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Water Use and Conservation Opportunities

The availability of sufficient water resources, particularly for irrigated agriculture, is facing growing challenges due to increased human and environmental demand and climate change. Most of the water used on dairy farms is related to feed production; this is the key area to focus on for improved water use efficiency for farms that rely on irrigation. A variety of opportunities exist to improve efficiency in irrigated cropping systems, including maintaining and upgrading irrigation systems, improving soil health, planting alternative crops, and considering fallowing fields or deficit irrigation.

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SPEAKER: Inge Bisconer

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Water Use on Dairy Farms

Water is a critical resource for every commercial dairy farm, from animal care to facility maintenance to feed production. There are two primary areas that can be targeted to reduce water use in the U.S. dairy industry:

  • Farmstead: Facility repairs and regular maintenance can help manage water resources more effectively on a farm. Reducing additional water inputs in manure management, along with capturing and recycling water, are strategies that allow water to be reused multiple times, conserving it before it moves to wastewater or manure storage.

  • Feed production: Water use efficiency in feed production can be enhanced through various practices and technologies. Improving irrigation management, maintaining and upgrading irrigation systems, selecting crops with high water use efficiency, and applying regenerative agriculture techniques are all approaches that support sustainable water use in feed crop production.​​

DID YOU KNOW

The majority of water used on a dairy farm is related to feed production.

 For regions that use irrigation to grow crops, this is a key area to focus on for more efficient water use. The next sections explores opportunities for irrigated systems in more detail.

Irrigation Equipment Upgrades

Dairy feed crops may be irrigated using surface irrigation, sprinkler, or subsurface drip irrigation systems, each with opportunities for improved water conservation and WUE.

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Waste water from surface irrigation systems (e.g., flood, basin, border-strip, and furrow irrigation) can threaten environmental water quality when uneven water distribution leads to water moving where unwanted. For example, irrigation water percolating below the root zone where it cannot be utilized by the crop is wasteful and jeopardizes ground water quality. By increasing the speed at which surface irrigation water travels from its source to the opposite end of the field, or using surge irrigation, farmers can enhance water distribution, shorten irrigation duration, and improve overall irrigation efficiency. In addition, farmers can conserve water by collecting tail-water that runs off the field during surface irrigation events, and then storing and/or reusing it on other fields, thereby improving overall irrigation efficiency on the farm.

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Sprinkler irrigation systems (e.g., hand move, side roll, wheel line, solid set, traveler, or mechanized center pivot and linear move irrigation) lose water via evaporation when water droplets land on vegetation and evaporate. Installing sprinklers and nozzles designed to reduce misting and wind drift is one strategy on non-mechanized sprinkler irrigation systems, while Low-Energy Precision Application (LEPA) and Low Elevation Spray Application (LESA) nozzles that operate at lower pressures and deliver larger water droplets closer to the ground can reduce evaporation and wind drift on mechanized irrigation systems. Sprinklers and their nozzles may also become worn and/or clogged, leading to poor irrigation water distribution uniformity (DU) across the field which often leads to unnecessary over-irrigation.​​

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Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) provides farmers the ability to spoon feed water and nutrients directly to the crop root zone when needed, virtually eliminating losses from evaporation and, when managed properly, avoiding deep percolation. SDI systems require filtration systems to avoid emission device clogging.

An upgrade to the system or equipment can significantly reduce water use on farms, leading to more sustainable and efficient agricultural practices. However, this transition usually requires both capital investment and management time to take full advantage of the benefits available with new technology.

  • Surge irrigation: Transitioning from traditional surface to surge irrigation can improve surface irrigation efficiency and reduce water moving where unwanted such as below the root zone and/or off the field.

  • Sprinkler systems: Transitioning from traditional surface irrigation to sprinkler systems, particularly mechanized center pivot and linear move systems, can dramatically decrease water usage and improve the ability to tailor applications according to soil water holding capacity and crop needs.

  • Subsurface drip irrigation: Transitioning from surface or sprinkler system to subsurface drip irrigation can provide even greater water savings and increase WUE with the ability to spoon feed the crop and virtually eliminate surface evaporation.

