Water Conservation Grower Meetings 2017
Growers in the district had the opportunity to attend two water conservation grower meetings on September 7 in
Dumas and September 20 in Perryton. By attending one of these field days in its entirety, growers qualified to apply for a portion of the district’s new $300,000 cost share fund for water management tools. Based on their participation in the two meetings, 29 growers are qualified to apply for the cost share funds provided by the Texas Water Development Board. This program, the Irrigation Conservation Initiative, will provide cost share for up to 50-percent of the equipment cost for soil moisture probes, pivot monitoring and control systems, telemetry, plant stress monitoring and on-farm weather stations.
The Dumas field day, in cooperation with Crop Production Services (CPS), was held at the North Plains Water Conservation Center ten miles north of Dumas. Presentations covered a variety of topics including water efficiency and fertility, cotton and corn varieties based on gallons per minute on drip and pivot, and updates on the district’s “3-4-5 Gallon Production Maximization (GPM)” project. The program was rounded-out by Russ Hodges from AquaSpy, Inc., discussing best practices for soil moisture probes.
In Perryton, Alan Brugler, sponsored by Plains Land Bank, discussed late season corn marketing. Plains Land Bank gave away two 6-month subscriptions to Brugler’s marketing consulting services as door prizes. Representatives from the Israeli company, Phytech, Inc., presented information about their water efficient, plant-based practice applications, and district board member, Danny Krienke and project lead, Leon New gave an update on Krienke’s “3-4-5 GPM” project. Participants submitted their best guesses at the what the yields will be on Krienke’s demonstration fields. Cash prizes will be awarded after harvest for the closest guesses for each category. Russ Hodges also presented information about soil moisture probes.
The district’s “3-4-5 GPM” 2016 final report can be found on the district’s website at https://northplainsgcd.org/conservationprograms/agricultural-conservation/3-4-5-demonstration-project/, or a hard copy of the report can be picked up at the district’s office at 603 E. 1st St, Dumas, TX. The grower day presentations were recorded and are available for viewing on the district’s YouTube channel by clicking here.