Almond Grower Honored For Water Efficiency

Tom Rogers says it’s a fun time to be an almond farmer.

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That’s been true even this year, when the lack of surface water forced him to turn to wells. He admits to a series of “fire drills” to keep trees irrigated when one of those wells went out for a month at the peak of irrigation season.

“This year, as much as we dislike it, it’s been a great education for us,” Rogers said. “It forced us to rethink what we do and assess whether we are doing the very best. What we have been doing is working, but I think we can do even better.”

Earlier this year, Rogers was presented with the 2014 Farm Water Steward Award for the work he and brother Dan have done to reduce water use by improving irrigation scheduling techniques over the last five years. The award is presented jointly by the Pacific Institute, Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Ag Innovations Network.

Moisture, Weather Monitoring

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The Rogers brothers use a combination of automated soil moisture and weather data monitoring from on-site stations to apply the right amount of water, based on tree demand and orchard and weather conditions, by using highly efficient irrigation systems.

While Tom Rogers appreciates the recognition, he says he is doing many of the same things almond growers across the state are doing to optimize use of water resources. Almond growers today use a third less water to produce a pound of almonds compared to 20 years ago.

“I don’t think we are doing anything special here,” he said. “We are paying attention, and a lot of farmers are doing that as well.”

According to the recent baseline report of the California Almond Sustainability Program, 70% of almond acreage today is under micro-irrigation, and more than 80% of growers use some mixture of soil-, weather- and plant-based measurements to decide when and how much to irrigate.

Tom and Dan are also following in the footsteps of their father, who was an early adopter of water conservation technology.

“My dad was on the ball as far as irrigation goes,” Rogers said. “We are farming very sandy ground, and we have always tried to do well with water.”

From Flood to Micro to Drip

The family first planted almonds in 1981, and in 1997 Tom and Dan began converting most of their 176 acres of almonds from flood to micro-sprinklers. This winter, Tom Rogers will further improve efficiency by converting those orchards to drip irrigation. Pressure-compensating drip emitters will allow for more uniform distribution of applied water throughout the orchard and more fine-tuned distribution to the root zone.

Technology to improve accurate monitoring is the cornerstone of Rogers’ sustainable irrigation management program.

“When you can get the tree the water it needs when it needs it, then you can do a really good job of maximizing your irrigations,” he said.

Three soil moisture-monitoring stations measure moisture throughout the soil profile every 8 inches down to a depth of 4 feet. That data is recorded to help Rogers monitor tree water use throughout the season and from year to year to establish patterns and predict irrigation trends.

“In spring, there is a point when the tree pulls hard and we see a drop in available moisture,” concludes Rogers. “We don’t see it in the tree, but with monitoring information we can give the tree water before it stresses.”

More Improvements

Soil temperature probes reveal when microbes and roots are active for improved fertilizer uptake. Weather stations also measure temperature and humidity inside the canopy, as well as wind speed and direction, plus rainfall.

After this year, Rogers will also use the weather stations to track reference evapotranspiration (ET°) to further improve irrigation scheduling. Real-time pump pressure monitors let him know exact water use in 15-minute intervals.

All this data, along with established alerts, is sent remotely to Rogers’ iPad, where he can also remotely make adjustments to his irrigation schedule.

Even with this technology, Rogers said, good water management requires hands-on farming.

“Some people want these systems to tell them what to do, but they can’t,” he said. “You’re still farming, but it’s out there when you’re not. This is what makes farming fun.”

Source: Almond Board of California

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Avatar for Kirk Smith Kirk Smith says:

TreeTPee is a water containment and frost protection device for trees.

Originally designed for citrus trees, now being utilized with other trees (almond, peach, avocado, pistachio,
etc.). This water containment device, (plastic cone shaped device,) was studied by University of Florida IFIS
(results published in 2010). The UF study/statistics are based on the TreeTPee with micro-jet / drip irrigation to
contain and direct the water to the root system.

Farmers will run their pumps less, which reduces fuel / fossil fuel emissions.

Please, visit our website for specific information and documentation of the TreeTPee.

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