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Drivers Of On-Farm Performance Of Irrigation Water Management Practices: Empirical Evidence From Eastern Arkansas, Jacob Askey

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Unsustainable agricultural practices are putting a strain on freshwater supplies in many parts of the world. More efficient irrigation techniques are going to be critical to feed a growing population. Data from the 2016 Arkansas Irrigation Survey was used to assess the adoption of three Irrigation Water Management (IWM) practices: multiple inlet rice irrigation, tailwater recovery, and storage reservoirs. Results indicate that these practices do not always lead to reported pumping time reductions, a proxy for water use savings. Large variations in pumping time reduction are observed across producers for all three practices. A Tobit model was used to examine …

Effects Of Different Water And Nitrogen Regimens On Yield Of Winter Wheat Produced In Nebraska, Joseph Emory Davis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wheat is the 3rd most prominent crop in the USA and approximately 50% is exported annually. Nebraska wheat production is 11^th in the country, and it plays a major role in the state's agricultural economy, especially in western NE. Generally, wheat is grown under dryland conditions and the region grows much more wheat on unirrigated land than it does on irrigated. However, deficit irrigation has shown great value in producing high yielding wheat with much less water than needed for other crops. Finding new ways to leverage irrigation in wheat production may help address the need to produce food …

2019 Costs And Returns For Non-Irrigated Safflower, Northern Utah, Michael Pace, Clark Israelsen, Ryan Larsen, Jacob Hadfield

All Current Publications

This fact sheet presents a sample budget for costs and returns for non-irrigated safflower in northern Utah.

Assessment Of Watersheds For Sustainable Agriculture In Karnataka, India, Nicholas Adam Charles

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modernization of traditional small-scale irrigation tanks in India is becoming increasingly popular. This is due to high costs of the alternative, of developing and constructing large-scale projects in rural areas. Examination of management strategies, resource allocation, and collective action has become paramount for promoting food security and livelihoods in water-stressed areas of Southeast Asia. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques are valuable to assessing the management of these irrigation systems, specifically small water storage reservoirs that capture runoff from the monsoon known as irrigation tanks. The primary goal of this study is to develop a stakeholder-informed approach to …

Mobile Drip Irrigation For Pivots And Laterals, Matt Yost, Jonno Holt, Chad Reid, Dean Winward, Niel Allen, Earl Creech

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is base on four irrigation demonstration/research trials conducted during 2018. It is part of ongoing research.

Producer Preferences For Alternative Irrigation Practices In The Arkansas Delta, Robert Edward Rosene

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We use a bivariate sample selection model to address peer network effects on participation in and/or intensity of use of land being irrigated by alternative irrigation practices in the state of Arkansas. As groundwater in the state becomes more limited, the use of scientific scheduling, flowmeters, and more efficient row crop water application systems will allow producers to better manage water resources. We find relatively large, positive relationships between belonging to a peer network of the same irrigation practice and participation in that practice. Intensity of use of alternative irrigation techniques is mostly influenced by which crop type the practice …

Defense Against Drought, Matt Yost, Bryce Sorensen, Earl Creech, Niel Allen, Ryan Larsen, Ricardo Ramirez, Corey Ransom, Chad Reid, Jody Gale, Boyd Kitchen

All Current Publications

This fact sheet outlines six tools that can be used to help alleviate some of the negative impacts of drought and help improve returns to crop production.

4r'S Of Irrigation Management, Matt Yost, Niel Allen, Grant Cardon, Earl Creech

All Current Publications

This fact sheet introduces the concept of the 4'R's of irrigation management and discusses some factors to consider in each of the 4R's, right source, right rate. right time, and right place.

