Texas Alliance for
Water Conservation
Rick Kellison, Project Director
Texas Tech University
NRCS & ARS

Demonstrate how to
reduce total water use

Demonstrate how to
enhance profitability


Identify effective crop
and irrigation systems
Impact producer
decision-making
Cotton
Monocultures
Cotton-Cattle
Corn
Cotton
Grass-cattle
Grain Sorghum
Cotton
Specialty Crops
Sprinkler
Furrow
Sub-surface Drip
Dryland

Rainfall

Temperature

Water applied


Netirrigate ®

PivoTrac ®
Soil moisture

AquaSpy®

Field Connect ®

Production inputs

Plant & animal yields

Economic analysis
3,500
3,000
2,500
Acres
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
(4289 ac.) (4230 ac.) (4087 ac.) (3967 ac.) (3991 ac.) (4012 ac.) (4011 ac.)
Cotton
Corn - all
Sorghum - all
Perennial forage
Grazed acres
Year (total acres)
Small grains
Other
Grain Sorghum
Corn
Cotton
(Planting Date: 1 May)
Rainfall
Events
Drip Irrigations
4”-20” zones
wetting up when
drip is turned on.
Rainfall stored
moisture all the
way to 48”

Pioneer 86G32

92.3 acres produced 8816 pounds/acre


Total water supply = 9.3 inches irrigation and 13.4
inches rain =22.7 inches
Water use efficiency = 411 lbs/inch




Pioneer Aqua Max Yellow Hybrid
60.9 acres produced 818,240 pounds
grain = 240.5 bushels/acre
Total water supply = 16.9 inches irrigation and
13.0 inches rain =32.9 inches
Water use efficiency = 7.32 bushels/inch

FM 2484 B2F

92.3 acres produced 1891 pounds/acre


Total water supply = 11 inches irrigation and 13.9
inches rain =24.9 inches
Water use efficiency = 75.9 lbs/inch
2011
LEPA
PER ACRE GROSS INCOME
Cotton lint
Cotton seed
PER ACRE TOTAL GROSS INCOME
PER ACRE TOTAL OF ALL COST
PER ACRE NET PROJECTED RETURNS
Percent Increase
APPLIED - ACRE INCHES
Lint lbs per acre-in of water appl.
Percent Increase
Quantity
LESA
Total
1001 $ 900.90
0.72 $ 245.39
$ 1,146.29
$ 968.89
$ 177.40
193%
26.1
38.4
13.9%
Quantity
Total
879 $ 791.10
0.63 $ 215.48
$ 1,006.58
$ 945.93
$
60.65
33.7
2012
LEPA
PER ACRE GROSS INCOME
Cotton lint
Cotton seed
PER ACRE TOTAL GROSS INCOME
PER ACRE TOTAL OF ALL COST
PER ACRE NET PROJECTED RETURNS
Percent Increase
APPLIED - ACRE INCHES
Lint lbs per acre-in of water appl.
Percent Increase
Quantity
LESA
Total
1057 $ 951.30
0.76 $ 213.39
$ 1,164.69
$ 980.33
$ 184.35
395%
19
55.6
18.0%
Quantity
Total
896 $ 806.40
0.65 $ 180.88
$ 987.28
$ 950.04
$
37.25
47.2
2013
LEPA
PER ACRE GROSS INCOME
Cotton lint
Cotton seed
PER ACRE TOTAL GROSS INCOME
PER ACRE TOTAL OF ALL COST
PER ACRE NET PROJECTED RETURNS
Percent Increase
APPLIED - ACRE INCHES
Lint lbs per acre-in of water appl.
Percent Increase
Quantity
LESA
Total
1165 $ 873.75
0.84 $ 235.19
$ 1,108.94
$ 924.94
$ 184.00
155%
16.5
70.6
13.3%
Quantity
Total
1028 $ 771.00
0.74 $ 207.53
$ 978.53
$ 906.33
$
72.20
62.3
Spray Mode
Spray mode is slow to
wet up soil
LEPA Mode
LEPA is quicker to wet
up soil
“Water is Our Future”
To be used as a planning aid
 Captures changes in commodity price,
water availability, and production costs
 Generates several options which maximize
net returns/acre

The procedure used to determine:

When to apply

How much water to apply

Specific Management Goals
Maximizing Water Use Efficiency
The Goal Of Production Agriculture
Texas Alliance for Water Conservation
3000
2006-2010
2011
Lbs per Acre
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0
25
50
75
100
125
% Crop Water Demand
150
175
200