Volume 14 Issue 6 June

Touring irrigated farmland in Australia is always impressive. Stricken by the Millennium Drought of 1998–2010, Australia reacted vigorously with government policy, the…

Tom Knutson: 20 Years of Title Transfer

Tom Knutson was the general manager of central Nebraska’s Loup Basin Reclamation District and its daughter districts, Farwell Irrigation District and Sargent Irrigation District, when Loup Basin completed a title transfer from the Bureau of Reclamation in 2002. Now, 20 years later,he is helping other districts buy back their assets as the president of Water […]

New Tools to Boost Efficiency at the Middle Republic Natural Resources District

The Middle Republican Natural Resource District (MRNRD) is one of Nebraska’s 23 natural resources districts (NRDs)—local, watershed-based agencies that handle a wide variety of environmental issues across the state, including groundwater quantity and quality, soil erosion, and flood prevention. In a district in which the largest source of water is groundwater—with an estimated 77 million […]

Reinke Brings Smiles to Family With Minipivot

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Each day is a new opportunity to help others. Reinke Manufacturing’s daily work involves putting the finest irrigation products and technologies in the hands of growers around the world. But one day last fall, Reinke and one of its dealers in Nebraska had the opportunity to install a minipivot that did far more […]

A Program to Help Frito-Lay’s Farmers With Land Stewardship That Boosts the Bottom Line

Nebraska’s Central Platte Natural Resource District (CPNRD) is working with Precision Conservation Management (PCM) to help growers for the local Frito-Lay plant assess and integrate conservation practices that can improve the environment as well as their bottom lines. In this interview, Irrigation Leader speaks with CPNRD General Manager Lyndon Vogt and PCM Conservation Specialist Darren […]

THE EQUIPMENT INTERVIEWS

Number of employees: 80  Size of service area in acres: 90,640  Amount of water diverted for irrigation per year in acre-feet: 282,098 (2010); 57,707 (2021)  Main crops irrigated: Alfalfa, chiles, cotton, onions, pecans  Predominant irrigation methods: Flood, drip  [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Patrick Sullivan Treasurer-Manager Elephant Butte Irrigation District Las Cruces, NM  Irrigation Leader: How many vehicles […]

THE EQUIPMENT INTERVIEWS

Number of employees: 111 full time plus 5–10 seasonal  Size of service area in acres: 233,000  Amount of water diverted per year for irrigation in acre-feet: 980,000  Main crops irrigated: Alfalfa, apples and other tree fruit, corn, grass seed, potatoes, onions, timothy hay, wheat  Predominant irrigation methods: Sprinkler  [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] John O’Callaghan Secretary/Manager South Columbia […]

THE EQUIPMENT INTERVIEWS

Number of employees: 63  Size of service area in acres: 55,105  Total amount of water diverted per year for irrigation in acre-feet: Billed—105,393; available—133,768  Main irrigated crops: Almonds, corn, grapes, pasture, rice  Predominant irrigation methods: Drip tape, flood, pivot  [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] José Nuncio President Sorraia Valley Irrigators and Water Users Association Coruche, Portugal  Irrigation Leader: […]