Q: How do conservation (reduced) tillage practices aid water conservation efforts?
A: Conservation or reduced tillage refers to the practice that supports continuous crop production on a field with 30% residue from the previous crop on the soil surface. Low pressure center pivot irrigation, subsurface drip irrigation, furrow irrigation, and dryland farming systems are all farming practices where conservation tillage could be adapted. No-Till and ridge tillage strategies are also considered conservation practices. Concerns related to irrigation timing and uniformity have discouraged many producers from adopting conservation tillage practices however they are known to conserve water in arid and semi-arid environments where water is the limiting factor.

Water savings in conservation tillage systems include reduced runoff, increased soil moisture especially in the winter months when crop residue will trap snow, and reduced evaporation. Because of increased infiltration rates, soils with low and medium intakes will benefit as irrigation applications decrease with frequency. Furrow firming will also steady infiltration rates in soils with high intake. Additional changes may be necessary depending upon how the soil responds, for example, changes in furrow stream size which determines advance time. Management of the amount of crop residue, set times, length of run, surface conditions at the trough of the furrow, and furrow size together will increase water savings. Conservation tillage in conjunction with monitoring soil moisture particularly in the spring after sufficient winter precipitation, may allow a producer to conserve one to two irrigation applications per year.

Q: What is dryland farming?
A: Dryland farming systems do not use irrigation but depend on ground water and precipitation for soil moisture. For this reason, it is essential that the producer first evaluate the effect of conversion from irrigated to dry land farming based on crop yields, crop production costs, and farm profits from neighbor plots or plots in similar geographical and climatic contexts in order to assess associated risks. This assessment will help the producer determine how much of their land to transfer and its feasibility in relation to type of crop, crop yield, production costs, and total potential profit. The most common dryland crop is pasture however row crops such as milo, corn, or cotton may also withstand dryland farming depending on geographical location. Record keeping will help the producer monitor changes over time in order to assess long term risk and economic feasibility. 

Q: What are drought tolerant crops and how do they achieve more efficiant water use?
A: Climate, elevation, season, and market are four determining factors that dictate which crops to plant and when. Depending on the soil conditions and precipitation, some crops are drought and saline tolerant while others may flourish in a cooler or warmer climate. Pasture is a good example of this, where warm-season grasses perform better in Texas while cool-season fescue grows better in high altitude and cool temperatures. One of the best ways to manage water resources is by choosing specific plants for specific eco-agro purposes and by appropriate plant rotation such as planting and interchanging crops at specific times in order to improve soil moisture, nitrogen fixation, and reduce soil erosion.

Cool-season, short-growth crops such as brown mustard, canola and camelina have become an essential component in on-farm agricultural water conservation strategies. They are known to use less water and allow more time to accumulate water prior to planting wheat, for example, to replace fallow in the High Plains of western United States. The High Plains is a particularly volatile agricultural area due to dependence on a declining water resource, the Ogallala aquifer. Farmers are forced to face water conservation decisions. Choosing crops based on their plant-water requirements as well as crop rotation and fallow periods contribute to agricultural water conservation at the micro and macro level of farming systems.