Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Irrigation

A Century Of Cotton

In 2022, it will have been 100 years since my great grandpaw, Gotleib Voigt, moved up here from Central Texas and bought some land on the South Plains. I am the fourth generation to farm the home place. Our family...

State-of-the-art drain tile system gives MSU researchers new tools

A new water management system installed at Mississippi State University's R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center is elevating university researchers' capabilities of developing drainage solutions for farmers in Mississippi and across the Mid-South. Advanced Drainage Systems, a leading manufacturer in...

OK State’s TAPS program lets farmers test drive new irrigation technologies

Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is using an interactive program called Testing Ag Performance Solutions to help corn and cotton farmers with irrigated crops improve water-use management. TAPS allows producers to try out research-based improved...

Clemson developing technologies to improve ag water-use efficiency

Irrigation is an important tool that likely has been used in agriculture for about as long as humans have been cultivating plants, but just how much water is enough? One project, funded by the South Carolina Legislature, is developing software...

Cattle Grazing Provides Benefits To Row Crop Systems

• By David Wright, University of Florida • Many crop producers in the Florida Panhandle use conservation tillage when planting into winter fallow weeds or cover crops. The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences research data over the years shows...

Harvest Preparations Underway

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is a saying first attributed to a 1530s animal husbandry book in reference to sheep dogs. I’d like to think it doesn’t apply to cotton growers and ag professionals. With that assumption,...

Soil Properties And Runoff

• By Dr. Larry Oldham, Mississippi State University • Soils are the environmental regulators of rain: When it falls, soil properties determine if it goes into the soil (infiltration) or across the surface (runoff). In the runoff water, there may be sediment...

2020 Cotton Crop Update

Florida cotton has good yield potential at this point. Weather has been mostly good for growing and fruit set. Many of our growers use conservation tillage when planting but may plant into winter fallow weeds while some plant into...

Clemson irrigation expert says crops face critical water needs

Growing season is in full swing and farmers must pay close attention to the water needs of several crops at this stage, says a Clemson University specialist. Michael Plumblee, Clemson Extension precision agriculture specialist who also is an Agronomic Crops...

Mid-Season Focus On Management

The 2020 season has been a challenging one thus far to say the least. As I write this June 2, our acreage is noticeably down due to prices and especially to the abnormally uncooperative planting weather throughout the large...

Sensor-equipped drones help detect crop stress, aid decision making

When a human or an animal gets sick or is stressed, their temperatures can go up. The same is true for plants. A researcher with Texas Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is using drones to detect crop...

New app development could aid crop irrigation management

• By Kay Ledbetter • Texas A&M AgriLife is developing an inexpensive and easy-to-use mobile app and irrigation management system to help agricultural producers increase water-use efficiency and continue producing cotton. The new project is funded by the Texas A&M Water...

Irrigation: Keep Efficiency And Crop Progress In Mind

• By Amanda Huber, Southeast Editor • This year can hardly be described as “normal” by any sense of the word. Therefore, it is no surprise that weather has been variable as well. Early season temperatures were at or below normal,...

How To Manage Desert Southwest Water Efficiently

In the arid regions of the desert Southwest, water is by far the most limiting resource for crop production systems. As such, it is an extremely valuable resource to producers and an incentive to conserve and use with utmost...

Industry News — May 2020

Milan No-Till Field Day Goes Virtual For 2020 The first Milan No-Till Field Day was held in 1981 in Milan, Tennessee, when the idea of “parking the plow” was a foreign concept to most of the state’s cotton farmers. For...

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