Faced with climate volatility, water scarcity, and rising input costs, farmers in the United States (U.S.) are achieving real results with water management innovations. Producers across the U.S. continue to respond to the challenges of how food needs to be grown, and their experiences are proving that innovation can meet resource constraints.
Water use reductions of 20-40% are being achieved on working farms while yields are maintained or even improved. This is not simply a reaction to government regulation. It is the result of producer-led innovation that achieves tangible environmental and economic returns.
The forces behind the change
Three converging pressures are driving this innovation. First, the climate has become unpredictable. California almond farmer Christine Gemperle explains: “We’ve moved into this pattern of weather where we’re seeing either feast or famine – a year with 200% of normal rain followed by three years of drought.” For permanent crops requiring 25- to 30-year investments, this demands systems capable of maximizing capture during wet periods and stretching supplies through dry ones.
Second, the economics have become impossible to ignore. Rising energy costs, increasing water prices in traded markets, and intensifying competition from urban and industrial users are making the old irrigation model untenable. And the cost-to-performance ratio of precision agriculture technology has reached a tipping point. What once demanded six-figure investments and specialist expertise can now be implemented far more easily and cost-effectively.
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