Approaches To Evaluating Grower Irrigation And Fertilizer Nitrogen Amount And Timing, Tsz Him Lo, Daran Rudnick, Charles Burr, Matt Stockton, Rodrigo Werle

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Diversity in the knowledge, mindset, strategies, and tools that growers use to manage irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen culminates in diversity in profitability and environmental impact among farms. As growers, academia, and industry strive together to tackle the technological and non-technological challenges impeding better irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen management, a science-based evaluation of grower input amount and timing becomes an important initial step in the process. Providing such valuable feedback to growers is a high-priority objective for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Testing Ag Performance Solutions (UNL-TAPS) farm management competition. In this competition, each team of mostly growers made management decisions for …

Benchmarking Irrigation Water Use In Producer Fields In The Us Central Great Plains, Katherine E. B. Gibson, Justin E. Gibson, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Efficient use of freshwater resources is necessary to balance food production and long-term sustainability of irrigated agricultural systems. Here we developed a framework to benchmark irrigation water use relative to crop yield for individual fields based on site-specific weather and soil. Subsequently, we used the framework to diagnose on-farm irrigation management, in relation to crop production, in maize and soybean producer fields in Nebraska (USA).We found actual irrigation to be similar to estimated irrigation water requirement in about half of the fields (i.e. small water surplus). Remarkably, these fields attained yields similar to fields where actual irrigation exceeded water requirements …

Utilization Of Various Methods And A Landsat Ndvi/Google Earth Engine Product For Classifying Irrigated Land Cover, Andrew Nemecek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Methods for classifying irrigated land cover are often complex and not quickly reproducible. Further, moderate resolution time-series datasets have been consistently utilized to produce irrigated land cover products over the past decade, and the body of irrigation classification literature contains no examples of subclassification of irrigated land cover by irrigation method. Creation of geospatial irrigated land cover products with higher resolution datasets could improve reliability, and subclassification of irrigation by method could provide better information for hydrologists and climatologists attempting to model the role of irrigation in the surface-ground water cycle and the water-energy balance. This study summarizes a simple, …

Crop Water Stress Index Of An Irrigated Vineyard In The Central Valley Of California, John H. Prueger, Christopher K. Parry, William P. Kustas, Joseph G. Alfieri, Maria M. Alsina, Héctor Nieto, Tiffany G. Wilson, Lawrence E. Hipps, Martha C. Anderson, Jerry L. Hatfield, Fen Gao, Lynn G. Mckee, Andrew Mcelrone, Nurit Agam, Sebastian A. Los

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Water-limiting conditions in many California vineyards necessitate assessment of vine water stress to aid irrigation management strategies and decisions. This study was designed to evaluate the utility of a Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) using multiple canopy temperature sensors and to study the diurnal signature in the stress index of an irrigated vineyard. A detailed instrumentation package comprised of eddy covariance instrumentation, ancillary surface energy balance components, soil water content sensors and a unique multi-canopy temperature sensor array were deployed in a production vineyard near Lodi, CA. The instrument package was designed to measure and monitor hourly growing season turbulent …

An Assessment Of The Greatest Impacts On Distribution Uniformity For Drip And Micro Irrigation, Brooke Ashley Worden

Master's Theses

Using the Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Centers (ITRC) drip/micro evaluation program, global, or system, DU_lq is computed by combining the component DU_lq values of: pressure variation, uneven spacing between emitters, unequal drainage and “other” causes. “Other” causes include plugging, wear and manufacturing coefficient. The program also computes what percentage of the non-uniformity is due to each component. Burt (2004) showed that over 95% of the non-uniformity is due to “Other” causes and pressure differences. This thesis looks at what specifically in those components is driving the non-uniformity by analyzing various equipment and field practices and their …

Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about groundwater depletion from conventional irrigation agriculture in the Arkansas Delta region have led to the promotion of more efficient irrigation practices. With Arkansas being the largest producer of rice, the 10th largest producer of soybeans and the 16th largest producer of corn in the United States, the irrigation demand of these crops has put pressure on producers to find ways to irrigate more efficiently. Not only are the alternative technologies supposed to reduce water use, it is also believed that their adoption can also yield economic benefits for the producer. Despite these assumed benefits, adoption of alternative technologies …

Landscape Foundations: A Practical & Technical Guide To Landscape Maintenance, Marco Crosland

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many homeowners struggle to maintain healthy landscapes. Often, they simply don’t understand basic principles that, if followed, would make a significant difference in the health and appearance of their landscape. The hope of Landscape Foundations is to help homeowners maintain healthy and excellent landscapes by teaching these “correct principles”.

What makes Landscape Foundations different than other landscape guides is that it brings in current research and explains it in a simple way. This guidebook provides pictures and additional resources to explain landscape maintenance principles. It teaches both the practical and technical sides.

