We use to flood about 200 acres of leveled ground. Before we leveled we would have to run ditch’s to try and get it as much covered as possible. The worse about that was the low places would get to much water and the high points wouldn’t get any. I finally had it laser leveled about 15 years ago. That really helped a lot with increase in yields it we are on heavy ground and some of the cuts exposed the heavier clay. Another thing I had a problem with was trying to get the water down the ditch to the other end because the ditch had no fall to it. Had to build up the banks at the head to about half way. Didn’t have head gates but had to shovel the openings in the bank for water to flow out and then dam them up when we were done with that border. Then our irrigation company voted to go pressurized. It was a lot of money and the government helped with part of it. I was able to put in two pivots and a linear. What a difference that made. I’m now getting a third more production from the ground. The heavier soil will even grow twice as much. And it is so nice to be able to turn it on with your phone. Wouldn’t ever go back to flooding. I still have to flood my meadows and other farm ground on other systems. We take water out of a river and then it is split into 17 different canal company’s. Much of the system goes through and major city and so the government wants all the companies to go pressurized. The savings on the amount of water used is at least %30-40 saving. We used a lot of water last year and we only used about half of what we had a right to use. That means we can use that water on ground that we haven’t water ever. It is such a great blessing. The savings alone will help pay for the system. The old open canal system was started in 1907. It had been that way since two years ago. We had our detractors that wanted nothing to do with it. Me being on the end of the canal was always short of water because of theft. A few that were at the head of the canal would take twice as much water than the had a right to take. I owned one tenth of the rights and yet got less water. I was always shutting down neighbors head gates and passing them off. It was a very poorly run company. Before we went pressurized we finally got enough younger board members in there and I was finally getting a more stable stream. There was three other canal companies that were above us that would allow week end waterers. We put a stop to that as well. We are the only canal company that has gone pressurized. And it has still worked out great. We have had to put in four big electric pumps and have not had to run all four at once yet. When the whole system goes pressurized it will be gravity pressure. Anyway that’s all I have to say about that.

Incredibly helpful. thank you!

That was very interesting! Thanks for explaining how it works.

Awesome. Thanks again for describing your irrigation!

Awesome info!!!! Cool to hear about your family history with your great great great great grandfather helping to put in the canals/ditches!

totally loved it i was so curious how that worked after seeing you with zach explaining it

Very informative. Nice video!

Watching your videos makes me feel like I’m learning all over again. I was never fan of irrigation. But I did haul hay for Robert . And learned to drive hay squeeze. Fun times . Keep videos coming .

Verry interesting. Thanks for the great informative video. I always wondered about how this worked.

Completely different than MN farming! Love the videos! Keep them coming!

Thanks for doing this video! You've got a good setup there. I've read about and seen flood irrigation that's more water-efficient than pivots.When its done right ,it's a thing of beauty.

That’s a real interesting system. Never seen this kind of thing before. I wouldn’t know where to start working out what you would need. Cool. 👍👍👍👍🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸

Another benefit of flood irrigation, it is more environmentally friendly, no running pumps for pivots, less fossil fuel. We called the waste water lazy man lake, because the irrigator was usually sleeping. Another great video.

Nice Video Thanks for explaining the irrigation system

Very informative, grew up on farm in IA. interesting to see how farming is done in AZ.

This is so funny! I live in Oregon now, but before I was widowed, we had a house in Ajo. Every winter I would drive up and get hay from you guys! I miss those warm Arizona winters, you guys, and the Arizona Sweets that we would get from the orchard down the way. You hay was always the best!

It reminded me of when they flood the dry dock at the shipyard. It’s interesting to see how this is done since irrigation is not widely used in our state.

I live up here in the Central Valley of California and have always wondered about what it meant when they talk about water delivery . Thanks for showing how this is done.

That’s nice how you don’t have to have internal channels that you need to manage. In Australia we have a channels( in our area managed by a farmer owned private company) that deliver water to the meter on your farm. But from there you need to have your own channels to move water to the where you won’t too irrigate. The district does have have drainage systems but most most farmers with newer flood setups have there own recycle drains. This is so they can save the water if they do over irrigate they can repump into there systems. The district own drainage systems is only used in a flood. Thanks for the video

Very interesting thanks for sharing 👍

That was a good video. Thanks.

