Irrigation

Various pivot irrigation technologies, such as low-elevation sprinklers and mobile drip irrigation, have promising water-saving potential, but the investments required for these technologies can sometimes be too great to incentivize producers to adopt.

Winter groundwater recharge, where farmland is flooded during the winter using surface water to recharge the underlying groundwater, is a promising technology currently tested on alfalfa. In this study, we investigated the suitability of semi-non-dormant alfalfa for winter groundwater recharge.

There are myriad reasons to send a sample of irrigation water to the lab. From maximizing fertilizer efficiency to mitigating nutrient runoff, the case for testing is strong.

South Dakota farmers slogged through two wet years before the rain shut off in the middle of last growing season. Now a warm start to winter without much snow cover has farmers heading into the next crop year short on moisture.

Let’s talk about water – irrigation water – specifically, the things affected by irrigation water: summer forage, business risks and the possibilities for change.

Alfalfa is undoubtedly the most important forage crop grown in the U.S. It is easy to see why it gets the title “Queen of the Forages,” with hundreds of thousands of acres planted across the country.