The freshly churned earth crumbled under foot as planting began on the first research plot developed by the Great Basin Plant Materials Center, formerly the University of Nevada's Experimental Farm.

Farm Manager Harry Buck and UNR Cooperative Extension Soil Specialist Jay Davison took a break from planting poplar tree cuttings to explain the process to Liz Warner and Kari Emm, both from the public affairs office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The NRCS has a 50-year lease on the farm for the Great Basin Plant Materials Center.

Davison said the plot, just over an acre, will be planted with 67 varieties of poplar trees, 16 trees of each variety, which will be studied for use as biofuels. He said the ideal time to plant the cuttings was in early May, but the farm was still under ownership transition.

The poplar tree planting was made possible by a grant from the Energy Department which came from GreenWood Resources, a company which focuses on tree farm development and innovation. The purpose of planting the poplar varieties is to analyze the trees and their growing conditions to determine what the best variety, climate and soil conditions are to harvest maximum results for biofuels.

Davison said the plant materials center's plot in Fallon is the sixth or seventh poplar plot funded by GreenWood Resources in the United States. The trees will be grown for five to seven years, growing about 10 to 15 feet per year.

Davison said the cuttings were planted in a blind study, meaning neither he nor the NRCS know what the different varieties of poplars are. The bundles are identified only by a four-digit number and Davison keeps track of the plantings on a grid sheet. The grid sheet and information on the health of the trees will be forwarded to GreenWood Resources, along with soil and tissue samples, which will study the results when the trees are harvested in a few years.

The short cuttings are planted with one growing bud above the soil's surface in a 6-foot-by-6-foot-grid. Buck, Davison and plant materials center manager Steve Perkins will have the cuttings planted in about one day. Buck said the field will be flood irrigated every week or so just like any other field.

Davison said he's seen a lot of interest in poplars and biofuel technology lately. He said local residents are calling the cooperative extension office requesting poplar cuttings because of the experiment started a few years ago with a small stand of trees visible from Highway 95. He also received calls in the past few months from biofuel companies asking about the viability of plants in Northern Nevada.

He said the driving factor behind all the plant experiments is getting a good price per pound.

"We get paid to take the chances," he said.

The NRCS is also continuing experiments on Swingle Bench west of Fallon on Highway 50A in an effort to restore native plants to land stripped of water rights. Once the water rights were removed, the area became arid dirt and was prone to wind erosion.

Davison said wheat grasses, ryes, rice grass and native shrubs like greasewood and rabbitbrush were planted from transplants and watered for two years. The native plants won't receive water next year in hopes the desert plants will be established and the land restored.