Thank you for teaching us this, God Bless You Forever :=)

Great video. I have been waiting for this one for A while. I knew you would get to it at some point.

Nice description of your system. Ours is similar up here but we are mostly circle, wheel lines and there is a small amount of rill irrigation left.

Enjoy your videos we are in mesilla valley NM where we got 14 inches water allotment this year.

That sandwich looked awesome.

Wow,.....that is cool!!! For somebody like me, who has never had to worry about irrigation, the whole process is coming together to make sense. Thank You for explaining things. Lastly,.....was that a nice thing to do, eating a beautiful sandwich in front of us?!?! (Ha!Ha!)

Where I live that is called border check irrigation. We row up and furrow irrigate corn, cotton and soybeans. In rice of course the levees are built on the contours. All of our farmland is precision leveled single plane. The slope varies from field to field from 0.15% to 0.05%, it all depends on the crop that will be grown there and how much the cost to level will be depending on the slope.

That is fascinating.

Very informative. Thank you. This reclaimed water probably has lots of nutrients it too.

I lived in Phoenix for several years (stationed at Luke AFB) and always wondered how they managed those canals. I knew it was effluent water because I played a lot of golf and that’s what they use on many golf courses. Anybody that thinks this is wasting water doesn’t know what effluent is. Thanks for the explanation it was very interesting.

Here in northern California, we call the borders checks, and the ports are called takeouts usually.

Thanks for good video

Your irrigation is a lot easier then ours! I mean I can control mine with my phone... but you never have to change a flat tire or gear box in 12ft corn in 100° heat with 90% humidity and mosquitoes so you win! Another great video!!

Congratulations

Awesome video. A couple of questions: How wide are your borders? How long do you typically run your border for? What kind of soils do you have? Do you know how much flow in gallons per minute (gpm) you're putting on each border? Thanks ahead of Time. Keep up the great vids.

Here is northern Ohio we use subsurface drainage because of our excess of water. Really cool to see how you guys manage water. All of our tile drainage used to be installed with laser and now we use GPS and water management software. Maybe there is software and tools available to help manage water the way you guys do.

Great video 👍 We produce baled hay and alfalfa in Alicante, Spain (a lot less than you though 😅 about 30,000 bales this year) and have exactly the same flood irrigation system. All our water is from reservoirs which either collect rain or more usually water tranfers through rivers and canals from northern Spain. Like you our water useage is closely monitored and we have to be a member of our local water co-op to access it - although once a member we can generally access as much as we need whenever we need ourselves (no need for the co-op to attend while we are irrigating). However increasingly in recent years lower rainfall both here and in the north of Spain has meant the reservoirs are often low and some areas are now effectively unable to access any flood irrigation at all. That is good for those of us who still have it (increased demand for our hay) but also very worrying for the future of agriculture in our region. It is a big contrast from where I used to farm in the UK, where our biggest problem was normally too much rain! Always enjoy your videos - especially comparing the similarities and differences in how we do things. Keep up the great work, may your alfalfa be plentiful and your hay dry 😁👍

Wow that's interesting, they metre ours with a wheel with a counter on it. I'm in Harvey, Western Australia.

Love your channel I have been trying to plant a circle of hay every year totally different from your flood. You mentioned that the water run off is paid for and a loss could you build a tail water pit and pump excess water back up to top of field? Kind of recycle?

What is your timing on how often you irrigate? Or How many days between watering? And summer vs winter timing?

the laser beats the hell out of running around the field with corrugated steel trying to change water direction lol

Plus the fact that , pivots require some type of power to pump the water from then on .

I’m living in Oregon now, but when we spent the winters in Ajo, I always drove up and got my hay from you! It was always the best. I am flood irrigating my field here. It is not level and floods everything except where I want it. Is it worth disking and leveling a 1 acre pasture? The rest of the property gets water as it should. Or should I just get a box and level without loosening the soil up. I think I would get a better pasture if I did. Thank you. I miss Buckeye!

Never seen anything like the very cool!

