North Plains Groundwater

  Conservation District

200-12 Project Featured in September Issue of Irrigation Leader Magazine

Click here for the story

Irrigation Meetings Planned Across the North Plains

Contacts: Kirk Welch, North Plains Groundwater Conservation District 806-935-6401, and Kay Ledbetter, Texas AgriLife Research 806-677-5608 

Four meetings across the district will highlight three primary corn irrigation projects in the North Plains that are all funded in whole, or in part, by North Plains Groundwater Conservation District. The meetings are scheduled for August and are presented in cooperation with Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas AgriLife Research and the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District. The irrigation projects include the district’s “200-12 Reduced Irrigation on Corn Demonstration” initiated by the district in 2010. The “200-12 Project” has received partial funding from the Texas Water Development Board for three years, beginning in 2011. The meetings will also feature information from the AgriLife Extension and AgriLife Research corn irrigation projects being conducted in the North Plains and at the North Plains Research Field at Etter. The district provided funding for both AgriLife projects.

 “We believe these research and demonstration projects that help irrigators be more efficient with groundwater are absolutely in line with the mission of North Plains, and that’s why we’ve put our money where our mouth is by supporting these projects,” said Steve Walthour, district general manager.

“These projects are the epitome of agricultural cooperation as both AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension collaborate with the local groundwater district to address frontline, pressing needs in production agriculture,” said Nich Kenny, AgriLife Extension irrigation specialist. “We are addressing all ranges of corn irrigation and working to collectively make an impact on the area.”

 All meetings will begin at 9 a.m. and are free. The dates and locations are:

 Aug. 19: Hutchinson County Corn Irrigation Conference, Morse Community Building, Morse.

 Aug. 24: Ochiltree Corn Irrigation Conference, Perryton Expo Center, Perryton.

 Aug. 25: Etter Corn Irrigation Field Day, North Plains Research Field, Etter.

 Aug. 26: Dalhart Corn Irrigation Conference, Rita Blanca Coliseum, Dalhart. 

Each location will include local topics that will be most pertinent to the local producers and showcase technologies used in the processes, Kenny said.

For example, the Hutchison County meeting at Morse will have a presentation and field tour showing advantages of subsurface drip irrigation in a drought year, as well as an update of drought-tolerant corn. And the Etter meeting will contain a walk-through of selected AgriLife Research plots.

In addition, three primary corn projects will be included at each meeting. They are the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District “200-12 Reduced Irrigation on Corn Demonstration,” the AgriLife Extension North Plains “Efficient Profitable Irrigation in Corn” project, or EPIC as it is known, and the AgriLife Research “12-200 Corn” project.

In addition, updates will be given on AgriLife Research’s corn breeding program and multi-level corn irrigation studies, Kenny said. The meetings also will contain field tours to the District’s cooperator plots and fields with EPIC project work, he said.

Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units for pesticide applicators will be provided and five continuing education units for certified crop advisers, four in the soil and water category and one in crop management.

 Lunch and registration fees will be covered at each location by local sponsors and the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District.

2010 200-12 Crop Project Update

The 200-12 Project is designed as a five year initiative that provides field-scale profitability and feasibility demonstrations of producing 200 bushels of corn utilizing 12 inches of irrigation water combined with seasonal rainfall and available water within the crop’s root zone soil profile.  In the 200-12 Project’s first year, three of the District’s directors dedicated their own irrigated acres to establish the program.  In 2010, the three directors that participated in the demonstrations were as follows:  Phil Haaland dedicated 30 acres in Hartley County; Harold Grall dedicated 120 acres in Moore County; and Danny Krienke dedicated 120 acres in Ochiltree County.  The directors are committed to continuing the demonstrations in their fields. 

The information in this report provides the results of these field demonstrations for 2010. Click HERE for a full copy of the 2010 200-12 Crop Project Report.

North Plains Groundwater Conservation District Demonstration Projects Attempt to Produce 200 Bushels of Corn with Only 12 Inches of Irrigation

Dumas TX September 2010 –The sprinklers are off, but the speculation is flowing freely about the outcome of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District’s “200-12 Reduced Irrigation on Corn” demonstration project.  

Members of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District board of directors have initiated field-scale, commercial demonstrations of the feasibility and profitability of producing 200 bushels of corn with only 12 inches of irrigation water.  “If successful, the demonstrations will accomplish at least a 6-inch reduction in the amount of irrigation water being applied to grow corn across the District,” said irrigation engineer and project coordinator Leon New. New, a retired irrigation engineer with Texas AgriLife Research is a 40-year veteran of irrigation technology advancements. Since more than 500,000 acres of corn are grown across the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District service area, the savings could equate to 250,000 acre feet of water annually. That’s 81-billion gallons of water left in the ground each year.  

A companion research study is being conducted by Texas AgriLife Researchers at the North Plains Research Field at Etter. The research field is owned by North Plains Groundwater Conservation District and is leased to Texas AgriLife Research.  

“The goal of the 200-12 Demonstrations is to save this water while maintaining a profitable yield for producers,” said Danny Krienke, board member and cooperator in the demonstrations. The District is using a multi-disciplinary approach for the “200-12” demonstrations. They are combining the best practices available including, residue, irrigation, and pest and weed management, combined with commercially available drought resistant hybrids to create a comprehensive resource management system.  

New says the center pivot systems commonly used today are delivering 95-percent of the irrigation water to the soil.  “Capturing the remaining 5-percent may be too expensive right now to be widely adopted for commercial use, so these demonstrations are focusing on managing applications and making the most efficient use of the water once it enters the soil,” said New. 

