65 bu irrigated is just one data point.. burnt into my psyche.. there were some isolated 180+ irrigated yields that year.. caught some pop up showers.. kept populations low.. best planting conditions/growing conditions.. etc.. Our best field did 168.. neighbor almost hit 200.. but got more rain.
"On Paper" it took about 40" of applied moisture over and above what ma nature provided to keep up with what she was burning off in 2011 for the pivots to reach full potential..
Whereas in 2009 it only took about 6"..(although we applied about 11") We average about 8.7 bushels per applied inch of moisture here..applying on average about 13"..gives us an extra 113 bushels per acre for irrigation but it does vary quite a bit.. Last year was surprisingly a record of just under 18 bushels per applied inch as we.. just.. needed.. a.. little.. bit.. MORE to get us over the hill... 220 bu irrigated vs 50 bu mostly burned up dryland.. It was mostly cool.. but dry.. and our soil profiles have been baked over the previous years.. (see above.)
The year before was the opposite.. only 4.3 extra bushels per acre inch applied.. 205 bu irrigated vs 145 dry.. with some very timely summer rains helping out the dryland.. (and irrigated.)
.. so it goes. However the trend is up on irrigation efficiency.. we are cranking more bushels per applied acre inch over time.
Edited by JonSCKs 5/21/2016 09:53
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