OUTLOOK, Sask. — There are things producers can do to reduce guesswork in irrigation scheduling, says an agrologist with the Saskatchewan agriculture ministry.
The first thing to do before turning on the taps is to check the soil’s moisture level, provincial irrigation agrologist Rory Cranston said during a field day at the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre in Outlook.
“If your moisture is at 100 percent, no one is putting water on. But if your moisture is 30 percent, that’s going to be a critical point in your irrigation scheduling,” he said.
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Cranston said producers need to check more than just the top few inches before deciding to irrigate.
He recommended using a Dutch auger and a watermark sensor to get a clear picture of moisture conditions at depth.
Farmers should also use any means at their disposal to get the most up-to-date weather information possible. He recommended websites such as Environment Canada and WeatherBug.
Cranston admitted that weather forecasts aren’t 100 percent reliable, but he said it is still important to stay ahead of expected showers to avoid unnecessary irrigation.
Producers should also know the water demand of their crops.
“A canola crop, just seeded, is not going to need a lot of water,” he said.
“On a warm day, canola uses about eight millimetres of water … so you’re looking at putting on an inch every two or three days.”
He said crop staging is just as important as crop demand. Different crops may require different amounts of water depending on where they’re at in their life cycle.
As well, some crop diseases thrive if crops are over-watered at the wrong stage, such as fusarium head blight and sclerotinia, which attack wheat and canola, respectively, at their flowering stages.
“You want to top up your profile beforehand and then just keep up with irrigation through (the flowering stage),” said Cranston.
Producers also need to know their soil type.
Different soil types hold different amounts of water and have different absorption rates. Sandy loam absorbs water faster but ultimately has a lower holding capacity than soil with more clay.
