10/14/2026
Our Farm Team has been busy out in Smith Valley!
They recently planted a variety of native shrubs that will grow out here before being transplanted to restoration sites with our partners at the BLM. Grow-out projects like these are at the heart of our work on this property, producing plants and seed that support restoration projects all across the Great Basin.
The farm is also a working showcase for water-wise agriculture in the Walker Basin, and our newest crop is a great example.
Winter wheat is now in the ground on some of our fields. It’s planted in fall, grows on winter moisture and snowmelt, and is harvested by early summer, so it skips the hottest, thirstiest months of the year. Alfalfa, by comparison, keeps drawing water all season long. Research from the region shows flood-irrigated alfalfa uses about 37 inches of water in a year, while winter wheat typically needs around 18 inches of moisture. That’s roughly half the water with similar economic returns.
Every drop we save matters for the Walker River and Walker Lake. Here’s to growing smarter in the high desert.
