- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In California, 40 percent of agriculture is still irrigated by pouring water onto farmland, a much less efficient practice that drip and overhead irrigation. But those numbers are changing, reported Matt Weiser on Water Deeply.
Weiser interviewed UC Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist Jeff Mitchell about the water-saving potential of using overhead irrigation, a system that is popular in other parts of the nation and world, but only used on 2 percent of California farmland. Mitchell was the primary author of a research article in the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources experts are studying the effectiveness of flood irrigation to help recharge underground aquifers that have been depleted due to the drought, reported Ken Carlson in the Modesto Bee.
The pilot research project will involve flood irrigating almond orchards during the winter months, according to Roger Duncan, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor in Stanislaus County.
"If it works well, we can expand and potentially look at other locations, other soil types and other cropping systems," Duncan said.
The Modesto trial will take place on one...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two trained and certified UC Master Gardeners with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources will talk to homeowners about their irrigation systems at a free seminar May 9 called “Planning for Drought," reported Thaddeus Miller of the Merced Sun-Star.
UC Master Gardener Dave Hackney, based in the Merced County UC Cooperative Extension office, said about half of all water used in residential homes goes to the landscape. The seminar will cover products on the market that water the lawn more slowly, which allows for liquid to penetrate the ground without running off sloped lawns.
The seminar also will cover drip...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Chevron recycles 21 million gallons of water every day and sells it to farmers to irrigate 45,000 acres of crops in Kern County, reported Julie Cart in the Los Angeles Times. The program is praised for helping farmers cope with the drought, however, the food being produced hasn't been tested for the presence of toxic oil production chemicals.
"Everyone smells the petrochemicals in the irrigation water," said Blake Sanden, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County. "When I talk to growers, and they smell the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
If California approves a water bond, part of it should be used to pay for farmer outreach, education and assistance programs for on-farm water-use best management practices, according to a study released this week by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the California Climate and Agriculture Network.
In a story written by J.N. Sbranti for the Modesto Bee, Roger Duncan, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Stanislaus County, said, "There is a real need to help farmers understand how to use their low-volume irrigation systems." He added that helping farmers fine-tune their watering...
