For more on this topic, watch the Center for Agricultural Profitability's April 17 webinar with authors Matt Stockton and Shannon Sand:
Irrigation Efficiency Ratios for Profit and Productivity
Recently, the UNL-TAPS program in North Platte had its end-of-the-year banquet and celebrated another successful season of competition and education. As one who is familiar with the program, it was wonderful to see so much excitement about the results and the many good conversations about productivity and profitability.
One of the three awards in the TAPS contest is the coveted water and nitrogen use efficiency award. This award is for the most efficient use of irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer. This award is given to the team/competitor from the relevant contest that, during the current year’s contest, has the most efficient use of added water, irrigation (I), and added nitrogen fertilizer (N).
These efficiencies are calculated using the water nitrogen intensification performance index score (WNIPI) developed specifically for the program. This index compares the production effect of applying added I and N compared to the base productivity resulting from the unaltered, natural levels of N and water. The greater the value of the WNIPI, the more efficient the user is in applying both inputs.
While this is a useful tool to measure different efficiencies among competitors, it has some challenges in its usefulness as a measure to be widely adopted by practitioners.
