Just add water
by Nancy Jorgensen

Commodity prices push irrigation; trend is toward upgrading existing rigs.

Are higher commodity prices and last year’s drought prompting you to think of adding or upgrading irrigation on your farm? U.S. sales of Valley irrigation equipment increased by 30 to 40 percent each of the last 2 years, according to James Brown, vice president of marketing for the Nebraska-based Valmont Industries, which manufactures Valley. “We see the same demand factors all over the world,” he said.

Irrigation by the numbers • Missouri cropland: 19 million acres • Percent irrigated: 5.4 • Number of MO farmers who irrigate: 3,304 • Missouri acres irrigated: 1 million (602,552 gravity flow; 412,214 sprinkler) Source: 2003 Census of Agriculture, USDA Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey

A Bootheel survey conducted by the University of Missouri extension found that for the period 1997 to 2005, irrigation increased production over dryland yields by 39 percent for corn, 27 percent for cotton, 60 percent for full-season soybeans and 56 for double-crop soybeans. At today’s prices of about $5 a bushel for corn and $13 for soybeans, that adds up—and fast.

Circles or furrows?
The 2003 USDA Census of Agriculture revealed that of 53 million acres irrigated in the U.S., 40 percent were pivot, 44 percent gravity flow, with the balance covered by other types of sprinkler, drip or other methods.

Results of a new census are expected later this year. “We suspect it will show pivots going from 40 to 50 percent,” Brown said. Missouri irrigators use 60 percent gravity flow or surface systems, mostly because we grow a lot of rice, which requires flood irrigation. Pending research may make pivots feasible for rice, but even without that possibility, trend lines lean toward pivots here as well. Most irrigation occurs in the Bootheel. In most other places where you find irrigation, such as north of Joplin and along the Missouri River in the northwest or the claypan soils of northeast, Mo., farmers usually favor pivots.

Not all land is suitable for irrigation, and new irrigation acreage isn’t expanding much. Brown estimates that nationwide, about one-third of all pivot sales go toward irrigating new ground, one-third toward upgrades, and one-third to converting another method such as furrow.

Any new gains are offset by irrigation being abandoned in the U.S. Southwest, where water runs in shorter supply than in Missouri and some water is being converted to domestic use.

Joe Henggeler, University of Missouri Extension irrigation specialist in Portageville, expects a 3 percent growth in irrigated acres in Missouri from 2007 to 2008. “In the Bootheel, most of the land that can be irrigated is already irrigated, or being leased from elderly landowners unwilling to make late-life financial investments,” he said. Pivot dealers may dispute this, but agree that most sales come from replacing furrow or upgrading existing equipment.

Analyzing the costs
Pivots don’t come cheap. Larry Isaac, sales manager for Irrigation Central in Sikeston, sells Zimmatic equipment, another well-known pivot brand. He pegs the cost of installing a typical 160-acre system with 1,300 feet of pipe at about $85,000. That includes the pivot, concrete pad, three-phase electric turbine and underground electric system, and a new well. Still, business continues to grow. “This is probably one of our better years—at least the best in 8 to 10 years,” Isaac said. He hears about growers that pay off the investment in just one dry year.

Too early to start your rain dance? At press time, Missouri farmers worried about getting into the field to plant after one of the wettest winters in state history. Yet some already fret about whether we face another dry summer. At press time, Pat Guinan, state Extension climatologist for Mu, said while an extremely strong La Niña weather pattern this winter resulted in high-water conditions for spring, the verdict’s still out on what the summer holds. He advises Missouri farmers to watch May weather. “If May turns out to be unusually dry or hot, that’s an indicator for the summer season,” he said. “If May is wet, the trend will be for a wetter than normal summer.” In northern parts of the state and the Corn Belt, chances favor “below normal summer precipitation patterns,” Guinan added. Harry Hillaker state, climatologist for Iowa, predicted, “Drier than normal weather is slightly favored in May, and the odds increasingly favor drier-than-normal weather through the rest of the year.” Elwynn taylor, Iowa state university’s Extension climatologist, added a warning. “I expect increasingly erratic weather conditions during the next several years. this risk adds value to having irrigation available.”

