About this Session

Irrigation Management For Corn Production In The Southeast

Presented by:  Dr. Wesley M. Porter, Associate Professor, Extension Precision Ag & Irrigation Specialist, University of Georgia

Due to water being so critical in corn production, low water holding capacity of soils, sporadic drought, non-irrigated acreage is low in Georgia. Typically, sensors and scheduling aids produce some of the highest yields, and Water Use Efficiency. Checkbook methods are typically the most used methods by growers. Adoption of more advanced irrigation scheduling systems is low due to cost, complexity, and uncertainty in expected economic benefit. Growers tend of over-irrigate corn as an insurance policy to prevent yield loss, however, it should be noted that even if yield is not reduced, can be reduced by over-irrigating the crop needlessly.

Using Soil Moisture Sensors To Increase On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency In Georgia

Presented by:  Joshua K. McCormick, Georgia Farmer, McCormick Farms

On McCormick Farms in Sylvania, GA we grow cotton and peanut in a conventional rotation and focus on conservation methods and take them seriously. One of the technologies that we utilize on the farm are WaterMark soil water tension sensors. We have accomplished this by placing soil moisture sensors at a spacing of every 40 acres and using them to predict when irrigation should be initiated. Similar to most situations in Georgia, multiple center pivot irrigation systems share single wells, and moisture sensors have been proven effective to aiding us in being logistic and on time with our irrigation applications.