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Western Iowa | The last couple of years I noticed a trend in my area which has people running their pivots fast for two or three passes instead of one slow pass. I have been taught to put down an 1 to 1.5 inches on a pass which takes about 40 hours on each pivot I run. Now everywhere I look pivots are running twice the speed and sometimes they never shut them off. I have seen one run during the past 2 weeks that hasn't had 12 hrs down time.
Is it because they want the top 3 inches of soil to be damp all the time so shallow roots don't dry out? I know a lot of the nutrients is in this top layer and I can see the benefit of keeping this layer damp. Could it be to keep the ground from cracking wide open like last year and forming holes so big your foot can fall into?
One draw back is wear and tear on the pivot. If you can double the water on the same distance, isn't this better for the pivot itself?
Just curious because about to start another turn on the pivots.
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Irrigate corn slow and deep or fast and shallow?
