January 17, 2013

A series of No-till Deficit Irrigation and Water Optimizer Workshops will be held in Sidney, Alliance, and Scottsbluff in late February for ag producers who expect to have limited irrigation water supplies this year.

The workshops will address water-limiting issues and low-water-use crop options for producers facing these challenges. Other topics will include the benefits of no-till practices and annual forage utilization in producer operations with cattle. UNL Extension personnel will also introduce and review the Water Optimizer decision management tool, which can help producers determine what crops to grow, how many acres to irrigate and what their potential profitability would be under limited water-supply situations.

The workshops are sponsored by the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center, the North Platte, South Platte, Upper Niobrara White natural resources districts, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund Continuous No-till Education grant.

The workshop dates and times and contact numbers for RSVP:

• Sidney — Feb. 26, 8:30 a.m.-noon, South Platte NRD Meeting Room, 551 Parkland Drive. Call 308-254-2377 (South Platte NRD) or 308-254-4455 (Cheyenne County Extension).
   
• Alliance — Feb. 27, 8:30 a.m.-noon, Alliance Public Library (WNCC Meeting Room), 1750 Sweetwater Ave. Call 308- 432-6190 (UNWNRD) or 308-762-5616 (Box Butte County Extension).
   
• Scottsbluff — Thursday, Feb. 28, 8:30 a.m.-noon, North Platte NRD Meeting Room, 100547 Airport Road. Call 308-632-2749 (North Platte NRD) or 308-632-1276 (Panhandle Research and Extension Center).

If you plan to attend one of these free workshops, please RSVP to the host location by Feb. 22.

Follow-up workshops will be held several weeks later for producers to come in and get one-on-one instruction in the use of Water Optimizer. Those dates, times and meeting places will be announced later.

Gary Stone
Extension Educator