THE OPTIMUM PLANTING time for wheat and barley in Imperial Valley is between December 15th and January 15th, which makes them excellent crops to follow cotton and late-plantings of grain sorghum. The growing period (and production) of the cereal crops might be increased if the time between the harvest of cotton or grain sorghum and the planting of wheat and barley could be shortened, by eliminating some irrigation and tillage operations. These possibilities were investigated during an experiment designed to compare wheat (Siete Serros and Anza) and barley (CM 67) in the winters of 1971-72 and 1972-73 under maximum and minimum soil preparation following cotton and grain sorghum.