Agriculture Track | Industry Insights

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Consumer Advocacy

8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.  |  Irrigation Consumer Bill of Rights  |  Charles Burt, PhD, PE, CAIS, CID, ITRC  |  0.5 CEU
Endorsed by the Irrigation Dealers Association of California and the Irrigation Association, the Irrigation Consumer Bill of Rights was developed over 20 years ago with support from the California Energy Commission. Explore the benefits of supporting this program, including customer satisfaction and improved quality of irrigation systems.

Surface Irrigation

8:35 a.m.-9:05 a.m.  |  A Novel System for Designing Lay-Flat Irrigation Pipe Systems for Flood & Furrow Irrigation  |  Chris Henry, PhD, PE, University of Arkansas  |  0.5 CEU
The lay-flat pipe system uses a low-pressure polyethylene pipe of 7-20 millimeter thickness to distribute water to surface irrigation systems. Gain an understanding of the lay-flat pipe system, learn about computerized hole sizing options and selection, and receive an introduction into the system that translates those plans to the pipe during installation.

9:10 a.m.-9:40 a.m.  |  Timed Flooding Yields Significant Gains in Rice Farming  |  Leif Chastaine, WaterBit, and Greg Van Dyke, Kanpeki Rice  |  0.5 CEU
Rice provides 60% of the world’s caloric daily intake. During this interactive session, learn how a fifth-generation rice farmer successfully implemented timed flooding using precision ag irrigation solutions. Chastaine and Van Dyke will discuss how growers of all crops can benefit from these solutions.

Remote Sensing & Data Collection

10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.  |  Soil Water Sensing From Afar: How the Cloud Is Enabling Remote Data Collection  |  Steven R. Evett, PhD, USDA-ARS  |  0.5 CEU
Soil water sensors and systems are becoming ubiquitous and are increasingly requested by growers, but there is a lack of robust solutions for transmitting data wirelessly from the field to where it can be accessed for decision-making. The cloud offers a solution.

10:35 a.m.-11:05 a.m.  |  Sensor Feedback & Variable Rate Irrigation for Potatoes  |  Susan O’Shaughnessy, PhD, USDA-ARS  |  0.5 CEU
Potatoes are a high-value crop that require a moderate amount of water. Their yield is sensitive to stress from water deficit, yet they are also susceptible to disease and rot due to over-irrigation. This session will explore three irrigation treatments to accomplish the best crop water productivity.

11:10 a.m.-11:40 a.m.  |  The Case for IoT Data – ROI & How to Reach It  |  Bas van der Velden, Sensorterra  |  0.5 CEU
Growers and landscapers from around the world are working with “internet of things” solutions to optimize land and freshwater resources. Learn how smart IoT data is beneficial for land management, review best practices and determine how to define the moment when real ROI is reached.

Mobile Drip Irrigation

2:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.  |  Mobile Drip Irrigation: What We Know So Far  |  Jonathan Aguilar, PhD, Kansas State Research & Extension  |  0.5 CEU
Mobile drip irrigation, which integrates drip line onto a mechanical irrigation system such as a center pivot, has attracted attention lately. After four years of conducting research, including data and observations from water technology farms, there is now enough information to share with the public regarding this technology.

2:35 p.m.-4:05 p.m.  |  Panel Discussion: What Is Mobile Drip Irrigation? How It Works & Proper Design  |  Monty J. Teeter, Dragon-Line LLC  |  1.5 CEU
What is mobile drip irrigation? It is not your conventional sprinkler head! Monty Teeter, developer of successful mobile drip irrigation in 20 states and five countries, will welcome a panel to discuss the truth about this technology.

Wednesday, Dec. 4

Agriculture Irrigation System Performance

10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.  |  Sprinkler Drop Characteristics via Weather Monitoring System  |  Bradley King, PhD, PE, USDA-ARS, Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory  |  0.5 CEU
Sprinkler drop size is an important consideration when selecting center pivot sprinklers for maximum water-use efficiency. Techniques used to obtain accurate sprinkler drop size distributions with each system will be presented, along with measured drop size distributions of some common center pivot sprinklers.

10:35 a.m.-11:05 a.m.  |  Center Pivot Application Uniformity  |  Troy J. Ingram, MS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln  |  0.5 CEU
Center pivots are designed to operate within a certain set of parameters, such as pressure and flow rate, which are unique to each system. This session will look at how pressure affects application uniformity and how users should assess the pressure at the end of the system.

11:10 a.m.-11:40 a.m.  |  A More Efficient Way to Collect PSI During Drip Assessments  |  Kris Loomis, CID, CLIA, CLIA-D, Santa Rosa Junior College and Mendocino Community College  |  0.5 CEU
This hands-on session will demonstrate how drip pounds per square inch can be collected without having to use a pitot tube, saving time and effort while providing data in an expedited fashion.

