Water for Food participants visit Nebraska research center

The University of Nebraska, Lincoln, hosted a group of Water for Food Conference participants on a tour of the UNL South Central Ag Laboratory in Clay Center, Neb., June 2. At the 640-acre facility, research aims to develop and refine irrigated crop production practices for Nebraska agriculture.

Many of the ag practices being studied at the center parallel work being conducted at the University of California's West Side Research and Extension Center in Five Points. Field projects at the Clay Center facility include corn produced using conservation tillage practices and irrigated with subsurface drip and overhead systems.

UNL professor of biological systems engineering Suat Irmak hosted the tour. Irmak leads the Nebraska Agricultural Water Network, in which 900 Nebraska farmers are involved in an effort to increase adoption of new tools, technologies and strategies for increasing crop water productivity and reducing energy use in agriculture.

UNL professor Suat Irmak said California agriculture used to be very good about adopting new technologies. "Now Nebraska is No. 1," he said.

High technology equipment at the Clay Center continuously monitors crop evapotranspiration and crop coefficients of corn during the growing season.

Tour participants gather around the $55,000 evapotranspiration research equipment.

Nebraska leads the nation in implementation of overhead irrigation technologies. Research is continuing to ensure the most efficient use of these systems.

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