UF/IFAS researchers and others have developed an app to help Florida farmers to optimize corn irrigation.
Florida farmers growing sweet corn can soon utilize an app to help optimize corn irrigation, according to a UF/IFAS blog. UF/IFAS researchers, in partnership with researchers from Auburn and UGA, are fine-tuning an app they created to help farmers growing corn to keep from watering too much or too little. According to the blog, “on average, sweet corn needs about 1 inch of water per week, or about 27,000 gallons per acre.” The app aims to help farmers from wasting dollars on over-watering or compromising production through under-watering. See the details below.
App to Optimize Corn Irrigation
Details shared in the blog about the app to optimize corn irrigation include:
- “The key to this app is that it gets information from soil moisture sensors that go to various depths beneath the ground: 2 inches, 6 inches and 10 inches, which is the average root depth of Florida’s sweet corn.”
- “The app…predicts soil moisture five to seven days in advance, giving growers a heads-up on when to water their crops.”
- “Users simply input current or recent soil moisture readings, and the app adjusts its predictions to match a specific field’s conditions.”
- “Researchers hope to make [the app] available to farmers before the end of this year.”
- Researchers are looking to utilize the app’s technology with other crops.
- “Click on the Smart Irrigation website to find out when, where and how to get the corn app.”
Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.