Jo i ftom SouthAfrica i love that i wish i can farm there l farm here also produce lusern on small scale with sunpumps

Another grate video thank you. Now i see how important it is to get all the fields level. Is there any way you can capture the excess water from the fields and pump it to a place where you can reuse it? Just curious that's all I hope you don't mind me asking. Looking forward to seeing the next instalment. Take care Regards Richard.

Hey Trevor. Thanks for all of the work you put into the channel. I'm a big fan of AGvocacy! Couple water quality questions. Do you guys happen to take samples occasionally to check both the effluent and groundwater chemistry? Kinda curious what fertilizer value, if any, is provided from the city effluent and what degree of soil salinity you're dealing with from the groundwater. Keep up the good work! Between you and Millennial Farmer, i'm on KZfaq way too much!

Neat video, interesting to watch how you guys farm in such a dry environment. What's your average rain fall per year? And what months do you get most of the rain?

that water is likely safe to drink after its been put through treatment plant. i wouldn't want to drink it but you could. i think in some places they put treated water back into the drinking supply

Sandwich looked really good what's all in it

Good video do you have any poultry houses in your area?? you could use the used poultry litter for fertilizer .. Also do you clean out your cattle pens and put the manure on your hay fields ? like other people do on there corn in the fall after harvest.

In California we run tail water recovery system to catch an reuse all are tail water

Hi from Queen Creek...…. Great video! Assuming you get 8-10 cuts per year have you ever estimated how many 3 string bales you get from an acre per year.

Awesome video, have y’all thought about purchasing a tanker and pumping all that excess water onto it or a couple of them and then setting that reclaimed water back onto the fields or storage tanks? I always heard the water is the biggest expense

Wow, awesome system. What is the average time frame or how long does the field remain flooded depending on temperature, wind, etc before the water is all absorbed in the soil?

Very interesting video. So does it just get floooded once till it gets cut?

That awesome we farm similarly in Colorado. Approximately what do you guys pay for an acer foot?

Thanks for sharing! Can you please teach us how it affects other farmers downstream when you block the water in the canals when you do your irrigation? Do you have to coordinate with other farmers? If you have your own canal and don't have to worry about this, does every farmer have their own? If not, how do they coordinate? Also, can you explain a little better how they measure the water that you use? You mentioned briefly but it's not clear. Do they keep coming by to look at that "ruler?" Also, since the water is just flowing, I don't know how the water level on that "ruler" would get lower. Lastly, why are some of the canals always dry? Thanks

I worked for SCS for three summers: Chandler, Buckeye, Wellton-Mohawk (were we designed level borders).

Thank you for explaining no electricity to pump water nice cost. Effective

What implement do you use to make the boarders?

That is fairly incredible to see for a Midwest boy. Any idea what the evaparation rate is on the water you are paying for? Typically wastewater treatment plant discharges are technically drinkable in the midwest. I am wondering if that is the same kind of water you see transmitted in Florida in the pinkish purple pipes...must be. Thanks for this, keep it up find your operation very interesting.

I used to drive for aldecoa hay trucking we got all our hay from welton from Perry Hielman I bet your dad will know him

Dear Sir I have question please You have mentioned in the video that you are using soil pan as I understood to stabilize the seed during flood Irregation until it start germinating Can you please send me the exact name or the web site where we can buy it Thank you

Have you ever looked at sub-terrain irrigation. Do you inject fertilizer to your water as you irrigate

Do you plant the alfalfa seed after an irrigation? Then will it have enough growth when another flood irrigation is needed? Interesting how you irrigate, we have mostly center pivots here in Eastern Washington.

Have you ever had to irrigate with 6 inch tubes? Used to irrigate about 400 acres with them. Hardest work I've ever done. My neighbor thinks all teenagers should have to do some form of flood irrigation to teach good work ethic. Frikin' laser beams!

Those are some water rights . . . eight (8) feet. Impressive.

Thank you for the great content 🙏 what's the maximum length on your border (strips)? And what slope %

What fertilizer you've to use to feed this giant field!!. Thanks for sharing .👍

Do you have computer programs or apps for your phones that help you make the calculations and the timings of the flooding process? Does this process also require middle of night work to turn the water off or on?