While these upgrades may require a significant initial investment and management commitment, the long-term benefits of reduced water usage, lower energy costs, and increased productivity can make them a worthwhile consideration for farmers aiming to enhance their irrigation efficiency, and overall farm profit and sustainability.

Auditing irrigation systems

All irrigation systems should be routinely audited to measure DU and should be repaired or upgraded if DU is less than ideal. Audits can identify necessary upgrades before crop loss or additional costs occur. Audits offer an opportunity to correct pressure variances across irrigation blocks, and to repair or replace broken, leaking, worn, clogged or malfunctioning irrigation system components.

Related Practices Or Technologies

Improving Soil Health Practices

Improving soil structure and water-holding capacity enhances the soil’s ability to retain moisture, which is particularly important in areas with moderate rainfall. This can significantly reduce the need for irrigation and improve crop resilience during dry periods.

 

Key strategies for improving soil water-holding capacity include:

  • Reducing soil compaction via control traffic and management.

  • Encouraging a healthy soil structure by minimizing tillage.

  • Building soil organic matter through practices like planting cover crops and applying manure, compost and/or specific chemistries designed for this purpose.

Options and Opportunities to Reduce Water Use

Farms can conserve water through various strategies that enhance efficiency and minimize waste by addressing the following:

 

  • Evaporation: Farms should seek to minimize evaporation from the top of the soil profile and from water on plant/leaf surfaces.

  • Evapotranspiration: Evapotranspiration can be reduced by selecting plants with a higher water use efficiency (WUE). 

  • Deep percolation: Deep percolation can be minimized by reducing the amount of water that seeps beyond the root zone.

  • Runoff and overspray: This can be minimized by ensuring water is applied directly to crops without spilling over non-target areas.

 

Furthermore, enhanced irrigation application technology and management can help farms improve WUE, which means producing more crop per unit of water applied. This may also improve farm profitability and sustainability in addition to conserving water and other associated resources such as energy and fertilizer.​

Other Options to Reducing Water Use 

Using Crops with High Water Use Efficiency

Modifying the crops that are grown to include feed ingredients with reduced water footprints is another important consideration. This can lead to water use benefits and contribute to diversification of cropping systems. This strategy would focus on switching one feed with another that has lower irrigation requirements, or sourcing feed that is more efficient or drought tolerant. Sorghum and pearl millet are two common alternatives often mentioned due to their water requirements being roughly half of the requirements of corn silage. It should be noted however that there are important differences in nutrient content of alternative feeds; farms are recommended to work closely with their nutritionist to ensure that any changes made are adequate for cow nutrition as well.

Deficit Irrigation

Deficit irrigation is another practice that involves strategically reducing the use of irrigation water in an attempt to improve plant response to low water availability. Deficit irrigation is a strategy where the amount of irrigation provided to a crop does not meet its full evapotranspiration demand. This approach involves limiting irrigation during periods when the crop is less sensitive to drought stress. Outside these periods, irrigation may be reduced or even stopped if adequate rainfall is available. The primary goal of deficit irrigation is to maximize crop water productivity (yield per unit of water) rather than maximizing total yield (yield per acre).

Related Practices Or Technologies

​Irrigation Scheduling and Precision Management

In addition to optimizing the irrigation system, optimizing its management provides additional opportunities to conserve water and improve water use efficiency. To decide when to irrigate, and for how long, farmers rely on a wide range of soil-based, plant-based and climate-based irrigation scheduling methodologies. They support farmers in controlling the source, rate, and timing of irrigation application to better align with ever changing crop needs and weather conditions. These technologies use a variety of different systems (e.g., application timers to variable rate systems) and decision support tools (e.g., crop models, soil measurement, precipitation monitoring, remote sensing) to save water and improve water use efficiency.​

Related Practices Or Technologies

Work with Professionals

When making changes to irrigation systems, irrigation management, crop type, and soil conditions, it is important to work with qualified, reputable professionals. The following organizations can help:

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