Like many farmers in the Mississippi Delta region, irrigation is a big part of the farming operation of Bubba Simmons. The Arcola, Miss., farmer irrigates 100 percent of his soybean, corn and rice fields. And in 2013, he implemented several new practices to help him irrigate those acres more efficiently. Read below to learn how and why Simmons made those changes.

You used PHAUCET on your farm for the first time this year. What made you decide to use the program and how do you feel about that decision?

As a community of farmers, there’s an urgency that we feel with the need to conserve water. We’ve known for a long time that our aquifer is declining.  I just committed to using PHAUCET on every acre this year. Just like anything, once I got into it, it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. Once you have the bulk of your data gathered in the first year you can continue to use that from year to year. It’s not something that is going to change.

Besides PHAUCET, what other water-conservation tools do you use?

We used surge valves on some of our acres and I plan to purchase more next year. We also placed five soil-moisture sensors in our fields and I plan to add more of those next year, too. They really help to determine two very important times – when to initiate irrigation and when to terminate. But they can also help throughout the growing season. Using a soil-moisture sensor lets the soil tell you when to irrigate instead of scheduling it. For my rice fields, we use side inlets and zero grade.

With all of the conservation practices in place, how did your crops yield this year?

I had a friendly competition this year with our Mississippi State University Extension Irrigation Specialist, Jason Krutz. I irrigated two fields without using any irrigation technology, and he irrigated two fields using PHAUCET and surge valves. I irrigated my fields four times, and he irrigated his twice, and our yields were the same. I can’t say that my yields are increasing but they aren’t decreasing and we are certainly using less water.

What would you say to farmers considering these practices for their farms next year?

It’s a very busy time of year when it’s time to start irrigating. But some farmers may not realize that you can start developing your plan for irrigation right now. You can determine all of the components for PHAUCET, like furrow lengths and pump-flow rate, before the crop is ever planted. Then you’ll be ready when it’s time to irrigate. You really may not have time for all of it if you’re trying to gather all of the information while you’re setting up your irrigation.

If farmers are still unsure about using any of these tools, I encourage them to set up two fields, one with PHAUCET and surge values and the other without any of the technology. Then you can see for yourself how much water you save and make the decision based on those numbers.  Using a surge valve alone on some of my fields saved me roughly 20 percent.