California Utility Company Can Help Farmers Save Water During Drought
California Utility company, PG&E, sees a big opportunity to help farmers reduce their water use and electricity use, at the same time. By doing so, it can save precious water, help farmers save money, and help the power company itself reduce overall electricity demand – which means avoiding having to build costly new power plants.
PG&E has a few tools at its disposal, the biggest being financial incentives to help farmers switch to water-saving technologies such as drip irrigation.
Continue reading
A Florida-based potato farmer who recently won an award for his sustainable irrigation methods firmly believes all farmers should adopt 
As California faces a historic drought, many farmers are relying on groundwater reserves to carry them through the dry season. Pumping groundwater is currently unregulated in California (that could soon change), and drawing on reserves now could cause shortages in the future. Sustainability-minded farmers are looking ahead and using an arsenal of ways to save water. Here are just a few:
Drip Irrigation has typically been used in high-value fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. Recently, it has become popular in field crop applications, including corn/soybean rotations and alfalfa, cotton, and processing tomatoes. USDA’s recent Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey reported 3.76 million acres in the U.S. are under drip. This acreage is expected to be significantly higher in the 2013 report, which will be released this fall.
With drought gripping much of the Great Plains and western states, and with groundwater reserves declining and water regulations increasing, growers and their CCAs are finding ways to get more crop per drop with precision irrigation.
Micro-sprinklers have long been used to provide climate control and irrigate fruit, nut and cover crops. Now, micro-sprinklers can be used as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) plan in row crops, as well. By placing a grid of micro-sprinklers above the crop and operating it a few times a week, dust is washed off the leaves and humidity is increased – suppressing harmful pests and encouraging beneficial insects. For example, mites and spider mites favor hot, dusty environments, whereas beneficial predatory insects, such as persimilis, thrive best where humidity levels are between 60 to 90 percent. By applying a light application of water to the crop several times a week, dust, mites and webbing are washed off while the resulting increased humidity encourages beneficial predator species.
Yesterday – July 10, 2014 – 
On Friday, July 25, 2014 at 1:00PM (Pacific Time), the Grange Network will be hosting a 60-minute, FREE webinar to discuss how irrigation uniformity and management affect plant health. Keith Backman, Consultant Manager of Dellavalle Laboratory will lead the discussion.
