UNL to Host Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Day

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be hosting Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Days & Workshops on August 26, 2009 at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory in Concord, Nebraska. The event will take place from 9am to 3:30pm and is designed to provide participants, "with valuable information on irrigation management that will help you save water and money."

The training is developed specifically for irrigated corn producers, but the information presented at UNL's field day looks relevant to anybody working on best management practices for irrigated agriculture, or for people working directly with farmers to improve their irrigation methods. This workshop could be especially useful for people working on reducing the water impacts of irrigated biofuels.

The following speakers and topics will be presented at the 2009 Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Day:

Ag Water Management & Corn Production with High Irrigation Costs & Limited Water

• Steve Melvin, UNL Extension Irrigation Educator
• Aaron Nygren, UNL Extension Educator

Subsurface Drip Irrigation in Nebraska

• Dean Yonts, UNL Extension Irrigation Engineer
• Gary Zoubek, UNL Extension Educator

Sprinkler Package Selection & Evaporation Losses

• Bill Kranz, UNL Extension Irrigation Specialist
• Simon van Donk, UNL Irrigation/Water Resources Specialist

Energy Power and Pumping Plants

• Chuck Burr, UNL Extension Educator
• Tom Dorn, UNL Extension Educator

The field day will also include an Update on NRD Integrated Water Management Plans from NRD Representatives, as well as updates from the Nebraska Corn Board and the Nebraska Corn Growers Association.

Here's some interesting facts from last year's workshop:

• The workshop participants represented more than 518,793 acres of cropland, conservatively impacting three percent of Nebraska’s corn acres.
• The average value of knowledge gained was estimated by participants at $14.05 per acre.
• Ninety-six percent of the participants agreed that the educational opportunities of this program were above-average or one of the best when compared to others.

Click here to register for UNL's Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Days and Workshops.