fall they had to bring in a 138,000 volt line from Strevel," Taylor reported. At present the BPA supplies the power, but in the future it will be supplied by the three geothermal wells in Strevel from a new geothermal plant. In 1964 the Taylors started their first herd of hereford and angus-crosse- d cattle. Not only was the water used for irrigating grain, alfalfa and pasture grasses, but it was also used for watering stock. Today they' run 280 cows and 80 heifers. Taylor's deepest well runs 400 feet and his biggest producer is 3,600 gallons per minute. The average is about 2,200 gallons per minute, though. For years they have been drilling in an ever wider sphere from the original well so as to check the aquafir. Still, after nearly twenty wells and over twenty years of study, Taylor feels he still doesn't have an accurate idea of just how hm$ . long lake laid aluvial fill with many types of aquafirs such as crevices in the lava gravel, gravel and sand. The surface soil is volcanic ash and loam texture and easily eroded by wind and water," he added, "calling for careful management and deep rooting. The soil lacks humus and nitrogen but the heavy grass stands and deep rooting put humus into the soil so I L3 r..x A:( . . - s-- I rr- - r ':"": W1" " 1 '. ' r" XT'" proper water infiltration rates can be accomplished. This is one method of obtaining proper root zone penetration. Another method is to use deep tillage tools to break the hardpan which results in healthy growth of alfalfa, the small grains and the pasture grass such as 'igsk&vS' smooth broam, meadow oats, and orchard grass. Either the grass or deep tillage assures a good soil , profile in the rooting zones. The quality of the water from each well is never the same. Water analysis from the testing stations revealed levels of magnesium, calcium, boron, iron and other trace elements. It was discovered that the minerals in the water actually help neutralize the alkalinity of the soil and help produce more beneficial crops. It was also estimated that the water contained up to 8000 pounds per acre of beneficial solids per acre foot of water in Taylor's wells. He uses the flood system to irrigate the original farm, but mainly depends on the sprinkler method on the newer farms. During his water application by sprinkler, he gets an infiltration rate of .28 inches an hour and each line of sprinklers can cover approximately 2 to V-- acres per day. "The new electric circular sprinklers are more expenss ive but require less to operate," he pointed out. "The side roll sprinklers are cost effective when you consider that the circulars lose 20 out of 160 acres on the corners," Taylor mentioned. At present there is a moratorium on all new well permits. After the original permits have been drilled out and are in use, there will be a study conducted by the State Water Engineer evaluating the water situation in Curlew Valley. When Taylor opened the door for drilling wells in the area, many thought it might man-hour- W" 1 l if " '" . s'" k:,v3fJ. ' .CHARLIE TAYLOR pampers one of his in Curlew Valley. farms 19 Hill d irrigation wells that he uses to water his be worth the gamble to drill also. "The water table seems stable to me, but they haven't finished drilling out the permits yet," observed Taylor. "This year will be a good test to see if the water situation is stable," Taylor grimaced. "We will just have to wait and see what happens. Everyone is affected by agriculture," Taylor stated. "It is the largest business in the country and only 4 percent of the population farms. It's hard to compete with, the way prices are for all input costs in growing a crop and what you get for your farm production. I think labor dictates too much to the farmer," Taylor said, "and there needs to be a great P.R. program instituted to let all city people know where their food comes from, and to let them realize that directly or indirectly, the farmer and the agribusiness group pay a large percentage of the city dweller's pay checks." The Harris Fine Arts I J m TTTm 41 Cen- ter at Brigham Young University has been nationally acclaimed for its beauty of design. Its designer called it the outstanding university building in the nation for an integration of the arts. . .CHARLIE TAYLOR assists his highly skilled well technicians during the installation of his newest water producer. |