Landscape Foundations is written for both beginners and …

2018 Update Mtg: Frost, Irrigation And Heat Stress In Cranberry, Peter Jeranyama

Cranberry Station Extension meetings

No abstract provided.

Empowerment And Tech Adoption: Introducing The Treadle Pump Triggers Farmers’ Innovation In Eastern Ethiopia, Shimelis Beyene, Teshome H. Regassa, Belaineh Legesse, Martha Mamo, Tsegaye Tadesse

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In 2013, thirty-eight treadle pumps (TPs) were installed as low-cost technology introduction for small-scale irrigation in eastern Ethiopia. This pilot project also trained six farmers on tube well excavation, as well as the installation and maintenance of pumps. In June 2015, researchers visited nine of the thirty-eight TP villages and found only two TPs functioning as originally installed. The rest were replaced with a new technology developed by the trained farmers. Farmers, empowered by training, gained more control in developing technology options tailored to local needs and conditions of their communities. Adopters of the new technology stated that the limited …

Long-Term Winter Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Seasonal Irrigation Amount, Evapotranspiration, Yield, And Water Productivity Under Semiarid Climate, Koffi Djaman, Michael O'Neill, Curtis K. Owen, Daniel Smeal, Margaret West, Dallen Begay, Samuel Allen, Komlan Koudahe, Suat Irmak, Kevin Lombard

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A long-term field experiment was conducted from 2002 to 2014 for the evaluation of yield and water productivity of three winter wheat varieties—Kharkof, Scout 66, and TAM107—under sprinkler irrigation at New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, NM. Winter wheat daily evapotranspiration was estimated following the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FAO crop coefficient approach (ETc = Kc ETo), and crop water use efficiency (CWUE), evapotranspiration water use efficiency (ETWUE), and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were estimated for each growing season. There was inter-annual variation in seasonal precipitation and irrigation amounts. Seasonal irrigation amounts varied from …

Assessing Explanatory Factors For Variation In On-Farm Irrigation In Us Maize-Soybean Systems, Katherine E.B. Gibson, Haishun S. Yang, Trenton E. Franz, Dean E. Eisenhauer, John B. Gates, Paolo Nasta, Bhupinder S. Farmaha, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Irrigation exhibits large variation across producer fields, even within same region and year. A knowledge gap exists relative to factors that explain this variation, in part due to lack of availability of high-quality irrigation data from multiple field-years. This study assessed sources of variation in irrigation using a large database collected during 9 years (2005–2013) from ca. 1400 maize and soybean producer fields in Nebraska, central USA (total of 12,750 field-year observations). The study area is representative of ca. 4.5 million ha of irrigated land sown with maize and soybean. Influence of biophysical (weather, soil, and crop type) and behavioral …

Econometric Estimation Of Groundwater Depth Change For The High Plains Aquifer, Jonathan R. Sims

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This article presents a new method for estimating changes in depth to groundwater at a yearly, county level and incorporates these estimates as the dependent variable of econometric models for the High Plains aquifer. The High Plains (Ogallala) aquifer underlies eight states in the central United States and is the primary source of irrigation water for this large food producing region. The stock of groundwater is a finite, non-renewable resource with minimal recharge in most areas. Many fields of study, including hydrology and agricultural economics, are interested in depth to groundwater changes because they serve as a proxy for estimating …

Drip Irrigation For Commercial Vegetable And Fruit Production, Tiffany Maughn, Niel Allen, Dan Drost

All Current Publications

Drip irrigation is a highly efficient irrigation method well suited to many fruit and vegetable row crops. Drip tubing or tape discharges water to the soil through emitters positioned close to the plant. The drip tubing can be placed uncovered on the soil surface, under plastic mulch, buried in the soil, or suspended above the ground (e.g., on a trellis system). Water application rate is relatively low and irrigations are usually frequent. Properly designed and maintained drip-irrigation systems can have benefits that help increase the profitability of crop production.

