This item has been supplied by a forage marketer and has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hay & Forage Grower.
Representatives from De Jager Dairy and McRee Dairy (as well as other experts) will discuss the economics and environmental impacts of SDI versus conventional flood systems. Promising results with the SDI systems include:
* Yield increases of up to 15%
* Increases in water efficiency by more than 30%
* Reductions in nitrogen use by over 50%
The results of the SDI systems to date would not only make a great story about how producers can stay viable in a changing industry, but how the industry as a whole is stepping up to boost clean drinking water for communities and help the San Joaquin Valley become more drought-resilient.
Here are a couple (older) background stories about our and our partners’ SDI efforts:
* “Dairy lagoon water through SDI works at DeJager Farms<https://www.farmprogress.com/forage/dairy-lagoon-water-through-sdi-works-dejager-farms>” – Western Farm Press
* “California Dairies Join Forces with Conservationists and an Irrigation Supplier to Save Water and Reduce Groundwater Pollution<https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/08/10/california-dairies-join-forces-with-conservationists-and-an-irrigation-supplier-to-save-water-and-reduce-groundwater-pollution/>” – NatGeo, Water Currents Blog
* “Transforming Dairy Waste<https://suscon.org/AnnualReport/2018AnnualReport/dairies.html>” – Sustainable Conservation 2018 annual report
The event is co-hosted by Sustainable Conservation, Netafim, the University of California Cooperative Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Western United Dairymen – and representatives from each will be onsite for your to speak with.
