June 6, 2011
This season follow the crop water monitoring and irrigation decision-making for two eastern Nebraska fields -- one near York and one near Mead. Each week Gary Zoubek, extension educator in York County, will provide soil water monitoring information for two fields through podcasts, photos and updates in CropWatch.
Zoubek will be sharing estimated crop ET, soil sensor readings and irrigation management tips. Listen in to laern more about applying these tools to your operation to save water, time, and money.
Podcasts
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June 6 — With this week's shift to hot, windy conditions, the Etgage at York dropped an average of 2.25 inches. Readings from the Mead ETgage will begin next week. Watermark sensors were installed last week in several fields and the soil profiles appear to be near 100% of field capacity.
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Gary Zoubek
Extension Educator in York County
More Information
- UNL's Water.unl.edu includes a secton on Agricultural Irrigation.
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CropWatch Evapotranspiration (Et) Resources Guide to estimating crop water use based on Et readings for alfalfa, corn, dry bean, potato, sorghum, soybean, sugarbeets, and wheat.
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Using Modified Atmometers (ETgage) for Irrigation Management (NebGuide G1579)
ETgage
An ETgage is a tool that takes into account the humidity, temperatures, solar radiation, and air movement in the area to estimate potential crop evapotranspiration or ET. If you know your crop’s stage of growth you can estimate the Et or water use for your corn, soybean or other crops.
ETgages are placed in an open area such as grass, fencelines, alfalfa, small grains or soybean fields at least one foot above the canopy. Think of the ETgage as being the opposite of a rain gauge. Instead of catching rain, it measures how much the water level has dropped. This occurs as the water evaporates from a ceramic plate covered with green canvas to simulate a crop leaf.
The ETgage is read at least once a week. If you know that amount and the crop stage of growth, you can estimate your crops ET.
Gary Zoubek, Extension Educator in York County
