“Underground” Irrigation Test Shows Promising Yield Boost

“Underground” Irrigation Test Shows Promising Yield Boost IRRIGATION Irrigation Systems Minnesota farmer Brian Velde is testing an innovative irrigation system on his farm to prove his corn can produce far more than 200 bushels an acre when it receives abundant water and extra doses of nutrients Velde installed test strips of plastic drip tape 14 to 16 in deep and 5 ft apart on a 58-acre test plot He used a special tillage implement pulled by his tractor equipped with a GPS guidance system Velde received a permit from the Minnesota DNR to pump water from the Yellow Medicine River for his test project rather than dig a special well “With the tape strips placed at 5-ft intervals in the middle of every other 30-in row corn plants are never more than 15 in from the moisture ” Velde says The tape strip supplies water through pressure-compensated emitters spaced 27 in apart along the tape Water is released with 8 lbs of pressue and percolates through the soil so corn roots can tap into it Velde applied 5 in of water during July 2017 and says a yield check in mid-August showed that the irrigated strips should produce 77 bu per acre more than the non-irrigated strips The system can also supply liquid nutrients to the plants with analysis and amounts guided by tissue-testing during the growing season “We can spoon-feed the plants exactly what they need when they need it rather than randomly applying fertilizer across a whole field ” In 2017 Velde applied 30 lbs of 28 percent nitrogen with the July waterings Velde received a grant from the Minnesota Corn Growers Association to test the system on his farm The University of Minnesota is collecting data on the project to learn how the system works in Velde’s different soil types which range from sugar-like sand to heavy clay loam “We think that abundant moisture and spoon-fed nutrients can really bump the yields reducing the stress that corn normally endures during the hot and dry weather in a typical growing season ” Velde says He says tests with this type of system in other areas have increased yields as much as 84 bu per acre an increase that could pay for installation costs in 6 to 7 years Equipment for Velde’s test is manufactured by Netafim a California company that’s installed more than 30 billion feet of dripline irrigation in the U S since 1995 The company says farmers who’ve used the system to replace conventional above-ground pivot or flood irrigation systems are using 30 percent less water and 20 to 30 percent less fertilizer to produce 20 to 30 percent higher corn soybean wheat and vegetable crop yields Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Brian Velde 2136 530th St Wood Lake Minn 56297 ph 507 768-3583; bvelde@centrol com

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