Water! Crops Need It

If you missed the most recent Iowa Learning Farms webinar, you’ll want to watch Dr. Jeff Strock’s presentation, Crop Response to Excess and Deficit Water Stress. In the webinar he discussed irrigation research trials on fine textured soils to see effects of yield, plant stress and cost effectiveness of drainage water recycling.

Extremes on both sides of rainfall amounts affect farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Upper Midwest is seeing trends of wetter springs and drier summers which can make it challenging to get the crop in the ground and then to see top yields in the fall. Dr. Strock and his team set up trials and have been collecting data on the most recent dry years starting in 2019.

Anywhere from 3.2 inches in a soybean plot and 9.3 inches in a corn plot have been added in the trial. Results are astounding for the corn crop, a three-year mean showing 40 bu/ac more in the irrigated system compared to a rainfed plot. Soybeans did show a higher yield, 10 bu/ac more, but Dr. Strock concluded that was mostly due to differences in the plots not water amounts.

Watch the recording for some quick cost effectiveness calculations to see just how important water is to productivity. Tune into to any previously recorded webinar from our archive and learn about a variety of topics.

–Alena Whitaker

Crop Impacts of Too Much and Too Little Water

Please join us for the Iowa Learning Farms webinar at noon CDT, Wednesday, Sep. 6, featuring Jeff Strock, Ph.D., professor and soil scientist, University of Minnesota Southwest Research & Outreach Center. Strock’s research activities are focused on diversified cropping systems/rotation complexity and agricultural drainage water management. He directs a field-based research program focused on vadose zone hydrology, agricultural drainage, crop response to water and understanding nutrient mobility, uptake, storage, transformation and losses in agricultural systems.

In the webinar, “Crop Response to Excess and Deficit Water Stress,” Strock will highlight research results from studies of corn and soybean production in southwest Minnesota between 2019 and 2022, in which growing periods included average, wet and dry conditions. He will discuss crop performance in terms of grain yield and crop canopy temperature data under the different conditions. Strock will also provide insights on soil water content data collected in non-irrigated fields and those irrigated with recycled drainage water.

“The incidence and frequency of extreme wet and dry conditions is becoming more common and has even occurred within a single growing season,” said Strock. “Farmers need strategies to respond to often unpredictable and changing weather conditions to help maintain crop productivity and profitability. Supplemental irrigation through drainage water recycling is one such strategy that farmers should consider, and may become necessary, to maintain crop performance in the future.”

Webinar participants are encouraged to ask questions of the presenters. People from all backgrounds and areas of interest are encouraged to join.

Webinar Access Instructions

To participate in the live webinar, shortly before noon CDT Sep. 6:

Click this URL, or type this web address into your internet browser: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/364284172

Or go to https://iastate.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 364 284 172

Or join from a dial-in phone line:

Dial: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923

Meeting ID: 364 284 172

The webinar will also be recorded and archived on the ILF website, so that it can be watched at any time. Archived webinars are available at https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/webinars For a list of upcoming webinars visit https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/events-1

A Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit (CEU) has been applied for. Those who participate in the live webinar are eligible. Information about how to apply to receive the credit will be provided at the end of the live webinar.