Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Demonstration Network (NAWMDN): Integrating Research and Extension/Outreach

Maximizing the net benefits of irrigated plant production through appropriately designed agricultural water management programs is of growing importance in Nebraska, and other western and Midwestern states, because many areas are involved in management and policy changes to conserve irrigation water. In Nebraska, farmers are being challenged to practice conservation methods and use water resources more efficiently while meeting plant water requirements and maintaining high yields. Another challenge Nebraska experiences in it\u27s approximately 3.5‐million‐ha irrigated lands is limited adoption of newer technologies/tools to help farmers better manage irrigation, conserve water and energy, and increase plant water use efficiency. In 2005, the Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Demonstration Network (NAWMDN or Network) was formed from an interdisciplinary team of partners including the Natural Resources Districts (NRD); USDA‐NRCS; farmers from south central, northeast, west central, and western Nebraska; crop consultants; and University of Nebraska‐Lincoln faculty. The main goal of the Network is to enable the transfer of high quality research‐based information to Nebraskans through a series of demonstration projects established in farmers\u27 fields and implement newer tools and technologies to address and enhance plant water use efficiency, water conservation, and reduce energy consumption for irrigation. The demonstration projects are supported by the scientifically‐based field research and evaluation projects conducted at the University of Nebraska‐Lincoln, South Central Agricultural Laboratory located near Clay Center, Nebraska. The Network was formed with only 15 farmers as collaborators in only one of the 23 NRDs in 2005. As of late 2009, the number of active collaborators has increased to over 300 in 12 NRDs and 35 of 93 counties. The Network is impacting both water and energy conservation due to farmers adopting information and newer technologies for irrigation management. The NAWMDN is helping participants to improve irrigation management and efficiency by monitoring plant growth stages and development, soil moisture, and crop evapotranspiration. As a result, they are reducing irrigation water application amounts and associated energy savings is leading to greater profitability to participating farmers. This article describes the goals and objectives of the Network, technical and educational components, operational functions, and procedures used in the NAWMDN. The quantitative impacts in terms of water and energy conservation are reported

NEBRASKA AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION NETWORK (NAWMDN): INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND EXTENSION/OUTREACH

Maximizing the net benefits of irrigated plant production through appropriately designed agricultural water management programs is of growing importance in Nebraska, and other western and Midwestern states, because many areas are involved in management and policy changes to conserve irrigation water. In Nebraska, farmers are being challenged to practice conservation methods and use water resources more efficiently while meeting plant water requirements and maintaining high yields. Another challenge Nebraska experiences in it\u27s approximately 3.5‐million‐ha irrigated lands is limited adoption of newer technologies/tools to help farmers better manage irrigation, conserve water and energy, and increase plant water use efficiency. In 2005, the Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Demonstration Network (NAWMDN or Network) was formed from an interdisciplinary team of partners including the Natural Resources Districts (NRD); USDA‐NRCS; farmers from south central, northeast, west central, and western Nebraska; crop consultants; and University of Nebraska‐Lincoln faculty. The main goal of the Network is to enable the transfer of high quality research‐based information to Nebraskans through a series of demonstration projects established in farmers\u27 fields and implement newer tools and technologies to address and enhance plant water use efficiency, water conservation, and reduce energy consumption for irrigation. The demonstration projects are supported by the scientifically‐based field research and evaluation projects conducted at the University of Nebraska‐Lincoln, South Central Agricultural Laboratory located near Clay Center, Nebraska. The Network was formed with only 15 farmers as collaborators in only one of the 23 NRDs in 2005. As of late 2009, the number of active collaborators has increased to over 300 in 12 NRDs and 35 of 93 counties. The Network is impacting both water and energy conservation due to farmers adopting information and newer technologies for irrigation management. The NAWMDN is helping participants to improve irrigation management and efficiency by monitoring plant growth stages and development, soil moisture, and crop evapotranspiration. As a result, they are reducing irrigation water application amounts and associated energy savings is leading to greater profitability to participating farmers. This article describes the goals and objectives of the Network, technical and educational components, operational functions, and procedures used in the NAWMDN. The quantitative impacts in terms of water and energy conservation are reported

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (vol 13, 517, 2022) : National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (Nature Communications, (2022), 13, 1, (517), 10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9)

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.In this article the author name ‘Agustin Ibanez’ was incorrectly written as ‘Augustin Ibanez’. The original article has been corrected.Peer reviewe

Maize evapotranspiration, yield production functions, biomass, grain yield, harvest index, and yield response factors under full and limited irrigation

South-central Nebraska is one of the most extensively irrigated areas in the U.S., with over 65,000 active irrigation wells, and maize is the major agronomical crop produced. Maize production in this region requires supplementary irrigation for maximum productivity. Effective on-farm implementation of full and limited irrigation practices for potential improvements of crop productivity requires knowledge of locally developed crop yield response to water functions. In this study, the effects of full and limited irrigation practices on maize (Zea mays L.) plant height, leaf area index (LAI), grain yield and biomass production, actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa), yield production functions, yield response factors (Ky), and harvest index (HI) were investigated. Field experiments were conducted in 2009 and 2010 under center-pivot irrigation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center, Nebraska. Four irrigation regimes [fully irrigated treatment (FIT), 75% FIT, 60% FIT, and 50% FIT] and a rainfed treatment were evaluated each year. Maize ETa, LAI, biomass production, grain yield, and HI were significantly affected by the irrigation regimes. Maize yields varied from 9.05 Mg ha-1 for the rainfed treatment to 15.5 Mg ha-1 for FIT in 2009 and from 11.7 to 15.5 Mg ha-1 for the respective treatments in 2010. HI ranged between 0.49 for rainfed and 0.57 for FIT with an all-treatment average of 0.54. ETa ranged from 481 mm for rainfed treatment to 620 mm for FIT in 2009 and from 579 to 634 mm for the same treatments in 2010. Strong yield vs. irrigation relationships (R2 ≥ 0.98 in both years) and yield vs. ETa relationships (R2 = 0.94 in 2009 and R2 = 0.97 in 2010) were measured. There was a strong linear increase in ETa with increasing irrigation amounts (R2 ≥ 0.97). The yield-irrigation and yield-ETa relationships showed variation between the two years due to the impact of weather variability on these relationships, indicating the importance of accounting for weather variability impact on the slopes of crop yield production functions. Based on the slopes of the ETa vs. grain yield relationships, 1.2 Mg ha-1 (in 2009) and 1.7 Mg ha-1 (in 2010) of grain yield was produced per 25.4 mm of ETa beyond 280 mm (in 2009) and 403 mm (in 2010) of ETa that was used by maize to start producing grain yield, which is also called the amount of ETa required for establishing grain yield. Yield response factors varied between treatments and with year for the same treatment and averaged 1.65 in 2009 and 2.85 in 2010, with a two-year average of 1.82. No statistically significant difference (p \u3e 0.05) in grain yield was found between 75% FIT and 100% FIT. In terms of crop response to water performance, the 75% FIT and 60% FIT treatments were very comparable to the fully irrigated treatment and are viable practices in increasing crop water productivity of maize with supplementary irrigation under these experimental, soil and crop management, and climatic conditions