Thinking Beyond Farming To Optimize Soil Moisture

By Farm Journal Guest Editor

Thinking Beyond Farming to Optimize Soil Moisture

Using these tools can help maximize the benefits of every raindrop and help preserve our water supply.
By the year 2030, global demand for water is projected to outstrip supply by as much as 40 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research. Considering only about 1 percent of the Earth’s water is usable, that will have a major impact on agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s water use.

At the same time, recent United Nations data points out that dryland crops, on average, use only a little more than half of the rain that falls during the growing season. Most U.S. crops have better-than-average water use efficiency, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement, says Kevin Eye, vice president, agronomy and product development, WinField.

“Optimizing available water is an important part of that yield equation, as well as ensuring a sustainable water supply. We can’t control the weather, but there are several management tools a grower can use to help crops get maximum benefit from available soil moisture.”