WaterPACK & ILS Farm

This WaterPACK/ILS Farm is located near St. John, Kansas in Stafford county. It is owned and operated by the Innovative Livestock Solutions Partnership with the assistance of Pat Janssen as the primary farm manager. The cooperator, ILS, was approached by the Water Protection Association of Central Kansas (WaterPACK) who initiated and provided funding for this project. This farm is the second Water Technology Farm that Water PACK & ILS have developed. The first tech farm they had, completed it's third year in the project and chose to apply and start a new project.

The goal of this second project is to develop a farm that is more financially feasible to establish for the common farmer. The primary focus will be setting up a sprinkler package with various nozzles, basic soil moisture technology, and requesting advice from an agronomist throughout the season.

Press Release

Technology

For the 2020 growing season, the farm will continue to compare two irrigation pivots side-by-side. Each pivot will utilize its own irrigation well for water use. One pivot is currently equipped with the standard sprinkler nozzles and will be irrigated as it has in the past. The second pivot will be equipped with various more efficient sprinkler nozzles such as I-Wobs, bubbles, and/or LDN’s (low drip nozzles). It will also have soil moisture probes installed in multiple locations on the field to monitor the moisture content. An agronomist will be monitoring the pivot with the new technology to give feedback on when to irrigate and when irrigation isn’t required.

Ultimately, the goal is to determine that by using even a few new irrigation technologies and seeking advice from specialized individuals these extra farming steps can help save water for the future.