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10 to 35% excess water application.
Growers should consider ways to
capture more winter moisture like
reducing or eliminating fall tillage.
Maintaining crop residues through the
winter can help increase spring soil
moisture 5 to 15% over fall-tilled ground
by capturing more snow. This moisture
head start over bare ground can reduce
spring irrigation needed to fill the soil
profile and provide a buffer if irrigation
supply is limited or if the irrigation
system cannot keep up with crop
evapotranspiration.
New technology like soil moisture
sensors or an irrigation water scheduling
assistant should also be considered. Soil
moisture sensors can be a valuable tool
for making irrigation scheduling decisions
based on crop and soil conditions rather
than a set weekly schedule. Sensors can
also highlight ways irrigation management
can be improved. For example, soil
moisture sensors deployed in six locations
across a wheel line-irrigated field showed
that there were significant differences
in water applied across the season (8
inches difference). By using data like this,
in-season management decisions can be
tailored based on weather conditions and
crop conditions.
Free irrigation schedulers are also
available that use local weather data and
crop water needs to help make irrigation
timing decisions.
Linda Schott is a soils and nutrient
management extension specialist at the University
of Idaho's Twin Falls Research & Extension
Center. She can be contacted at
lschott@uidaho.edu.
Howard Neibling (hneiblin@uidaho.edu) is
an extension water management engineer based at
the UI Kimberly Research & Extension Center.
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Maintaining crop residues through
the winter can significantly increase
spring soil moisture by capturing
more snow.
