Water conservation efforts also prove to be profitable

By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service

It’s been 10 years since the Kansas legislature passed a bill that gave groundwater management districts the authority to initiate voluntary steps to meet water conservation goals, and a Kansas State University agricultural economist says the state’s faith in farmers seems to be well placed.

Bill Golden said farmers in the Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Area – a high priority area located within Groundwater Management District #4 in northwest Kansas – have reduced their water use by at least 20% compared to neighbors who have yet to commit to the LEMA. The original agreement began in 2013.

“I did an economic study between 2006 and 2013…and we predicted that farmers (participating in a LEMA) would lose money,” Golden said. “We thought that reducing water use was a great idea; it’s going to help the Ogallala Aquifer, but you’re going to lose some money.”

That has not turned out to be the case, according to Golden, who says that because they improved efficiency on their farm – such as taking advantage of available rainfall, implementing soil moisture monitors or changing their seeding and fertilizer rates – farmers actually are making more money on their cropland.

“At the end of the first five years (2018), the producers in Sheridan 6 decided to continue what they were doing,” Golden said. “In fact, Groundwater Management District No. 4 decided to have a district-wide LEMA.”

LEMAs became part of Kansas water law in 2012 when the state’s legislature passed SB 310. A LEMA is a producer-driven conservation program in which farmers form a contract with the Kansas Division of Water Resources to voluntarily reduce their use of water. The agreement can be for any amount of time and include whatever goals the farmers decide upon.

In the Sheridan 6 LEMA, farmers originally decided to reduce water use by 20% over five years, which amounted to an allocation of 55 inches of water per acre over a five-year period. Some years, they might use more of their allocation; other years, a little less.

“The Kansas Geological Survey monitors water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer and what they have found is that the levels used to drop 2-3 feet per year (prior to LEMAs),” Golden said. “Now, they’re finding that it’s dropping just 2-3 inches for the year. So in that area, we have nearly stabilized the depletion of the aquifer.”

Golden said farmers’ concerns at one time centered on a misunderstanding that the water in an aquifer moves quickly, which meant that if they didn’t use it today, it wouldn’t be there to use later on.

“But the Kansas Geological Survey has done a study that indicates that water is not moving (quickly),” Golden said. “The message for farmers is that the water you save today is going to be the water you can use next year or in 10 years from now, or 20 years from now.”

Golden said farmers also worried that using less water would reduce yields and thus make the value of land – particularly rented land – less valuable. But the most recent studies showing that farmers continue to produce good yields and be profitable while reducing water has debunked those thoughts.

“There’s not a lot of things wrong with the LEMA program and water conservation efforts in those areas right now,” Golden said. “They’re working out very well. It’s just a matter of how do you convince everybody to do it?”

Important dates August 1

August 1, 1838 - Slavery was abolished in Jamaica. It had been introduced by Spanish settlers 300 years earlier in 1509. August 1, 1944 - Anne Frank penned her last entry into her diary. “[I] keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would like to be, and what I could be, if...there weren’t any other people living in the world.” Three days later, Anne and her family were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Anne died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on March 15, 1945, at age 15.

August 1, 1944 - The Warsaw Uprising began as the Polish Home Army, numbering about 40,000 Polish patriots, began shooting at German troops in the streets. The Nazis then sent eight divisions to battle the Poles, who had hoped for, but did not receive, assistance from the Allies. Two months later, the rebellion was quashed.

Vermeer bale processors help you make the best use of your bales with the least amount of labor, and give you the versatility you need to process round bales or large square bales with an optional kit. Changing the feeding location promotes a healthier open-range feeding environment and reduces manure-handling issues.

Each processor quickly unrolls bales into windrows that give all the cattle equal feeding room. As the bales are processed, dust and mold are blown away and the hay is aerated, becoming more palatable for your herd. Reclaim and protect seeding areas by mulching straw and spreading it up to 40' (12.19 m) away.

