Browse Well Water Stories - Page 3

A summer drought combined with scorching temperatures have Georgia farmers feeling the heat, says University of Georgia’s agricultural climatologist Pam Knox.

Southwest Georgia 4-Hers were soaked with information this week as they learned about one of the world’s most prized resources — water.

Researchers in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are teaming up with IBM to work with farmers in Georgia’s Lower Flint River Basin to enhance water efficiency by up to 20 percent.

The University of Georgia’s Extension irrigation specialist is cautious when discussing the future of irrigation and its impact on farmers statewide. Wesley Porter’s job is to educate both Georgia and Alabama farmers on the best way to manage the precious resource.

Auto-steer technology, variable rate irrigation, smart-phone apps — these are all precision farming techniques that University of Georgia professor George Vellidis believes farmers should be using in their day-to-day operations.

A team of University of Georgia researchers has been able to reduce container nurseries’ water usage by 70 percent, as a result of new breakthroughs in computer-linked soil moisture sensors.

Recent rains left some homeowners tackling septic tank problems. Saturated soils aren’t able to take up additional water from drainfield lines.

University of Georgia researchers are hoping solar-powered wells will help preserve water quality and cattle health on isolated Georgia cattle farms.

Daniel Hillel, the 2012 World Food Prize Laureate and a 1950 graduate of the University of Georgia, spent the better part of his career perfecting arid- land farming methods in Israel and sharing them with farmers across the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. On Nov. 8, Hillel will return to Athens to deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ 2012 D.W. Brooks Lecture at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

Dozens of 4-H students playing under the dangling spray nozzle of a center pivot irrigation system may look like a fun way to cool off in the south Georgia heat. But it’s also a lesson in water conservation.