Toro is the first major irrigation manufacturer recognized for a second consecutive year.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recognized The Toro Company with a 2016 WaterSense® Excellence Award for its efforts and education in water conservation. Toro was presented the award at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas.
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Today is United Nations World Water Day 2016, promoting awareness of serious regional water shortages around the world and the search for solutions to the critical threats these scarce water supplies pose to humanity. The Toro Company is a worldwide leader in the development of innovative water-preservation technologies for turf and agricultural irrigation applications. In recognition of the company’s commitment to driving water sustainability, Toro was invited to the nation’s capital today to participate in the White House Water Summit.
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The Staples Irrigation Efficiency program will provide incentives to any irrigation design which can demonstrate energy/water savings. The program will offer almost unlimited possibilities for submitting savings for rebates instead of only two “deemed” projects with set values for incentives.
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With California now firmly entrenched in its fourth drought year in a row, the irrigation industry is rightly focused on water efficiency.
Paul McFadden, who is senior sales manager for Toro Micro-Irrigation, El Cajon, CA, said while the focus is clear, that doesn’t always mean using less water. “It’s an equation: units of input vs. units of output.”
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While the drought in the Western U.S. has made water and resource use efficiency top-of-mind, Toro is proud of the various ways we practice and advocate for responsible crop irrigation. Here are some of the ways we’ve worked to improve water and resource-use efficiency in agriculture.
Continue readingDon Cameron, a member of California’s State Board of Food and Agriculture and general manager of Terranova Ranch, is on the cutting edge of irrigation. His wine grape vineyards stretch for 1,300 acres, so maximizing water is a top priority. Cameron has used drip irrigation on these vineyards since 1982, a time when drip was still uncommon.
Making the switch to micro-irrigation has saved Terranova Ranch 15-20 percent on water costs. When Cameron took over as general manager, he recalls, “I was told we couldn’t grow tomatoes. I was told the ground was too light.” Processing tomatoes now occupy 2,300 acres at Terranova, due in large part to Cameron’s implementation of drip systems. He contends, “We eliminate evaporation from the soil surface and provide uniform distribution of water and reduce fertilizer usage along with producing a 28 percent higher yield. We no longer have excess water accumulation at the end of fields as we did when we furrow irrigated.”
But drip irrigation isn’t the only practice that makes Cameron a pioneer in water use efficiency.
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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:
South Texas farmers, crop consultants, technicians and anybody involved in crop irrigation are invited to a workshop to help brainstorm ideas on how to generate incentives for water conservation, according to experts at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.
The free program, Rio Grande Valley Agricultural Conservation Workshop, will be held from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday at the center, located at 2415 E. U.S. Highway 83 in Weslaco.
Among things discussed will be a test plot of drip irrigation on onions and watermelons in which water use was cut in half and yields were double. According to Dr. Juan Anciso, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service fruit and vegetable specialist at the Weslaco center, “using a [drip irrigation] system can pay off for growers.”
Continue readingUSDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Jason Weller toured local farmland in Los Banos, California that is benefiting from a federal partnership between NRCS and the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to protect the Bay-Delta Watershed. Approximately $6 million was invested by the two agencies, from 2011 – 2013, to upgrade irrigation water delivery infrastructure and on-farm irrigation equipment to conserve water for San Luis Canal Company farmers.
“Water is the lifeblood of agriculture and the environment,” said Cannon Michael, a local farmer. “Farmers have a duty to be good stewards of our resources and conservation is a key element of good stewardship. Improved water use efficiency and reduced runoff benefits farmers and the environment. Our partnership with NRCS has yielded very positive results and their programs encourage conservation on a large scale.”
Weller toured Michael’s new drip irrigation system, funded by NRCS, and nearby infrastructure improvements funded by Reclamation.
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Charged with the issue of seawater intrusion, the Salinas Valley in California has done several things to all but eliminate the issue. First, two reservoirs were constructed to recharge the underground aquifer. Then, a wastewater treatment plant was built to enable the use of recycled water for irrigation. And recently, a rubber dam was installed to divert surface water for irrigation. Along with these attempts to improve the region’s water supply, Salinas Valley farmers have turned to drip irrigation and conservation to help solve their water issues.
In a recent article in AgAlert, reporter Bob Johnson interviewed Salinas Valley farmers to see how they have reduced seawater intrusion. Turns out that the region’s conversion to drip irrigation and focus on conservation has a lot to do with it. Bob writes, “Twenty years ago, less than 3 percent of Salinas Valley vegetable acreage was under drip irrigation…(but) the water agency’s most recent survey shows that by 2012, drip irrigation was being used on nearly 60 percent of the vegetable acreage.” Bob goes on to write that between drip irrigation, water supply projects, and other conservation techniques, such as soil moisture sensors and flow meters, the Salinas Valley has even allowed the underground water table to rise.
Continue readingDrip irrigation has enabled farmers, nurserymen, and landscapers to conserve water for decades. This is primarily because, in contrast to
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