In July of 1986 and 1987, we seeded bufelgrass, kleingrass, 'Catalina' lovegrass, "Cochise" lovegrass, bottlebrush, and sideoats grama grass on retired farmland in the Avra Valley west of Tucson. We seeded these grasses under three irrigation regimes: no establishment irrigation, two establishment irrigations, and four establishment irrigations. Establishment irrigations significantly increased the forage production of the grasses in the first two years of the 1986 planting and in the first year of the 1987 planting. Buffelgrass, kleingrass, and the lovegrasses appear to be promising species for vegetative cover on retired farmland.

This is an experiment on seeding fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) in 80-inch wide waterharvesting microcatchments on retired farmland west of Tucson. At 32 months after planting plots that received the establishment irrigation had more cover than unirrigated plots. Keeping plots free of competing weeds also gave some advantage. However, the coefficient of variation was very high, and none of these differences was statistically significant.

A permanent vegetative cover should be established on farmland before retirement. After four years of research, we recommend 1. Work with the fanner while he is still on the land; 2 Furrow the land into 38 or 40 -inch beds; 3. Plant adapted species; and 4. Apply establishment irrigations.

In July of 1988, we planted eight range grass species on retired farmland in the Avra Valley west of Tucson. In November of 1989, Arabian yellow bluestem, kleingrass, buffelgrass, "Catalina" lovegrass, and bermudagrass all yielded over 1000 Kg /Ha of oven dry forage "Cochise" lovegrass yielded 889 Kg /Ha, sideoats grama grass yielded 126 Kg /Ha, and bottlebrush yielded 86 Kg /Ha.

In July 1987, we began an experiment to evaluate the effects of water harvesting and establishment irrigations on range grasses on retired farmland In the first two years since establishment, we measured significantly higher forage production where we applied establishment irrigations. After three years, the difference from irrigation was no longer significant. We have not detected any significant differences in forage production due to water harvesting treatments.

In July 1987, we began an experiment to evaluate the effects of water harvesting and establishment irrigations on range grasses on retired farmland. In each of the two years since establishment, we have measured significantly higher forage production where we applied establishment irrigations. We have not detected any significant differences in forage production due to water harvesting treatments.

In July of 1986, we seeded buffelgrass, klein grass, "Catalina" lovegrass, "Cochise" lovegrass, bottlebrush, and sideoats grama grass on retired farmland in the Avra Valley west of Tucson. We seeded these grasses under three irrigation regimes: no establishment irrigation, two establishment irrigations, and four establishment irrigations. In measurements of the standing forage in 1987 -90, four establishment irrigations significantly increased the standing forage over the unirrigated treatments. However, the two irrigation treatment was not significantly different from either four irrigations or no irrigations. Buffelgrass, klein grass, and the lovegrasses appear to be promising species for vegetative cover for this site. We have also measured significant increases in the standing forage over the last four years.