Introduction
Meet Jason Webster. Jason is a lead commercial agronomist for Precision Planting in Pontiac, IL. Precision has been using Netafim subsurface drip irrigation on the farm since 2019. They have been learning how to irrigate and fertigate crops. Their water source is a pond that collects run off water from a nearby Walmart parking lot and tile drainage water from “prairie pothole” pond. Jason is applying about 9 inches of water through surface and subsurface drip irrigation each year on 80 acres.
Jason’s Drip System
SDI (subsurface drip irrigation) has changed the way Jason can feed his crop with Netafim drip tape and NutraDrip servicing his system. According to Jason, where he is in Illinois, there’s no chance of irrigating with well water. There's no water or aquifer underneath them so they had to fertilize in large amounts two or three times a year.
Now with drip irrigation, Jason could apply fertilizer every day if he wanted to, but he chooses to fertigate the crop a little bit at a time all through the growing season.
Jason’s data shows that he has higher yields after installing a subsurface drip irrigation system. There is also a lower risk of nutrient loss, which is more efficient plus has a positive impact from an environmental standpoint, as nutrients such as nitrates are not being leached down through the soil profile. When using smaller amounts of fertilizer, the chances of losing nutrients decreases.
Yield Response-Corn
In 2019, the year they started drip irrigation, their corn yield increased by 42.5 bushels per acre. In 2019, there was a fair amount of rain and Jason didn’t have to irrigate very much. He was surprised at how much of a response the crop had.
In 2020, there was very little rainfall, so Jason did irrigate and fertigate frequently. He saw the largest yield increase on the PTI farm with an additional 105 bushel of corn per acre. People were coming and asking Jason what he had done; he simply supplied the crop with water and the nutrients it needed.
In 2021, the yield increase was 73 bushels per acre, and 2022 showed an extra 38 bushels per acre (they experienced a lot of late season rain which boosted the yield of dry land crop).
Yield Response-Soybeans
Jason’s soybean yield response has been consistent every year since installation. In 2019, they started at a 23-bushel yield increase. In 2019-2022, they had over 23-bushel yield increases. In 2023, there was a 15-bushel yield increase, and that lower bushel increase was due to late season rain. The crop didn't need as much water.
Why Drip Irrigation
A pivot wasn’t an option for Jason since it would have required more water than he had available. With a drip system, Jason needs half the water it would take to use a pivot on his crop.
The drip line at PTI Farm is 14 inches deep and is “a direct IV right into the plant’s root system”. Just like an IV can hydrate and give you strength, the drip lines can feed the plant what it’s lacking and help it regain its “strength”.
Conserving Water
Jason must be very careful to conserve his water since the water reservoir is only 4-4.5 inches. Each year is somewhat of a gamble as to how much it will rain and replenish the “pond”. Jason feels he can be efficient with the Netafim subsurface drip irrigation system and get by with a lower volume of water as compared to other forms of irrigation.
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