Post by atash on May 9, 2010 14:09:57 GMT -5
Yesterday I saw a farmer using a small portable gasoline-engine pump. The make was Honda, and he really likes it. He was using it to pump water from a pond--maybe an old oxbow--to his greenhouses, where he was watering.
I need something similar. A minor problem is that the scale of operation will eventually expand from a few acres to maybe as much as 60. The winter wheat growing there now probably doesn't ever get or need irrigation--it grows during the rainy season and dries in the dry season. Perfect. One possible way to upscale would be to buy more pumps as needed.
It's a maritime climate with coolish but dry summers, similar to western Europe in temperature but more like southern Europe in rainfall pattern. Overall rain however is a fairly generous 69 inches (roughly 1752mm), half of it falling in November and December and the rest trickled out in the rest of Autumn, winter, and into spring. It's low-lying land next to a river, and I would guess the water table is shallow. Irrigation needs would probably depend a lot on the crop. Some important crops would be potatoes, squashes, and corn (maize). I know corn is pretty thirsty, unless maybe you're talking about specific dryland varieties (my step-grandad's family grew corn in Colorado without irrigation). Some crops would only need a little water to get started, and some would not need any.
There is no power on the property. Gasoline-power might be the most sensible solution in terms of flexibility, aside from the fact that electrical pumps can be more specialized. But I think all I need to do is pull surface water, as there is plenty and I have rights to it. It doesn't have to go very far.
What advice can those of you more experienced than I give me?
Much obliged.
I need something similar. A minor problem is that the scale of operation will eventually expand from a few acres to maybe as much as 60. The winter wheat growing there now probably doesn't ever get or need irrigation--it grows during the rainy season and dries in the dry season. Perfect. One possible way to upscale would be to buy more pumps as needed.
It's a maritime climate with coolish but dry summers, similar to western Europe in temperature but more like southern Europe in rainfall pattern. Overall rain however is a fairly generous 69 inches (roughly 1752mm), half of it falling in November and December and the rest trickled out in the rest of Autumn, winter, and into spring. It's low-lying land next to a river, and I would guess the water table is shallow. Irrigation needs would probably depend a lot on the crop. Some important crops would be potatoes, squashes, and corn (maize). I know corn is pretty thirsty, unless maybe you're talking about specific dryland varieties (my step-grandad's family grew corn in Colorado without irrigation). Some crops would only need a little water to get started, and some would not need any.
There is no power on the property. Gasoline-power might be the most sensible solution in terms of flexibility, aside from the fact that electrical pumps can be more specialized. But I think all I need to do is pull surface water, as there is plenty and I have rights to it. It doesn't have to go very far.
What advice can those of you more experienced than I give me?
Much obliged.
