A timely program focusing on water-use efficiency will be in the spotlight at the 12th Texas Alliance for Water Conservation Field Day in Edmonson. The free, annual event takes place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday (Sept. 6) at the rural community, some 14 miles northwest of Plainview.

"The field day is a great opportunity to learn about new energy and water-saving technologies and hear first-hand from producers, commodity groups and research leaders," said TAWC Project Director Rick Kellison. Directions to the event are from Edmonson, take HWY 194 1.7 miles to CR 2881 and travel half a mile. The farm entrance will be on the right (North side of road).

Producers, irrigation consultants, and researchers will all be on-hand to discuss irrigation management techniques and answer any questions they may have, program organizers said. Among the scheduled discussion topics are:
• Cotton varieties for the water-limited West Texas environment
• Deficit irrigation research
• Enlist spray drift demonstration
• Irrigation strategy used for conducting variable rate irrigation trials
• PhytoGen water use efficient germ plasm development program
• Water use efficiency with experimental and commercial varieties

The keynote speaker for the event is Texas Water Development Board Director Kathleen Jackson, who will provide an update.

Program officials note that the TAWC project is a partnership of area producers, data collection technologies, and collaborating partners that includes industries, universities, and government agencies. The project uses on-farm demonstrations of cropping and livestock systems to compare the production practices, technologies, and systems that can maintain individual farm profitability while improving water use efficiency with a goal of extending the life of the Ogallala Aquifer while maintaining the viability of local farms and communities.

All production-related decisions are made by the more than 20 producers involved in the project. The project field sites involve more than 6,000 acres in Castro, Crosby, Deaf Smith, Floyd, Hale, Lamb, Lubbock, Parmer and Swisher counties. These sites represent the range of agricultural practices including monoculture cropping systems; crop rotations; no-till, limited-till and conventional tillage practices; land application of manure; and fully integrated crop and livestock systems.

CONTACT: Rick Kellison, Project Director, Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, Texas Tech University at (806) 292-5982 or rick.kellison@ttu.edu

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