About this Session

On-Farm Irrigation Water Management Automation Evaluation

Presented by:  Dr. Drew Gholson, Assistant Professor/Extension Irrigation Specialist, Delta Research & Extension Center

Water levels in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer continue to drop in the Mississippi Delta while irrigation acreage continues to increase. Adoption of irrigation conservation practices or Best Management Practices (BMPs) is imperative to help sustain our groundwater supplies. The Row-crop Irrigation Science Extension and Research (RISER) is an on-farm program that demonstrates to growers how irrigation water management (IWM) practices reduce irrigation water use up to 40% while improving profitability by $40/acre. Starting in 2020, the RISER program began identifying and evaluating innovative sensor and automation technologies that can assist producers with improving their on-farm irrigation management strategies and scheduling.

Sentek Soil Moisture Sensors Take Guesswork Out Of Irrigation

Presented by:  Andrew Lewis, Mississippi Consultant, High Yield Ag Solutions

Lewis will describe the benefits of using the Sentek Soil Moisture Sensors to keep track of the crop’s moisture needs. He has five years’ experience with these volume metric sensors that are placed in the field after planting and removed before harvest. The sensors alert one when to turn irrigation on to keep the moisture levels constant. He works with High Yield Ag Solutions, a precision technology irrigation company. The company helps farmers from the Midwest to the East coast make more money through irrigation technology. Andrew holds a master’s degree in Agribusiness Management from Mississippi State University. He has been helping farmers in the Midsouth make irrigation decisions with volumetric soil moisture sensors for 8 years.