OCR Text |
Show Irrigation tips given across the field in a reasonable length of time. Ideally, the stream size should be near the maximum allowable non-erosion non-erosion stream size. If excessive water intake or slow water advance is a problem, use a hilling system that produces a smooth, clod-free clod-free furrow. Light packing will also help. If excessive water application is a problem, irrigating every other furrow will reduce water application by 30 to 40 percent. If getting adequate water penetration is the problem,, use a hilling cultivator or .disk hiUer for maximum intake, and irrigate every furrow. Automate the system so that it can be operated with high furrow stream sizes and short set times without increasing labor requirements to achieve maximum efficiency. With use of laser beam controlled levelers some farmers have leveled fields flat. They aim to achieve greater control of their water application by a new method called level basin irrigation and thereby increase irrigation efficiency. Richard E. Griffin, Extension water use specialist, offered the following suggestions to improve irrigation efficiency ef-ficiency in furrow irrigation which constitutes con-stitutes the large majority of irrigation in Utah- Remove potholes or low pockets by land smoothing. Use tailwater recovery systems to reclaim the 10 to 30 percent of the applied water that runs off. Using cutback streams is an alternative. Keep lengths of irrigation runs to 1,320 feet maximum. Shorter runs are desireable on soils with high intake rates. Adjust stream size so that water advances |