b"Irrigation StewardshipCan Help Fight DroughtsBy being water smart, growers can fight the effects of drought and water availability concerns. BY: ASHLEY ROBINSONWITH DROUGHTS SEEMING to happen more often, concernscrop is or how much water is needed to meet a yield target, from about water availability for irrigation grow. And while you cantthere the grower can sort out how much they need to water their control the weather, you can control how you use water.crop. What it comes down to is we should have started doingJust being able to teach how to schedule even at the very the conservation efforts that were doing now, as far as watersimplest, taking a shovel out in the field and seeing how much application goes, we should just start doing that 30 years ago,water you have in your root zone type of scenario. Even without says Josh Mosier, general manager and technical sales director ofall the technology of soil moisture probes and things like that, Komet Irrigation Corp. The key to being able to move forwardMosier says. Adding keeping up with maintenance on irrigation is to be able to use that water as efficiently as possible, not oversystems will also help increase water efficiency.watering, not adding extra water. An important part of the equation Mosier says is irrigation Mosier says growers can use devices such as soil moisturescheduling. He notes a recent study found 10 to 15 per cent of probes to be able to monitor soil moisture amounts in order togrowers admitted they schedule their irrigation based on when water their crops as efficiently as possible. Clint Pickard, globaltheir neighbour turns their pivots on. field digital leader for seed operations at Corteva, adds irrigationMaking sure that the plant has enough available water is application technologies can also help outdrip irrigation andcritical to finalizing the yield on that plant. And the timing is very drop nozzles on centre pivots can get water closer to the root zone. critical, when we look at the weather patterns, especially what We have to do better as an industry to provide answers towe've seen lately, but historically as well. It never seems to rain growers on when and how much to water. And I think you dowhen it's supposed to, he says.that by kind of looking at a supply and demand equation, hePickard adds you never know when a dry period is going to says. I think we can do a lot to boil it down and provide a simplestrike, so you need to be proactive. You can do this by doing insight for growers as the year unfolds and changes. things such as watering your field before planting if the soil is dry Pickard explains if you can tell a grower how thirsty their cornto help with plant stand establishment. 18SPUDSMART.COM Fall 2022"