Getting Ready for 2013 | by Kelly Downing

Isn’t it amazing how our perspective can change in such a short time? A year ago, the final month of winter seemed more like mid-spring. Our growing season started early and that pattern continued through the fall. In eastern Nebraska, our growing season was a full month ahead of “normal” conditions all summer long. Temperatures were abnormally high, and rainfall was frightfully scant, so crops matured earlier. Also, harvest was early and low (for dry land crops, anyway).

This spring isn’t horrible, but it seems like the winter is dragging on forever, when it is probably just a return to a more typical pattern. We are starting to see what we should expect: relatively warm periods intermixed with “regressions” into the 40s and freezing night time temperatures. As I try to remind my wife, it isn’t an unusually long winter, it is just what we should expect during the first month of spring.

It was nice last week to finally get into the field a little bit. I installed flow meters at Jeremy Baltz’s fields, in preparation for the growing season. Jeremy is helping us gather data for our crop insurance project. We will add his 2013 data to the others on file and use them to support an application to provide crop insurance for this production practice. Getting crop insurance coverage for pivot-grown rice has been a topic of interest for several growers. Valley Irrigation has been working with other interested industry partners for several years, and we are hopeful that we can file a successful application by the end of the year.

Flow meter installed on Jeremy's field

Part of this process is collecting some results that compare traditional practices with pivot irrigation. We have had some good luck with paired tests, and Jeremy’s fields will add to that collection. He has a flood field and a pivot field near each other; we will monitor relative yields, water use and other factors, and use these data to support the application. We welcome information like this from others, if you can share it.

The trend we have seen in the recent past continues—corn and soybean prices remain high enough to make those crops preferable to rice, at least for many growers with the flexibility to choose. It seems to the casual observer, though, that this trend is finally beginning to shift. If we really get all the acreage predicted into corn this year, and rice acres continue to shrink, there could be some good opportunities by next year. As usual, I will reserve my final predictions for the 2014 growing season for approximately December 2014!

In the meantime, I hope the weather treats you right, and I hope you have a safe, productive planting season. Stay in touch, and let us know what is going on in your area.


Do you have questions about irrigation rice with center pivots and linears? Click on the Comments link below to leave us your question!

	Kelly Downing Global Irrigation Specialist Kelly, Nebraska-based Irrigation Specialist, spent 10 years working on soil and water research projects for a major agricultural university, involving a variety of crops. His work focused on irrigation management, but also included other topics.
Since joining Valley Irrigation, he has worked in the fields of Service, Product Management, Product Reliability and Sales. Kelly focuses on developing projects in irrigation field management and providing recommendations for the Circles for Rice project. Kelly has traveled to several countries providing technical support, such as soil moisture monitoring and irrigation management training.

Circles for Rice Update | by Kelly Downing

In the Northern Hemisphere, spring is here and rice is in (and out of) the ground! We have been waiting and preparing all winter for the new crop; now, finally, we get to start growing again. I have to admit, I prefer autumn, with the harvest and sense of completion and accomplishment it brings. However, it is really nice, after a long winter, to get into the field and get the new crop going.

This year, Valley Irrigation has a total of five cooperators in three states: Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas.

In the Missouri and Arkansas areas, much of the new rice crop has been planted, and is now emerging, while planting moves north. This week, we will begin installing soil monitoring instrumentation into the rice fields of our cooperators. Dennis Robison and Chad Price farm right along the Missouri/Arkansas state line; they got into the fields early and their rice is up and growing. Both are “old hands” at this process—Dennis grew rice under his Valley center pivot in 2010, and Chad did it last year. Both produced excellent results, and are primed for another good crop this year. This week, we will install soil water sensors in their fields, which will be used to schedule irrigation. Other growers will be added to the system as they get their crop up and growing.

Soil Moisture Monitors | installed on a rice field

This is one way we increase our knowledge of the process—we monitor soil water status of rice under pivots in several fields each summer. This helps us fine-tune our irrigation recommendations. It is a great management practice for any irrigator to use, but is especially critical with rice, due to the shallow root zone and resulting small margin for error.

We all have biases, and one of mine is toward data-based irrigation management. Estimating evapotranspiration (ET), or crop water use, and using sensors to verify this information is critical for effective, efficient irrigation. Effective irrigation means making sure the crop gets all the water it needs to maximize production. Efficient irrigation means using the least possible resources (water, energy, labor) to accomplish this. Using ET data helps calculate when, and how much, to water the crop. Since these are estimates, we also recommend using sensors to periodically verify that, over time, the estimates are correct.

So, the (generally) warm spring has given most producers the chance to finish field operations in a timely manner, so planting and other activities seem to be proceeding at a pretty optimum pace. I hope you have a safe, enjoyable spring, and I look forward to sharing our progress with you as we work through the summer. Check back and let us know what is going on in your part of the world.