Soak Up These Irrigation System Management Tips

Using too much or too little water is a costly mistake you can avoid.

Like gasoline in a car, water fuels the growth of Richard Dobbins' corn and soybean crops each July and August.

"We often get a 50- to 60-bushel yield response from just 5 inches of water applied during that timeframe," says Dobbins, who owns North Concord Farms near Albion, Mich.

Dobbins' 2,800 acres of crops are planted on light soils and hilly terrain, and roughly 1,000 acres are irrigated.

This year, Dobbins worked with Associate Field Agronomist, Missy Bauer, to evaluate the uniformity of his irrigation applications.

Bauer placed calibration cups about every 10 feet along the center pivot and then measured the volume of water collected in each.

"When you measure the volume of water in the cups, it should be consistent from one end of the center pivot to the other," Bauer explains. "When you find a cup with an inconsistent amount of water, you need to make a correction."

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Science & Technology

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