Plant Water Requirements

2:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.  |  Options for Estimating Plant Water Requirements for Irrigation Scheduling in Louisiana  |  Stacia L. Davis Conger, PhD, LSU AgCenter  |  0.5 CEU
The determination of whether to apply irrigation to agronomic crops in Louisiana was historically instinctive rather than by plant water requirement. Indicative results will be presented from soil moisture sensor studies and the ongoing ET gauge study to summarize overall progress and next steps.

2:35 p.m.-3:05 p.m.  |  Use Satellite Imagery to Calibrate Crop Coefficient  |  James Han, PhD, Lindsay Corporation  |  0.5 CEU
Crop coefficients (Kc) are widely used for predicting crop evapotranspiration for irrigation management; however, the spatial and temporal variation of Kc for different crops can significantly affect ET estimation. Using satellite imagery to calibrate Kc has the potential to solve the issue due to cloud-based technologies and hi-res satellite imagery being more cost-effective.

3:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.  |   Water Needs for Irrigated Mombaça Grass  |  Gustavo H.S. Vieira, PhD, IFES, Santa Teresa Campus  |  0.5 CEU
Explore the water consumption by sprinkler-irrigated Mombaça by means of the water balance and to evaluate the impact of the use of irrigation management on water consumption, energy expenditure and cost by comparison between two different irrigation use conditions (with and without water balance).

3:45 p.m.-4:15 p.m.  |  Water-Energy Footprint in Blueberry Crops in Argentina  |  Alejandro A. Pannunzio, Universidad de Buenos Aires  |  0.5 CEU
This session highlights the drip system evaluation performance done in a blueberry commercial crop of 10 years in Argentina. The shallow roots of blueberry crops combined with the sandy soil of Argentina present a particular challenge regarding irrigation.

4:20 p.m.-4:50 p.m.  |  Surface Water vs. ETc in the Southern San Joaquin Valley  |  Daniel J. Howes, PhD, ITRC and California Polytechnic State University  |  0.5 CEU
All economic evaluations of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act impacts have examined the valley as a whole, without consideration of infrastructure and surface water to individuals on a field level. This session will look at the study on a field-by-field basis so that clear delineations are understood.

Thursday, Dec. 5

Pressure Regulation

10:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.  |  Regulating Valves: Overview & Best Practices  |  Kyle E. Feist, MS, PE, CID, CAIS, ITRC  |  0.5 CEU
Many pressurized irrigation systems are fitted with automatic regulating valves for on/off functions and maintaining relatively constant target flow rates or pressures. Get an overview of how regulating valves work in different applications as well as practical design and best practices. Data collected from the Irrigation Training and Research Center will be discussed.

10:35 a.m.-11:35 a.m.  |  Understanding Pressure Regulation  |  Mark Fletcher, CID, CAWM, CAIS, CIT, Senninger Irrigation, and Gene Ross, CID, Nelson Irrigation  |  1 CEU
Irrigation systems are designed to distribute a predetermined amount of water over a specific area. Applicators operate within a specific range of flows and pressures. Discover the basics of pressure regulators and learn how to install pressure regulation in different types of irrigation systems.

Scheduling & Irrigation Management

2:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.  |  Irrigation Scheduling Methods for Drip-Irrigated Potato  |  Clinton C. Shock, PhD, Oregon State University, Malheur Experiment Station  |  0.5 CEU
Irrigation scheduling for potatoes can use soil water tension, soil water content or crop evapotranspiration estimates. This session will review several irrigation scheduling methods for potatoes using evapotranspiration estimates.

2:35 p.m.-3:05 p.m.  |  Precision Irrigation Management in Young & Mature Almonds  |  Isaya Kisekka, PhD, University of California Davis  |  0.5 CEU
Almonds are currently the largest irrigated crop in California with over 1.2 million acres. Almond production in California has unique water issues, including post-harvest irrigation and the presence of different almond varieties. Take an in-depth look at irrigation management, as it pertains to the almond crop.

3:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.  |  Irrigation Scheduler for Soybeans in the Mississippi Delta  |  Saseendran S. Anapalli, PhD, USDA-ARS  |  0.5 CEU
Develop an understanding of smartphone-based irrigation scheduling software for soybeans in the Mississippi Delta.

3:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m.  |  The Missing Link in Irrigation Efficiency  |  Donald A. Spier, Precision Laboratories  | 1.0 CEU
Maximum efficiency is the goal for any consumer of limited resources and water, which are under constant demand and require a comprehensive approach to utilization. Innovations in chemistry are enhancing water-use efficiency, linking the path between delivery and monitoring.

(Exhibit hall closes at 3:00 p.m.)