Isaac says that with rising energy costs, irrigators are focusing on ways to save pumping costs by using less water. Pivot farmers are adding drops that avoid evaporation loss by sprinkling water closer to the ground.

Mark Yarbro, president of Ozark Border Electric Co-op and a Poplar Bluff grower, converted all but three of his 38 pumps to run on electricity rather than diesel, which he estimates costs him twice as much to operate. “A load control program offered by the co-op saves me about $25 an acre on my rice acreage,” he said.

Fred Ferrell farms in the Bootheel and is president of Mid-Valley Irrigation in Charleston, where he sells Valley equipment. Last year, while the area received about 54 inches of rain, it didn’t come at the right time. His dryland soybeans yielded 10 bushels an acre, compared to 50 on land under irrigation.

“The first question a banker asks is, how many irrigated acres do you have?” Ferrell said. “Irrigation negates our risks. This will be the most expensive crop on record and we need higher yields to offset rising input costs.”

Ferrell and Brown reported that most farmers finance their pivots, mostly through loans or leases of from 5 to 7 years. Pivots that Ferrell sold 30 years ago are still operating. “After you pay it off, you just have maintenance and operating costs, and pivots become extra affordable,” he said.

Farmers typically order pivots in the fall. Dealers like Mid-Valley install them over the winter as weather allows—usually it takes a couple of weeks. But these days, in light of increasing demand, allow an extra month or two for delivery.

While many farmers dream of the peace of mind that irrigation can bring, some elements of society argue that we should be cutting back on irrigation to preserve water. “In the U.S., less than 20 percent of all farm acres are irrigated, but those acres produce almost 40 percent of all crops,” Brown countered. “We couldn’t produce what we need without it. It’s critically important for the nation.”

Henggeler added his perspective. “Since about 90 percent of the water for Missouri irrigation comes from the alluvial aquifers along the vast source of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, groundwater reserves are not being depleted, and recharge each winter.”

More ideas that might be worth checking out
• Henggeler’s research shows that converting from a towable to a fixed pivot system can boost corn yield.

• On the horizon: Telemetry-monitored soil moisture sensors that continuously graph soil water content, indicating when moisture begins to leave the soil or when it’s becoming waterlogged. “The latter aspect has particular bearing for the 200,000 acres being irrigated in central and southwest Missouri with hard soil layers about 15 inches below the surface,” Henggeler said, adding that sensors can cost as little as $4 per acre annually.

• Many farmers already variably apply chemical inputs. Now you can vary water application using GPS technology. While this is gaining interest in areas with low water availability, Henggeler thinks it’s a long way off for Missouri.

Furrow and flood still going strong in Bootheel
About 80 percent of all irrigation in Missouri takes place in the Bootheel, south of the rich confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. That’s according to Joe Henggeler, extension irrigation specialist for MU, who conducts research from his office in southeastern Missouri.

“The results we’ve seen show that flood irrigation on soybeans produces higher yields than pivot here,” Henggeler said. “The real factor is probably not pivot or flood, but whether soybeans are on beds—as they always are on furrow systems. Pivot users who bed up see yields comparable to flood irrigation.”

About half of Bootheel irrigated fields depend on pivot, and the other half furrow or flood—rice growers flood irrigate 200,000 acres. Surface irrigation works well in the region since plentiful ground water lies close to the surface. “It can cost just $20 an acre to pump it each year,” Henggeler said. “Energy costs have gone up, but that’s still cheap,”

In recent years, many furrow users began using poly pipe at the tops of rows. You might spend $225 for poly pipe to irrigate 40 acres. This flexible piping can be unrolled at the beginning of the season. Farmers punch one to three holes in the piping for each furrow. At season’s end, you roll up the pipe on a spool towed behind your tractor, and call a recycler to pick it up.

