ShareThisSAN ANGELO, Texas - Texas agricultural researchers have released two new farmer-friendly computer tools to help battle the state's prolonged and brutal drought.
The new programs developed at Texas Tech University -- intended to meet the needs of irrigation farmers in the West Texas and Panhandle regions -- will save scarce irrigation water and boost bottom lines for parched producers.
The Internet-based programs are being offered free through the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, and they take aim at improved irrigation scheduling and resource allocation, according to the group.
"They're designed to help producers make the most out of an irrigation regime while remaining conscious of water resources," said Justin Weinheimer, a research associate in the department of agricultural and applied economics at the Lubbock campus.
At the heart of the irrigation scheduling tool is a basic understanding of what scientists call evapotranspiration or, more simply, the loss of water from the soil by evaporation and by transpiration from growing plants.
Specifically, it allows farmers to keep track of soil moisture on a field-by-field basis for irrigated cotton, corn, sorghum and wheat using real-time weather data from more than four dozen Texas Tech Mesonet weather stations spread across the plains. This network of automated stations collects a wide variety of temperature and moisture levels every 15 minutes, Weinheimer said.
"The tool allows a producer to customize irrigation scheduling based on field-level irrigation efficiency, soil moisture readings and other agronomic and irrigation characteristics," Weinheimer said. "A checkbook-style water balance then enables the farmer to determine when and how much water to apply."
The second Web-based tool from the Texas Tech team is a resource allocation analyzer. Put simply, the economic decision aid is designed for use in the planning season to determine which crops will maximize the profit potential of a given field.
Virtually no part of the Lone Star State has been untouched by this summer's excessive heat, high winds and drought conditions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated all 254 counties in Texas as natural disaster areas, qualifying them for varying levels of federal relief.
Even if weather patterns shift and relief-giving rain comes, losses are likely to head past $3 billion in Texas, state agricultural officials said.
(Email Jerry Lackey at jlackey(at)wcc.net.)
