Irrigation project joins research, technology, technique

The Center Pivot Water Conservation Project exists to bring the latest research, technologies and techniques to irrigators. The project is a three-year education program with major funding from the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund.
Center pivot manufacturers, there are four in Nebraska, contributed both cash and in-kind services. UNL is a contributor, as well as the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources.
The program is designed to help irrigators become more efficient with the water that they apply through pivots. For example, growers can do a better job during the season by not irrigating corn and soybeans so early. It’s okay to stress soybeans. In fact water stress may increase yields if you don’t fully irrigate. Stressing corn during the vegetative growth stage will not hurt yields. But once the tassel comes out, it needs to have full water.
2009 is the first year of the program. The five presentations developed for this year include:

• Sprinkler packages. This presentation will help producers select the most efficient sprinklers for their own situations.
  
• Pumping costs. This presentation will allow the crop grower to decide if the system is using more energy than it should and if it needs to be tested for inefficiencies.
  
• Nebraska Ag Water Management Demonstration Network. This network uses moisture sensors and an atmometer to keep track of how much water crop is using during the growing season.
  
• Limited irrigation. Growers will learn about research that reveals methods for producing optimum yields with less water.
  
• Water Optimizer. This is an Excel-based spreadsheet program that permits producers to plug in their own numbers to determine how best to use irrigation water.
  

In the presentation will be working the four pivot manufacturers and their distribution networks. Dealer open houses will be attended where presentations will be given.
Visit with the dealers in your neighborhood and ask if they’re going to have an open house.
Presentations will be soon available for download and viewing on the producer’s own computer.

Center pivot system ruined by vandals

A center pivot system was destroyed by vandals in what York County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Vrbka called "probably one of the worst cases of criminal mischief" he has seen. Based on the value of the damage alone — about $30,000 or more — that may be true.

The irrigation system, in a rural area between Henderson and McCool Junction, was vandalized sometime Saturday. "They turned it on, full blast, and left it," Vrbka said. "It ran until it completely froze up, the pipes broke and the entire structure collapsed."

Four generations harvest corn crop

When Smith’s family got together for harvest this year, they were doing more than picking corn. They were celebrating four generations involved in the harvest on land held by the family for about 200 years.
Smith said actually two more generations should be recognized.
Smith’s father, Bryan Smith, moved his family to land north of Enders, where Smith, 87 next month, resided from 1929-1952. He then moved to his present location near Champion.
The Smiths, including son Lloyd, grandson Nick and great-grandson Allan, 12, farm corn, wheat and soybeans. They began picking high moisture corn Sept. 29, then laid off for three weeks to wait for the corn to dry down. The Smiths completed harvest Dec. 3. Lloyd’s wife Rhonda drove a semi to transport corn. Vilas Smith began farming when he was 10 years old, helping his father and a hired man. He drove a four-horse cultivator. “I can still hear those horses clopping,” he laughed.
When he first began harvesting corn, horses were still used. Then tractors came into play.
Smith remembers the steamer and thrasher used for harvesting wheat. It took a lot of time to cut wheat. He also remembers the corn pickers attached to a tractor or pulled behind one. The corn was harvested on the ear, then stored in a rick. It was scooped by hand into a sheller to remove the kernels from the cob.
The big difference these days, Smith said, is the machinery.
Most of the Smiths’ crops are irrigated by pivot, with just a little gravity irrigated. Smith said he first installed gravity irrigation on the Champ­ion Valley land, using siphon tubes connected to ditch water. Gated irrigation pipes followed, and then sprinkler pivots.

Evaluation of a Center Pivot irrigation system

Here is the evaluation abstract of a central Pivot irrigation System (CPIS), made in Brazil from a technical and economic point of view. The profitability of the system was simulated using real data obtained from a farm located in Chile, projected over a time horizon of ten years.

Internal Rates of Return were estimated on two crops that frequently use CPIS maize for seed and maize-for grain, assuming a decreasing capital allocation and an increasing governmental subsidy, in the terms provided by Chilean Law 18.450.

From a technical standpoint, results showed that the operation parameters agreed with the specifications of the manufacturer. The Hermann and Hein Coefficient of Uniformity obtained was 86%, classifying the area irrigated as «well watered».

The Distribution Uniformity parameter obtained was 79%, an adequate result for the crop and soil conditions of the test.

The Internal Rate of Return obtained for maize for-seed varied from 23% to 103% for the range of 100% to 25% of self-financing.

For the case of maize-for-grain the investment is profitable only with a maximum of 70% of capital allocation from the part of the farmer, implying that the minimum subsidy required from the part of the State is 30%.