The Cross Section, Volume 26, Number 9, September 1980 Page: 4
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Page 4 THE CROSS SECTION September, 1980
per acre in the monitored rows, and
10,175 lbs. in the scheduled rows,
almost a 2,000 pound difference.
"I'm sold on 'em," says Calvin. "I
use the tensiometers to help me make
management decisions on how to crop
my acres and plant crops I know I can
water and maintain."
This year Calvin Meissner's ten-
siometers told him he needed to start
irrigating his corn fully ten days early,
and to put on one more watering than
he had applied during the past two
years. While he knows his yields will
be down because of the drought, he
expects to see higher yields in his
tensiometer watered rows for the third
straight year.
Meanwhile, Tanksley had persuaded
several more irrigators to install ten-
siometers for demonstration purposes.
From these results he says he found
that you cannot write a rule of thumb
for when to put on water by a standard
centibar reading. It depends on the
moisture profile and soil type.
Robert Hunt, for example, got less
than 5,000 pounds of corn per acre in
1978 by row watering in grey soil when
his 24 inch depth tensiometer regis-
tered 50 centibars. In 1979 he reduced
his acres to half corn and half cotton,
changed to a center pivot, pulled his
tensiometer up to 12 inches and
watered when it registered only 35
centibars. The change to putting on
less water more often in a more shal-
low root zone and watering based on
a wetter soil moisture profile made him
nearly-8,000 pounds of corn per acre.
Tanksley says that because 1978 was
a "most normal" year, it probably gave
them more accurate information, but itSiUn ... m-AUnLiud fruii pe .:.J
whlli eitg syrms ill aIm in'
invetigated,
6. The possibility of integrailion with
ex11IIng and prospnctive water
resource sytierns wilin ih
staceri 1hireugh which an i'1ctr-
basin Iransfer aquedLc woul4: W
pass. war be explored, including
the poeruiial -lr equiiable cOsE-
sharing and ior join financing of
future prOjetCl.
7. Where thlirr app-air to br' poen-
lii bernfits to be achieved, dis-
cuQion will IeL held witth SIalC-S
ofc oriIgn, corceming possible
exch-anges between ,ind airm rng
hYdrongri iii-~. -.i !-rzalso taught them much about learning
to use tensiometers properly.
In 1979 he expanded his demonstra-
tion program with tensiometers into
alfalfa to learn from what depth alfalfa
pulled the most moisture. By now
several more irrigators were beginning
to see the value of soil moisture moni-
tors and installing tensiometers in their
own fields. Valley Grain Products, an
area white corn contractor, also saw
the potential for tensiometers to help
their contract growers increase yields.
They furnished each of 27 Bailey Coun-
ty white corn growers under contract
with a set of 18 and 36 inch depth
moisture sensors and have been help-
ing the growers to monitor their read-
ings.
Ted Harrison is another irrigator who
uses tensiometers as the result of a
demonstration in his hay. He com-
mented, "They help. They tell us whenaccord I,-l4 recogntion of witer
.ight'i in making water availabrie
for r~c~
B. l No into rbasln Iransfr, r wJIl
rteommet-rdd for he H I
Plalns-Ogaliala AiguIrer Regir
except in 1he basis of ull m Iflt
frartk disussion;r wih potenr I
exprrting staIes and other 1a:.;.
4firerilV involved, of all rerevan i
Is~urs cl- wa.,t r iiqi~abhlcq tyt, v
present crmmilrmentN, mlu i
berfhlsl5 and a9tr4met m*rtldi
ed nvcu-
adhed f .
'}nI i VWater Sensors Used In Cropnin i'
-S
LL tI. y~ r . .'it is dry and when it is wet. They do
not tell us how to put out any more
water."
"But we are trying to figure every
way to hold down expenses and we
are searching for any way to find a
crop we can grow and have enough
water to make it profitable."
The tensiometers are helping these
producers look at whether they have
enough water to continue to grow
corn, determine how much acreage
they should plant to obtain optimum
yields, and judge when is the best time
to apply their water. Tanksley says a
decision today about how much corn
to grow must be related to how many
gallons per minute (gpm) a farmer's
well(s) will produce. He believes that
to realize an average or better corn
yield, a producer must be able to
pump 900 plus gpm under a full circle.
Spencer Tanksley's agricultural dem-
onstrations with tensiometers have pro-
vided several years of test results. The
charts graphically illustrate a potentially
common problem for Bailey County
irrigators with declining ground-water
reserves. The curves delineated by
plotted tensiometer data points con-
firm that once the root zone profile
dries out beyond its ability to supply
the crops moisture needs, it is pretty
difficult if not impossible to put down
enough deep water to ever catch up.
"Most farmers tell us their irrigation
energy costs this summer ran around
$100 per acre. They cannot afford to
pay these prices for anything less than
good yields."
Says Tanksley, "We may not ever be
able to write a set of guidelines for
reading and watering with tensiome-
ters; farmers will just have to learn to
use them by applying them to his
individual farm situation."
The sooner they start, the better.-T r,
Bill To Mandate
u ommon Sense"
Texas Senator John Tower has intro-
ducei legislation again this session to
obtain a Congressional mandate to
"insti l common sense in the Corps of
Engineer permit procedures by limiting
its jurisdiction over waters which are
neither navigable or critical to naviga-
tion." His bill, S 2970, is aimed square-
ly at the Fish and Wildlife Service's
latest $70,000 study attempting to
include the High Plains' 16,000 playa
basins under the 1972 Federal Water
Pollution Control Act's Section 404
definition of wetlands. This section
authorizes the Corps to issue permits
for activities in navigable waters involv-
ing the discharge of dredged or fill
material.
Thit is not the first time a federal
agency has attempted- to gain regula-
tory control over the playas. Tower
introduced similar legislation to limit
the Corps' jurisdiction over navigable
waters in 1975 and 1977. This time
the U-S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
seeking jurisdiction over these High
Plain's farm ponds in the interest of
migrating waterfowl.
Cal[ing it a gross misinterpretation of
Congressional intent, Tower expressed
concerri that this country is faced with
a growing regulatory scheme covering
not jupt the wetland of the nation, but
virtually all surface waters. He asked,
"Where will it stop-the invisible hand
of government will someday approach
the point where draining a backyard
swimming pool would require a permit
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Page 4
T HE C R OSS S EC T IO N
September, 1980
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 26, Number 9, September 1980, periodical, September 1980; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1533066/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.