Why Do Farmers Irrigate in Winter Time?

Discussion of drought is the big news around here. How much ground will be fallowed? What crops will be cut back? There are a lot of worried people out here. The guy who cuts our wheat told me this week he will be down 70% this year. He is losing sleep trying to figure out how to cover his fixed costs with only 30% of his normal income. This is serious.
   On our farm we are finishing pruning. I think the trees are getting confused. It is icy cold in the morning and 70 degrees in the afternoon. I know I'm confused. This next week we will plant oats in the field behind our home. We are fallowing the field for a year before planting a new orchard next year.

Winter Irrigation

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright January 2012

            Years ago Sheryl’s uncle asked a logical question- Why do farmers water fallow fields during the winter? That’s a fair question.

         You can think of winter irrigation as our water savings account. We put water in the ground now that the plants won’t use until next summer.

         The first thing to remember is we don’t just have summer corps here. Someone harvests something here every day of the year. That being said, we do a pre-irrigation of our cotton fields in the winter. Once the season starts, there is no way to get enough water to the plants and get our tractors in the field in a timely manner if we start with dry fields. So, we fill the root zone with water in the winter. Then during the hot days of summer we just refill the top of the soil profile to keep the plant roots healthy and growing.

         You can rest assured, every farmer knows water is too precious to waste a drop. When we irrigate fallow fields in the winter we do it with a purpose- we are getting ready for the hot days of summer.

I hope you all have a great week.

P