Game Theory Analysis Of Intra-District Water Transfers; Case Study Of The Berrenda Mesa Water District, Harry Riordan Ferdon

Master's Theses

California state officials have continued to warn and encourage preparedness for the growing threats of water scarcity. This puts pressure on water suppliers to develop technological and managerial solutions to alleviate the problems associated with scarcity. A recent popular management strategy for distributing water is encouraging water transfers. While there has been analyses on water transfers between large districts and agencies, little analysis has been completed for smaller scale trades, i.e. between individuals in the same water district. This analysis models an agricultural water district, based on the Berrenda Mesa Water District (BMWD). In the model, the growers in the …

Willingness To Pay For Irrigation Water Under Scarcity Conditions, Tyler Robert Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliance of Arkansas agricultural producers on groundwater for irrigation has led to depletion of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Without intervention, consequences include insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demand as well as drawdown of the deeper Sparta Aquifer, upon which communities in eastern Arkansas rely for non-agricultural use. Among proposed solutions to combat groundwater decline is the construction of off-farm surface water infrastructure to meet the irrigation needs of producers. Despite the importance of irrigated agriculture to Arkansas, there is little know about the economic value of irrigation water to producers. Thus, we implement a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent …

1912 - Report Of The Conservation Commission Of The State Of California

Miscellaneous Documents and Reports

The report prepared by the Conservation Commission of the State of California investigated and gathered data and information concerning forestry, water, the use of water, water power, electricity, electrical or other power, mines and mining, mineral and other lands, dredging, reclamation and irrigation, providing such information for the purpose of revising, systematizing and reforming the state laws pertaining to these subjects.

Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Piute County, Kelly Kopp, Niel Allen, Trent Wilde

All Current Publications

This fact sheet gives homeowners information on making landscape irrigation systems more efficient using a site inspection, a sprinkler performance test and an appropriate irrigation schedule.

Simple Sprinkler Performance Testing For Wayne County, Kelly Kopp, Niel Allen, Trent Wilde

All Current Publications

This fact sheets tells homeowners how to be more efficient with their irrigation systems by following three simple steps, a site inspection, a sprinkler performance test, and an appropriate irrigation schedule.

Irrigation Adoption, Groundwater Demand And Policy In The U.S. Corn Belt, 2040-2070, Molly A. Van Dop

Open Access Theses

Climate change across the U.S. Corn Belt will significantly increase precipitation variability and temperatures by midcentury. Corn and soybean producers will seek to find strategies that may help to mitigate the potentially negative effects on yield. The adoption of irrigation technology has increased over the last several decades to improve yields in areas with insufficient rainfall, and is currently being adopted by producers who are choosing to minimize risk due to weather variability. To see if this trend in irrigation adoption has the potential to expand in the wake of climate change, this study uses weather data from four General …

Farmer Perceptions Of Climate Change: Associations With Observed Temperature And Precipitation Trends, Irrigation, And Climate Beliefs, Meredith T. Niles, Nathaniel D. Mueller

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

How individuals perceive climate change is linked to whether individuals support climate policies and whether they alter their own climate-related behaviors, yet climate perceptions may be influenced by many factors beyond local shifts in weather. Infrastructure designed to control or regulate natural resources may serve as an important lens through which people experience climate, and thus may influence perceptions. Likewise, perceptions may be influenced by personal beliefs about climate change and whether it is human-induced. Here we examine farmer perceptions of historical climate change, how perceptions are related to observed trends in regional climate, how perceptions are related to the …

More Crop Per Drop: Benchmarking On-Farm Irrigation Water Use For Crop Production., Katherine Elizabeth Boone Gibson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Efficient use of irrigation is essential to meet food production needs of growing global populations while ensuring long-term sustainability of freshwater resources. However, lack of on-farm irrigation data constrains understanding of irrigation variation and no framework exists to benchmark irrigation use using actual irrigation data. The following work investigates variation in irrigation using a database of ca. 1400 maize and soybean fields over 9 years in Nebraska and presents a framework to benchmark irrigation use using a separate database of ca. 1000 maize and soybean fields in Nebraska as proof of concept. “State-of-the-art” crop models estimated yield potential and irrigation …

Crop Selection, Cost Analysis, And Irrigation System Design For The Replanting Of A Nut Orchard, Maximilian Bricker

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This report was made to help the landowner of Bricker Farms make decisions regarding the replanting of his orchard. The decisions that need to be made in this process include: which crop to plant, how to plant it, and how to improve the distribution uniformity of irrigation water on the orchard. The report does not give definitive final decisions, but presents viable options that the landowner can utilize when deciding. In addition to the options that are presented, the report offers suggestions to the landowner so that the replanting process is done properly in a timely and economically-friendly manner.