New Equipment

Vermeer BPX9010 processor, round or square bales .. NEW

Vermeer 605N, Auto Greaser. NEW

Vermeer VRB14, Hi Capacity, 14-Wheel Rake. NEW

Vermeer R2300 & R2800, rakes.......................NEW

Hustler Regener8r chain harrow, 20-ft working width, 8-ft transport, level+harrow. $9900

Hustler Cake Bucket Euro mounts, $9900

Used Equipment

New Holland 216 basket rake $7500 Vermeer BP8000 $13,000

Redmond Salt In Stock Now

#4 medium, Garlic, Selenium, High Iodized and stress blend

Wichman Ag Supply, LLC

406-538-5686 • Hilger, MT www.wichmanagsupply.com

See new inventory on our Facebook page

Herbicide-resistant kochia

By Kari Lewis, Prashant Jha, Tyler Lane, Jesse Fulbright, Adriane Good, and Brent Roeder - Montana State University

Herbicide-resistant plants often develop from repeated use of a single mode of action herbicide. Plants can then develop resistance to additional herbicides, and then require integrated, and more costly, management techniques.

Kochia is one of the most troublesome annual broadleaf weeds in crop fields, pastures, roadsides, wastelands, and ditch banks across the U.S. Great Plains. If not controlled early, kochia reduces yields up to 60% in crops and can be a major problem in chem-fallow cropping systems.

Kochia exhibits rapid growth and flowers in late summer, producing more than 100,000 seeds per plant, which are spread by wind, water, equipment, vehicles, etc. At maturity, the kochia plant breaks off at the base of the stem and “tumbles” across the landscape with the prevailing wind, which rapidly disperses seed. In addition, kochia is welladapted to drought, salt, heat, and cold conditions.

Herbicide-resistant Cases

As of February, 2018, glyphosate-resistant kochia has been identified in Glacier, Toole, Pondera, Teton, Liberty, Chouteau, Hill, Blaine, Phillips, Custer, and Big Horn counties (indicated by shaded areas on the back page map), with more counties likely to be added as testing continues. Glyphosate-resistant kochia has resulted from repeated use of a single mode of action herbicide, i.e., glyphosate, for weed control in fallow, pre-plant or post-harvest burndown or Roundup Ready crops across the northwestern United States. Atrazine-resistant kochia was first identified along Montana railroads in 1984 and since then, resistance to additional herbicides (sulfonylurea, dicamba) has continued to increase with glyphosate-resistant kochia being identified in 2012 in Liberty and Hill counties.

Integrated Management Techniques

To combat herbicide-resistant kochia, it is critical that a multi-faceted, integrated approach be utilized. Herbicideresistant kochia developed as a result of repeated herbicide use. Solutions to this problem require actions beyond more herbicide applications.

Recommendations

• Destroykochiapopulations-Eliminateanykochiaplants prior to flowering that have survived herbicide application in-crop using alternative late-season herbicides or handweeding and any that existed in stubble using alternative postharvest/burndown herbicides (multiple modes of action) or tillage. The main goal should be to prevent seed production from those survivors.

• Diversifycroprotation-Diversecroprotationsinherently use multiple management tactics including herbicides with different modes of action. Cover crops and other cultural practices may be utilized as an integrated weed management strategy.

• Till where appropriate - Kochia seedlings emerge from very shallow soil depths, so tillage can potentially reduce the soil seed bank by burying short-lived seeds. Tillage also helps manage kochia plants before they start producing seed.

Herbicide Application

The following are herbicide recommendations for applying herbicides to glyphosate-resistant kochia:

• Apply herbicides at full labeled rates. Repeated exposure to low herbicide rates allows survival of resistant individuals and perpetuate herbicide-resistance.

• Scout fields regularly prior to and following herbicide applications. Promptly destroy any weed escapes prior to flowering.

• Rotate herbicides and tank-mix herbicides with different modes of action over multiple growing seasons in all fields. Consecutive applications of herbicide of the same

Vermeer R2800 & R2300 hydraulic rakes $NEW Vermeer 605N baler, net, moisture, pickup clutch. $NEW Vermeer VR1022, VR1224, VR1428, VR2040 wheel rakes .................. $NEW Vermeer BPX9010 bale processor $NEW

Kuhn GMD5251TC multi disc mower $NEW

Kuhn FC4661TCR mower conditioner $NEW