Callaway County
Callaway County
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Jarman's Weekly Agronomy News February 9, 2000 |
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MU Survey Indicates Irrigation Was Profitable for Missouri Farmers in '99 |
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The midsummer drought that struck Missouri in 1999 meant irrigated corn and soybeans far out-yielded dryland corn and beans according to University of Missouri irrigation specialists at the 33rd annual Missouri Irrigation Conference. Mary Sobba, MU Extension farm management specialist from Audrain County, said the 1999 Missouri Irrigation Survey showed big differences between irrigated and dryland yields in central Missouri. Irrigated corn yields were about double those of dryland corn: 145 bushels per acre in irrigated fields against only 72 per acre on unirrigated land. Irrigated soybeans in central Missouri yielded over 47 bushels per acre, about 17 more than dryland beans. Joe Henggeler, Extension irrigation specialist at MU Delta Research Center in Portageville, Mo., found similar results in southeast Missouri, where more than 80 percent of the state's irrigated land is located. Irrigated corn in the Bootheel outyielded dryland corn by about 45 bushels per acre on average: 165 on irrigated land versus 120 on dry land. Full-season soybeans grown with irrigation outyielded dryland beans by a whopping 28 bushels per acre: 49 bushels per acre on irrigated land compared to 21 on unirrigated land.. The difference was similar for double-crop soybeans, with irrigated yields averaging about 42 bushels per acre as opposed to just over 16 bushels on unirrigated land. Irrigated cotton yielded an average of 787.5 pounds per acre, compared to only 471 pounds per acre for unirrigated cotton. Henggeler expects irrigated acreage in the Bootheel to increase by about 8 percent for the upcoming growing season. Also, he said that poly-pipe is the fastest growing method of irrigation. Sobba said the '99 growing season demonstrated the vagaries of Missouri weather. "The reservoirs were in good shape June 1," she said. "Then, things went downhill in terms of rainfall. In July, we had nothing, and we haven't done much better since. Depletion of the water supply is not a serious problem in the Bootheel, where irrigators draw their water from the Mississippi River, but Sobba said farmers in central Missouri could face severe shortages. "We had some people that ran out of water," she said. "Now, we need some moisture to replenish some of these reservoirs." This information came from the irrigation conference held during Ag Science Week 2000, sponsored by the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Source for the article were Joe Henggeler (573) 379-5431and Mary Sobba (click here for e-mail) or phone (573) 581-3231.
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