On-farm irrigation use is becoming more prevalent as Alabama producers work to eliminate unknowns in the field and on the farm. Alabama Cooperative Extension System precision agriculture specialist, Dr. Brenda Ortiz, is offering an irrigation field day for producers in Town Creek, Alabama on June 26 at Posey Farms.

Ortiz said irrigation adoption is increasing in Alabama. She and her colleagues are working to help producers maximize irrigation crop impacts.

“Farmers will get full benefits if they use proper practices and technology to apply the right irrigation rates at the right time and right place,” she said. “Under irrigation can reduce yield and over irrigation can increase nutrient leaching risks.”

Use of ponds to store water during winter months for irrigation during the summer is key to reducing the risk for drought and protecting the environment. Ortiz said the workshop will highlight these topics and others.

Irrigation Field Day Information

Farmers, Extension agents and industry representatives will present throughout the day, providing a well-rounded program for producers looking to improve and expand their irrigation use.

Farmers will share tried and true irrigation practices, while Extension personnel will partner with industry representatives to showcase technology use to support irrigation decisions.

Ortiz said producers will visit several irrigation technology-based stops across a 460-acre irrigated field. The lunch hour will include speakers.

Posey Farm is working with Ortiz to demonstrate several practices including:

• Use of soil sensors for irrigation scheduling
• Variable rate irrigation
• Use of ponds for irrigation water storage
• Irrigation impact on nutrient movement

Representatives from several irrigation companies will also have booths and presentations at the workshop.

Registration

Registration for the irrigation field day begins at 7:30 a.m. Pre-registration is not required, but those planning to attend can contact Donna Shanklin or Danny McWilliams. Producers will head to the field at 8 a.m. Lunch will be provided. The event will conclude at 12:30 p.m.

Alabama Extension and the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science are partnering to present the 2019 Southern Cover Crop Conference in Auburn, Alabama July 16-17. The conference will take place at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center and E.V. Smith Research and Extension Center in Shorter, Alabama.

Early bird registration closes on May 31, 2019. Registration is $150 for professionals, $50 for students and free for farmers until May 31. After May 31 fees increase to $200 for professionals, $100 for students and $50 for farmers.

Dr. Audrey Gamble, an Alabama Extension soil scientist and assistant professor in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science, said the conference is a unique opportunity for producers to broaden their knowledge of cover crop management and learn how to maximize benefits of cover crops.

Topics

Cover Crop Conference topics include:

• Management Challenges
• Soil Biology and Fertility—Working with Cover Crops to Maximize Benefits
• Nutrient Use and Cycling with Cover Crop Inclusive Systems
• Choosing Cover Crops
• Soil Physical Properties and Soil Moisture
• So You Want to Graze Cover Crops?
• Weed Management with Cover Crops
• Impact of Federal and State Policies on Cover Crop Adoption
• Cover Crop Use in Conventional and Organic Vegetable Systems
• Essentials of Cover Crop Management

Attendees will also have an opportunity to attend a field day at the E.V. Smith Research and Extension Center. Gamble said there will be equipment demonstrations for planting into heavy residues and a display of summer cover crop monocultures and mixtures. There will also be demonstrations related to moisture savings and nitrogen benefits from cover crop residue.

More Information

For more information on the conference visit the Southern Cover Crop Conference webpage. Registration and hotel information is available, as well as directions, detailed descriptions of session topics and sponsorship information.

Register by May 31 to receive the early bird discount.