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• lack of appropriate county average yield data. Concurrence with the methodology was <br />obtained from the OMLR by letter correspondence from Mr. Peter O'Connor to J. Lunan <br />(Peabody) dated August 7, 1987. The production sampling method for irrigated haylands is <br />described below. <br />Upon completion of any hay cutting and baling operation in any irrigated hayiand field, a count <br />of the total number of bales per field was made. Next, an adequate sample of the bales in <br />each field was weighed in the field using a Fairbanks Model 41-3132 portable scale. This <br />scale has a maximum capacity of 1,000 pounds and is accurate to the nearest pound. A <br />minimum of 15 bales were weighed in each field. Care was taken to select bales from <br />throughout a field, or in cases where the bales had already been stacked, from many locations <br />in the stack. At the time of weighing, sub-samples of hay were collected from a portion of the <br />bales, weighed using Pesola field scales, bagged and labeled, and returned to the laboratory <br />for analysis. In the laboratory, sub-samples were dried at 30°C for 72 hours, or until a constant <br />weight was obtained, and reweighed using an Ohaus top-loading electronic balance which is <br />accurate to 0.01 gm. This provided an adjustment factor needed to determine dry weight <br />production for the fields. The hay production in the fields, expressed on a dry weight basis as <br />pounds/acre, was calculated by multiplying the total number of bales counted in a field by the <br />average adjusted bale weight and dividing by the size of the field in acres. <br />Peabody intended to measure production in the irrigated cropland type by weighing loaded <br />trucks (which had been tared) during the harvest season. However, yield data could not be <br />collected during the 1987 sampling season because the majority of fields were left fallow or <br />allowed to volunteer through the cropping season. A single field in the western portion of the <br />study area was planted to wheat, but the landowner decided not to attempt a harvest because <br />the yield was too poor to make harvesting worthwhile. Prior to maturing of the remaining grain, <br />he grazed the crap with sheep. <br />Woody Plant Densities - 1987. Woody plant densities were measured in the sagebrush type <br />and willow component of the swale/drainage type using belt transects. All trees, shrubs, sub- <br />shrubs, succulents, and agavoids were included in the counts. A species was counted for <br />density when at least 50 percent of the crown emerged within the belt. A 2m x 25m belt, <br />originating at the randomly-located sample point and extending in a random direction, was <br />(REVISED 9/99) 2.04.10 - 19 <br />