In the seven-year history of the Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program, 2023 ranks as one of the wetter years following 2019 and 2017.
According to the weather station supplied by EarthScout, which was located at the edge of the TAPS pivot, 16.55 inches of rainfall was collected from May 1 to Sept. 30, 2023.
The past six years averaged 14.45 inches during that same time period. Last year and 2020 were the driest years with just 8.95 inches, whereas the wettest year was 2019 with 21.2 inches received at the TAPS location.
All of the competitions physically located at North Platte, including SDI corn, popcorn and sprinkler irrigated corn, did receive hail and wind damage on July 22.
The 2023 TAPS irrigation season was pretty typical to previous years, with participants having the opportunity to irrigate starting June 15 and concluding Sept. 14.
The following is a brief summary of the irrigation decisions made in each competition this year.
Sorghum Competition
For the third year, the sorghum participants did not make irrigation decisions. All 18 irrigated sorghum farms received the same amount of irrigation water throughout the season. This year, the sorghum competition was relocated to the Stumpf International Wheat Center near Grant, Nebraska. Due to some mechanical issues and physical limitations of the well, the total irrigation applied to the plots was 4.55 inches, as shown to the right.
Popcorn Competition
Irrigation was first initiated in the inaugural popcorn competition at the first opportunity on June 15 by one team. Among the 13 teams in the popcorn competition, irrigation was scheduled by at least one team 23 of the 25 opportunities. The system was first initiated by Farm 8 and was concluded on Sept. 7 by Farm 5. Three irrigation opportunities were canceled due to rainfall events, including one in June, one in August and one in September. Except for the control (Farm 9), the total irrigation applied among the popcorn teams ranged from 0.0 (Farm 11) to 10.8 inches (Farm 1), and with an average of 6.48 inches.
SDI Corn Competition
The SDI irrigation system was first initiated on June 19 by four teams. Among the 16 teams in the SDI corn competition, irrigation was scheduled by at least two teams at every provided opportunity, except for the first irrigation opportunity on June 15. The system was first initiated by Farms 1, 2, 3 and 5 and was concluded on Sept. 14 by Farms 1, 4, 5, 8, 11 and 13. Three irrigation opportunities were canceled due to rainfall events, including one in June, one in August and one in September. Except for the control (Farm 9), the total irrigation applied among the SDI corn teams ranged from 1.75 (Farm 16) to 13.25 inches (Farm 8), and with an average of 7.61 inches. This average was much the same to that of the 7.91 inches average in 2021 when the rainfall was also similar to this season.
Sprinkler Corn Competition
The pivot was first initiated on June 15 by four teams and ran at every irrigation opportunity for at least one team. Due to rainfall received, irrigation was canceled three times, once in June, August and September. Farms 3, 12, 15 and 28 requested the first irrigation, and Farm 3 finished out the season with an irrigation request on the final day. Except for the control (Farm 9) and one other UNL test plot (Farm 22), the total irrigation applied among the corn teams ranged from 0.00 (Farms 16 and 30) to 13.67 inches (Farm 15), with an average of 6.20 inches. This average is much lower than the 2022 average of over nine inches, but more similar to 2020 and 2021 averages of just over seven inches.
These irrigation decisions that participants made will be vital as the 2023 program comes to an end, and the winners are determined for this year’s competitions. The final results and awards will be presented at the annual Awards Banquet, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 13 in Kearney, Nebraska.
