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Is there a problem here?
Practical uses for soil moisture sensors on the ranch and farm
Julie A. FinzelUCCE Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor
Kern, Tulare, and Kings Counties
Background• The problem
• The solution
• What could you do with this sort of information?
Results
Results
2014 PrecipitationDate Inches Total
10/8/2013 0.08 0.0811/22/2013 0.01 0.091/31/2014 0.14 0.232/28/2014 0.58 0.813/1/2014 0.54 1.353/2/2014 0.13 1.483/3/2014 0.01 1.494/2/2014 0.03 1.525/7/2014 0.2 1.725/21/2014 0.28 25/22/2014 0.13 2.135/23/2014 0.22 2.357/16/2014 0.62 2.977/21/2014 0.33 3.3
Results
Comparing Years
2011 2012 2014
Inches Lbs/acre Inches Lbs/acre Inches Lbs/acre
8.0 526 2.93 280 1.72 185
as of 5/31 as of 5/31 as of 5/7
What do we know?• Timing
• Temperature
• Provides objective information for decision making
Precision Irrigation• Two big questions
o When?o How much?
• Measure water potential
• Measure soil moisture
• Benefitso Apply the amount of water needed…no more…no less ($ saved)o 5 – 10% Increase in production ($ earned)
Soil Moisture Sensors
What could you do with this ‘tool’ in your toolbox?
UC Web Resources• UCCE Livestock and Natural Resources Webpage
o http://ucanr.edu/sites/UCCE_LR/
• Rangeland Watershed Research Laboratoryo http://rangelandwatersheds.ucdavis.edu/
• California Rangelands Webpageo http://californiarangeland.ucdavis.edu/
• Julie’s webpageo http://cekern.ucanr.edu/Livestock/
Weather Resources• NRCS SCAN site
o http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan/
• Bishop Airport NOAA Siteo http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=
vef&sid=KBIH&num=72&raw=0
Thank You for Your Time!