Let's Go Gliding with the SSA

On Wednesday, May 30, 2012 1:39:47 PM UTC-5, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:20:37 AM UTC-6, Tony wrote:
US farmers were impressed by the UK "UFO Crop Circles" and, being
inventive types, figured out a way to make circles automatically thus
leaving them with time to go to tractor races.

Seriously, it's an irrigation system with a well at the center and a
rotating sprinkler pipe up to half a mile long. An irrigated circle
produces more crop than a square relying on rainfall. It's probably a
transient phenomena given the rate at which aquifers are being
depleted.

Dalhart, TX area corn farmers were turning off the outside sprinklers last summer in an attempt to save the inside of the circle. Even the irrigation couldn't keep up with the dry heat.

Low Aquifers are definitely a problem for farmers, espeically when those states upstream (cough cough wink wink) take all the water!

Actually, here in Colorado, the farmers have had to turn off their irrigation wells in the South Platte River basin owing to senior water rights down stream. The result is that farm houses in the basin now have flooded basements and fields too soggy to work in some cases.

we refer to that as the Splat River. Very few flights north make it past the Splat River Valley.

Thanks to all for the replies. The round irrigation makes some sense.
I'm in southern Ontario, Canada, where there's usually plenty of rain for the crops and the irrigation systems are linear.

-John

On Wednesday, May 30, 2012 7:38:31 PM UTC-6, C-FFKQ (42) wrote:
Thanks to all for the replies. The round irrigation makes some sense.
I'm in southern Ontario, Canada, where there's usually plenty of rain for the crops and the irrigation systems are linear.

-John

My wife's uncle and cousins are dry land wheat and beef farmers. The high plains of eastern Colorado are officially desert, at least in large areas. That type of farmer needs to bring in one harvest in four years to survive.. Those with center pivot type irrigation must bring in a crop every year or they are likely bankrupt. There are other irrigation methods here. I have a customer that farms 62 acres of corn and they seem to do just fine with the simple life; nice house, nice people. I have another customer that lost his large farm in Iowa during the corporate takeovers of the 1980's. He's now in a game foundation that awards are large number hunting rifles to youth and is also in a large motorcycle club. He is no friend of ADM or Cargill.

When my wife's uncle put 2500 acres in set aside several years ago (native grass land banking) he bought his first Mercedes. His upfront cost was $32,000 for a drill seeder to plant Buffalo Grass, which he did for a number of other farmers.