Farm Horizons
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Aug. 8, 2016
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Page 26
A better way to water crops
BY GABE LICHT
The Hasty area is known for its truck stop. That area
is also becoming known for something else: a different
way to water crops.
Just a little more than a mile northeast of the landmark along I-94, Wright County Farmers of the Year
Russ and Sharon Martie have implemented subsurface
drip irrigation on 39 of the 400 acres they farm, with
hopes of doubling their yields, and plans to implement
the system on another 14 acres – currently serving as a
control field – in 2018.
What is subsurface drip irrigation?
“With subsurface drip irrigation, we’re putting a water-conducting tube in the root zone,” said Scott Wicklund, of Minnesota Irrigation Distribution Center, who
designed the system. “We’re delivering water right to
the roots so there’s no run-off, wind drift, or evaporation before it can get into the ground.”
It starts with a 195-foot deep well.
“It pumps out about 260 gallons per minute,” Russ
Martie said. “That goes through a sand filter because
you don’t want sand to plug up the holes.”
Martie uses solenoids to open the valves that sends
the water to PVC pipes and, ultimately, to the tubes
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– also called tapes – that go out into the fields a foot
underground and 51 inches from each other, using a rig
Martie built for $1,200 using a chisel plow he found at
a junk yard.
“Every two feet there’s what I call a weep hole,” Martie said of the tapes.
That’s enough to provide the appropriate amount of
water to all the roots.
“Ideally, you’re not trying to get a tube under each
row, but let the soil move the water laterally,” Wicklund
said. “The more water in it, the more lateral movement
you’ll get, just like a sponge. The heavier the soil, the
further it will go laterally. Even in light soil like what
Russ has, it still moves considerably side-to-side. He’s
worked organic matter into it over the years, too. That
improves the lateral movement he’ll get.”
It takes 4.7 to 6.6 hours to apply a quarter inch of
water to each field.
Martie uses moisture sensors at 8, 10, and 12 inches to
help determine when water is needed.
“We take the temperature and moisture every day,”
Martie said. “My wife records it, puts it in the computer, and the computer tells us when to water. Right now,
we’re at a 15 percent deficit. If it gets to 30 and 40 percent deficit, it tells you to irrigate.”
Bubbly water
Martie has added a new feature to the irrigation system on his smallest field.
“What I’m doing on this field,