Did the North Panhandle specifically hansford county get any rain?

I am so ready for hunting season to start.

I am so ready for idiot hunters to quit driving over my plowed fields.

It only takes one set of idiots to ruin it for the legions of good guys.

And to answer your question:

Intellicast.com Amarillo Daily precip

Intellicast.com Amarillo Weekly Precip

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 10/22/2007 9:55a).]

canyon where are your fields? i wouldn't drive on the field. I can walk.

S and SW of Canyon. One is plowed ground = no critters. The other, the landlord will not allow hunting.

D,
We aren't getting any runoff rains. As it stands right now our playas will be dry soon.

Try http://txhighplainset.tamu.edu/ or http://www.kvii.com/weather/school_net.aspx for Panhandle rain info.

thanks guys.

I often wonder how accurate these websites are. They also don't tell you if you get run off and the duck lakes fill up.

d

do farmer's use this ET site to determine when and how much to water?

when a guy has a giant irrigation center pivot can you turn it off during the day when you lose a lot of water.

just curious.

It seems to me that the amount of rain in Hansford County can vary significantly by which part of the county you are in.

I've never seen data on it (don't know if there is any data), but my gut feeling is that the eastern side of the county gets a fair bit more rainfall than the northwest corner (Oslo).

chocolatelabs,

Yes about 600 faxes, emails, and web hits daily. This site http://amarillo2.tamu.edu/nppet/station.htm and look at a station site and a date and the fax page [i.e., Peryton file per07187.fx [text file]) for July 6, 2007] had an ET of 0.30-0.31 in./d for corn seeded on 05/15. Go back and open the horly data file (per07187.prt [text file]) and the maximum hourly ET for well-watered "grass" (ETog) was 0.73 mm/hr (0.029 in./hr) and for well-watered "alfalfa" (EToa) was 0.90 mm/hr (0.035 in./hr).

You don't "lose" water during the day, it evaporates (we know where it goes). Most HP pivots don't have enough capacity (flow rate/unit land area) to shut down during the day or even small rains (<~1 in.) and try to keep up with the crop water use. All you can do is use "efficient" technology like LESA (low-elevation spray application) or LEPA (low-energy, precision application).



[This message has been edited by Spider69 (edited 10/22/2007 10:48p).]

eric76,

Yes, rainfall is highly spatially variable. Look at a Doppler radar trace. They aren't 100% reliable, but show the spatial pattern of a storm. Rainfall will vary considerably in less than a 1,000 ft and certainly across a county (~30 miles).

Except I was talking about overall rainfall from a number of storms, not just from any one particular storm.

In other words, I think that the eastern portion of the county gets more yearly precipitation than the northwestern corner. I would guess that the difference could be as much as three or four inches on average.

Of course, it could just be a case of the grass is greener on the other side.

Simple web searches show that Hansford County gets 22.16 inches per year while Ochiltree County (the next county to the east) gets 20.48 inches per year, Sherman County (the next county to the west) gets 18.36 inches, Hutchinson County (the next county to the south) gets 19.9 inches, and Texas County, Oklahoma (to the north) gets 20.3 inches per year.

While that doesn't say anything about whether or not to expect more rain in one part of the county than another, it does show that it is reasonable that you can easily have 3 to 4 inches difference in yearly rainfall over a relatively short distance.

spider,

thanks for the info. that is pretty cool. With the cost of gas, is it economical to irrigate vs. dryland?

Yes, even with the cost of natural gas it is still better to irrigate rather than go dryland. Dryland normally only makes a 1/4 to a 1/3 of what irrigated cropland makes. This year may be an exception in some places, but if farmers in the panhandle depend soley on dryland, they are normally up the creek without a paddle.

chocolatelabs,

Wheat------ 4-6 bu/in.
Corn------- 6-8 bu/in.
Cotton----- 40-50 lbs/in.

Figure your fuel cost per in. of water, insert your crop price/unit crop, then do the math.

Unless fuel gets really high, irrigation beats the rain gamble.

also, crops are planted differently depending upon how they are going to be watered

irrigated crops are planted more heavily than areas where irrigation is not possible

so even with perfect rainfall, dryland crops normally won't yield what irrigated crops will

powerbiscuit,

Basically, I agree. BUT if you have a good year (like 2007 wheat), I bet few irrigated wheat fields made greater profits than a good "dryland" field. But the problem is these "perfect years" (high yields, high prices) are rare almost a lifetiime event on the HP.

I usually argue that irrigation carries dryland on the HP due to the infrastructure. How many acres of 15 bu/ac dryland wheat does it take to usually buy a combine or even a drill. But 80-100 bu/ac irrigated wheat might have a chance of being a better long-term gamble, if you have the water, cheap fuel, low interest rates, etc.

I often wonder why more farmer's don't get involved in growing organic crops. I know lots of people that buy a lot of organic food for various reasons and they don't mind paying extra for it. I don't know if there is a market for organic wheat but i would think it bears looking into.

d

The hassle of certification.

The lack of infrastructure and need to keep the produce separate...which could mean having trucks, combines, grain carts, grain bins etc. all set up for organic only.

Lowered yields and higher production costs without herbicide and fertilizer.

If the farm price of organic were enough higher, it might be worth it. But they really aren't, not as much as the retail prices are higher than conventional.

quote:

---

Basically, I agree. BUT if you have a good year (like 2007 wheat), I bet few irrigated wheat fields made greater profits than a good "dryland" field. But the problem is these "perfect years" (high yields, high prices) are rare almost a lifetiime event on the HP.

---

If the rain is hitting at the perfect time, the irrigated fields won't have to be irrigated, at least as often. The method with the higher profit could go either way.

I have only heard of one other crop being nearly that good and hail came right before harvest.

Yes, perfect years are very few and very far between. It is much like others have said...you cannot plan for the perfect year, you have to plan for the worst and then thank God everytime we get rain and can turn off the wells for a few days.

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oops

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_______________________________________________________
"Call me arrogant, cocky, crybaby, whiner or whatever names you like," Spurrier said recently. "At least they're not calling us losers anymore. If people like you too much, it's probably because they're beating you."

Getting really dry here.