Initially, the board wanted to conduct 7-8 demonstrations across the District and began working to secure funding to protect cooperating producers from possible revenue losses due to reduced yields. However, when it became evident that funding was not going to be available in time for the 2010 growing season, three North Plains Groundwater Conservation District board members volunteered their own land with no financial protection from reduced yields. The District did provide some equipment and consulting services to the cooperators. The board member-cooperators feel the demonstrations are exactly what the District should be doing to help growers see the possibilities,

Two field days were recently presented in Dumas and Perryton. The field days titled “200 Bushels on 12 Inches: Practical Strategies for Sustainable Profitability,” gave opportunity to present the current status of the demonstrations and continue the dialog on the question, “How do you get more corn with less water?” Currently, all three cooperators have stopped irrigating their demonstration fields, and all three have adhered to the limited irrigation schedule of only 12 inches of irrigation water. Some of the field day attendees offered educated guesses at what the possible yields might be on the fields. But as one cooperator succinctly stated, “It’s all up the combines, now.” 

Yield information for the “200-12” demonstrations will be made available after the data is collected and analyzed. The district is actively seeking more cooperators to participate in the project in 2011. 

For more information contact Kirk Welch at 806-935-6401.

200 Bushels of Corn on 12 Inches: Is it Possible, Profitable?

Dumas, TX August 2010 --Irrigation has stopped at or below 12 inches on the three field demonstration projects initiated this year by North Plains Groundwater Conservation District. Now, only the harvest will determine if the fields will reach their goal of producing 200 bushels of corn per acre on only 12 inches of irrigation.

Above average moisture this year has certainly helped the cause, but board member and demonstration cooperator, Danny Krienke of Perryton, said that even if the moisture slowed down for the rest of the season, the demonstration fields would have a good chance of reaching the goal.  

The board has been planning field-scale demonstrations to show the feasibility and profitability of producing 200 bushels of corn on 12 inches of irrigation since the beginning of 2010. If the project is successful it would result in an average reduction of about 6 inches of irrigation per acre, per year. The District is planning on a much larger scale demonstration in 2011 and is working to secure funding to protect producers who cooperate in future demonstrations from possible revenue losses.  

However, Krienke, and fellow board members Phil Haaland and Harold Grall decided to commit their own land to the project this year without any guarantee of reimbursement for reduced yields.  “We believe in the project. This will give us an additional year of data, even if it is on a somewhat smaller scale than the full-blown project. I think we will learn some things this year that will benefit the demonstrations next year.”  

There are several different variables involved in each demonstration including, climate, soil-type, hybrids, and residue and irrigation management strategies. Each of the demonstrations is different, but they have one thing in common—the objective of 200 bushels of corn per acre on 12 inches of irrigation.  

At press time, all three cooperators  have water left to put on their fields before they reach the limit of 12 inches allowed by the protocol. However, all three fields are in critical stages in plant development. Any stress due to lack of adequate water could seriously reduce yields. Nevertheless, The cooperators and District Conservationist and Project Coordinator Leon New are still positive, “We are confident that the remaining amount of irrigation, combined with the moisture retained in the soil, will be enough to finish the crop successfully,” said New. 

Board President, Bob Zimmer, put the demonstrations into perspective, ”With an inch of water costing at least 5 dollars to get to the crop, saving two inches across the 1,000,000 irrigated acres in the District is a savings of $10,000,000 a year that stays in the area economy.” That’s also a savings of 166,000 acre- feet or 54 billion gallons of water each year.

 Texas AgriLife Ochiltree County Extension Agent, Scott Strawn said he thinks these demonstrations are valuable to producers. “While there are differences in the fields in the demonstration, I like the fact that the bottom line is the same.  It (the goal) is 200 bushels on 12 inches, and you are showing growers that it can be done,” Strawn said. 

While the District does have rules in place that will reduce allowable water production to 1.5 acre-feet per acre by 2012, General Manager, Steve Walthour said the demonstrations are not an indication that the District is planning to reduce allowable production to 1 acre-foot. “The reasons for the demonstrations are to assist growers in making adjustments to the reduction to 1.5 acre-feet in 2012 and to adapt to naturally occurring limited water conditions,” said Walthour. 

For more information on the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District’s “200-12 Reduced Irrigation Project” call the District at (806) 935-6401.

North Plains Groundwater Conservation District Board Member/Farmers Conduct Reduced Irrigation Demonstrations Without Reimbursement

Dumas, TX March 2010 --Members of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors have stepped up to the plate to conduct reduced irrigation demonstrations at their own risk. Three members of the board have planted commercial-scale plots to demonstrate their goal of producing 200 bushels of corn per acre on 12 inches of irrigation water.

While the District is working to secure funding to protect producers who cooperate in future demonstrations from possible revenue losses, members of the board have said they are willing to demonstrate their belief in the project by going forward this year, without the guarantee of reimbursement.  

Board member and Ochiltree County corn producer, Danny Krienke said he thinks there are advantages to starting the demonstrations this year even without the funding, “We will have an additional year of data, even if it is on a somewhat smaller scale than the full-blown project. I think we will learn some things this year that will benefit the demonstrations next year.”  

Krienke has agreed to put about 120 acres in Ochiltree County into the demonstration in 2010. Other board members who have committed land to the project for 2010 are Harold Grall, Director Precinct 4 Moore County, and Phil Haaland, Director Precinct 2 Hartley County. The District will provide support and oversight through District Conservationist, Leon New and other District staff and contractors. 

Earlier this year, the board proposed the idea for field-scale, commercial demonstrations, applying currently available techniques and technologies to achieve the 200/12 goal.  The District believes the demonstrations will yield best practices that can be easily adopted by area producers, enabling them to be profitable while using less water from the Ogallala aquifer.

For more information call the District at (806) 935-6401 or email welchk@npwd.org.

Click this link for cooperative research being conducted by Texas AgriLife at the North Plains Research Field Texas AgriLife Reduced Irrigation Research