Furrow is normally labor intensive, but poly-piping makes it less so, Henggeler said. “With our big wells pumping 2,000 to 3,000 gallons per minute, you have enough capacity to run water down every furrow at once along the quarter-mile crown of the field— all with the touch of a switch. There’s no moving pipes, no shutting gates, no internal leaks that plague the typical furrow system.”

Furrow irrigators also increase yields by adding surge flow, which pulses water onto fields. Others are replacing old pumps with more efficient models.

For more information on how to increase your irrigation efficiency, visit the University of Missouri’s agricultural education site, http://agebb.missouri.edu/, and click on Missouri Irrigation. There you’ll find spreadsheets that compare various methods, along with schedules tailored to your situation.

Nancy Jorgensen is a contributing writer from Arizona

Good to the last drop . . . 10 ways to make pivot irrigation more efficient 1. Switch from diesel or propane to electric. Mu irrigation specialist Joe Henggeler regularly runs projections that compare diesel, propane and electric power. At press time, he found it difficult to keep up with skyrocketing diesel prices, but electricity costs dramatically less. His research shows that in the Bootheel, electricity costs flood irrigators about $1.19 per acre inch of water pumped, and diesel and propane about double that. Pivot irrigators pay $2.67 per acre inch for electric, and again about double that for diesel and propane. Results may vary elsewhere with lower water tables. 2. If you’re electric powered, talk to your supplier about peak management programs that reduce your rates if you avoid irrigating during certain times. You can set a clock on each well to program irrigation times, and your utility’s automatic meter-reading equipment tracks pump operation. For some electric cooperatives in southeastern Missouri, peak hours run from 4 to 10 p.m. in summer months, when people return home from work and switch on air conditioners. By diverting users to offpeak hours, utilities even out demand and peak load. 3. Bring in single-phase or three-phase electric lines. “Electricity is always cheaper than diesel or propane if electric lines are present,” said Henggeler in a recent report. “the question that begs to be answered is, how much you can afford to spend on these new power lines? If three-phase is on site, with current energy prices, using a three-phase motor will always be the cheapest route. If three-phase isn’t there, but single phase is present, using a phase converter and a three-phase electric motor may likely become the next best choice.” Henggeler’s report compares savings for all types of irrigators in a variety of situations. “Many times one could spend $20,000 or $30,000 to bring in new lines and still be ahead,” he said. 4. Lower your water pressure. Anything you can do to pump water with less pressure will pay off in energy cost reductions. Moving from a high-pressure system to low-pressure can save up to $66 per acre, according to Agriculture Online, which is affiliated with successful Farming magazine. In recent years, Henggeler added, about 200 Missouri pivots have been re-nozzled to run at lower pressure—25 PsI at the pump versus the state average of 42 PsI. 5. Install pivot drops. Most farmers used to spray water from up high on the pivot arm. today, you can install plastic drops that bring the water closer to the ground, cutting evaporation and saving pumping costs. 6. Install fertigation and chemigation equipment to send crop inputs through your irrigation system. this saves you from using diesel to power a tractor through the field. 7. Add wireless technology or telemetry to monitor and turn each pivot on and off remotely. this saves vehicle fuel by eliminating trips to each site. It also saves on wasted water and energy if your pivot shuts down, and can prevent crop loss if you avoid straying from your optimal irrigation schedule. this especially pays off for larger operators in cutting labor. 8. Schedule to irrigate at optimal times for your situation. the Midwest is a diverse in terms of weather, soil and crops. savvy irrigators use Woodruff schedules customized for these variables, or the Arkansas scheduler computer program, found on Mu’s agricultural Web site listed at the end of this article. Cotton irrigators benefit most, earning $110 more per acre compared to those who don’t schedule. Gains included $30 per acre for corn, $29 for single-crop soybeans and $14 for double-crop soybeans. 9. Laser-level your fields. Most furrow irrigators in Missouri took this step long ago, but leveling may improve results for pivot and dryland fields as well. It may not work on all acreages, obviously. 10. Add a corner-arm to your pivot to boost a 125-acre circle to 156 acres.

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