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About Us
County Impact Statements - Arkansas County
Farmers Use New Irrigation Method
Costs, such as fuel, water, money and labor can be high when
irrigating hundreds of acres of rice. High costs have put farmers in a
position to look for better, more efficient ways to irrigate. One
irrigation method more farmers are utilizing is multiple-inlet rice
irrigation (MIRI).
Water flows out of holes in irrigation tubing, or polypipe, so that
water is continuously going out into the field, rather than having to
put all the water in the high side of the field and then waiting for it
to cascade to the bottom.
“One of the greatest advantages producers see in using multiple-inlet
is that they are better able to manage the water and they don’t lose as
much at the bottom of the field,” said Phil Tacker, Extension engineer
with the U of A Division of Agriculture. “Using multiple-inlet also
helps control the cold rice effect.”
Wilbur Joe McLain, an Arkansas County farmer, has been using
multiple-inlet irrigation since 1999 and attests to the advantages of
the method. “I heard a presentation Phil (Tacker) gave on multiple-inlet
irrigation at an Extension meeting and talked to him about using it in
my fields,” McLain said. “So, he and Ken Adams (Arkansas County
Extension Agent) came out and helped us set up the irrigation on a
couple of my fields.”
McLain said when he first started using the multiple-inlet method he
wasn’t too sure it would work out. “I just thought that it was really
going to take longer this way,” said McLain. “But the next thing I knew
I had taken two days off pumping.” McLain now uses the MIRI method on
all of his fields. “I use it in every field. I am just sold on it,”
McLain said.
Multiple-inlet irrigation translates into big savings for farmers in
a variety of ways. “For us, it’s a water savings, which translates into
a fuel savings, which then translates into money saved,” said McLain.
“It does take a little more labor on the front end to set up, but the
water is easier to manage later in the year, and the money saved on
pumping makes up for the labor. Multiple-inlet irrigation is just a
win-win situation all the way around,” said McLain.
Multiple inlet rice irrigation saves water, fuel and money.
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Impacts
- Using MIRI results in a cost savings from water, fuel and labor.
- By using MIRI farmers are better able to manage the water and don’t lose
as much at the bottom of the field.
- McLain said a big advantage to using MIRI is a reduction in the cold
water effect that can damage rice.
- Farmers say they are reducing water usage by 20% with the MIRI method.
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