By Amy Bickel
Kansas Agland
Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3 received a $2.6 million grant that will help farmers get 21st century irrigation technology.
In all, farmers will be able to utilize about $1.9 million of the grant, said GMD Manager Mark Rude.
The grant is part of the 2014 Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which promotes coordination between NRCS and its partners to deliver conservation assistance to producers and landowners for improved response to address natural resource concerns.
Producers who enroll in the program under the grant to the Kansas Groundwater Management Districts will receive assistance purchasing soil moisture probes and water flowmeter sensors that can be accessed via a smartphone or another device for real-time monitoring, said Rude.
USDA will provide payments for the implementation of new “Advanced Irrigation Water Management practices” that offsets the cost of equipment if the producer agrees to contract with crop consultants to implement the technology into practice for a standard 120 acre field unit.
Farmers accepted into the five-year program will receive three annual payments of $1,800 each.
“The program, if popular, could renewed after five years or we could seek to expand it,” Rude said.
Rude said the program agreement goal of the grant is to save water in the Ogallala/High Plains Aquifer. Depending on the areas and distribution of the participants, it set a program water savings goal of up to 20 percent.
There is no specific water savings targets for participating field units, Rude said, but added that through the implementation of the program technology, with the help of the technical assistance, “we’ll see a significant savings on water.”
“It fits in very well with some of the goals of the 50-year water vision,” Rude said of Gov. Sam Brownback’s water vision plan on how to preserve and extended Kansas’ water supply.
Rude said the target is fields irrigated with larger wells where there is greater opportunity for water management savings, but added all producers who are EQIP eligible with the NRCS can apply under the program.
More information will be available in coming months, including how to sign up, he said. He hopes that future contracts could even be considered later this summer with implementation next crop year.
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