Hello! Would you or anyone you know happen to know what type of irrigation system would be best (or what most people use around here) for 20-30 acres of horse grazing pasture, with a well, in this climate and area? May be installed from scratch and just doing homework before buying land to estimate cost if we have to install a system and what systems to look into. Thanks!

Could you use a traveling irrigation gun and pump from canal?

Do you ever fish the canal, what type of fish and how big do they get ? I know you can't eat them, but just to go fishing. Thanks.

Your wife needs to make and sell those sandwiches to everyone and she could retire in a few years. Great job and video. 👍👌

If you don't use your allotment of water one year can you carry the surplus over for use next year?

What’s the additive you use to control soil erosion? Maybe share a link please?

Who did you use for laser leveling? I'm looking to get my backyard fixed for irrigation

Last year I’ve must’ve killed 300 gophers with a shovel. This year I started using two GopherHawks since June and so far gotten 53. Very pleased with the traps!

All this time I thought you used the laser so much because they were cool and it’s fun to say laser!!🤣🤣 Very cool how even that water runs down the field. How often do you have to irrigate? I know that’s a broad question, just a general idea?

how do you manage water cost/management when a neighbor uses the same lateral?

Not sure if this has been asked or maybe you explained this. But is there a way to reclaim any tail water instead of letting it go to the river?

How long does the water sit on the field Trevor

Doensnt the high side of the field get more water then the low side?

Great video! I like the focus on applied life skills. Wanted to ask... How hard is it to connect fields to irrigation that haven't ever been on one before? Is this hard? Typically how much do you pay per acre per year for irrigation water? And is that typical for most western states? And when you are figuring out if you are hitting your goals, are you shooting for hours of water penetration? Or just raw water per feet, or something else to figure out if you are penetrating the field? And how do you make sure the field stays level? Do you have to fix this every year?

We get 3 acre ft per year. Do y’all experience any salt issues with your water?

All the excess water running into the drainage ditch and back into the river doesn't it's take all the fertiliser and chemicals with it? Just wondering

How would they get the fields perfectly level before the leaser

@treveorbales Why wouldn't you have a pump and pump your overflow water back to the top of the next field or cell and get all the use out of the water you are paying for?

I remember few years back when they were cracking down on people wasting water here in CA for a week straight one news channel i used to watch out of L.A. kept going on about farms here in our valley was wasting water on farm land. So every day for a solid month i kept posting water main breaks that would run half the day in or around L.A. i.e. urban areas with only captioned what crops you guys watering or how many time you guys water your asphalt a year our town is trying to grow a few roads and we are new to it. Lol

You said the groundwater is extremely salty, so its still good for the alfalfa?

Can you please tell me why there is no wild brush left on these farms? 10 years ago there was brush and shade for the water along a lot of the canals. Everyone is going to “over head irrigation” which allows way more evaporation...

I purchased a home last year that used flood irrigation to water the lawn. Watering 1x week,was enough to keep the grass green in Salt Lake City... this is unheard of in the suburbs where our water shortages have come to head against suburb desire to have lawns. I am starting to understand how much water is wasted by spraying it into the air and watering with sprinklers, it isnt efficient and is very difficult to train the roots to go deep. Flood irrigation is a more efficient way to deliver water to roots and encourage a healthy plant

I'm guessing that the Irrigator is not your direct employee. Does the person work for the irrigation district or an independent contractor? Is irrigation tape an option for your operation? I was out driving along Broadway or Southern (?) a couple of years ago. I could have sworn a farm was harvesting carrots or some other root vegetable. So I imagine they're not using the same water source as you (91st Ave reclamation plant)? Would they be using all groundwater or water from another district? Is Roosevelt Canal in a different district? I traced that canal all the way back to 27th Av and Lower Buckeye by the other wastewater treatment plant near downtown Phx. So probably not that one either. Beardsley Canal? Thanks

You get 2,608,000 gallons of water for how many acres? In an ideal year, how many inches of water per acre would produce the best results?

#first

See if you can get a ride-a-long with your Zanjero.

Just like the rice growers

Lol my flood irrigation is awesome. We get 4 inches in 24 mins. But... It comes with thunder wind and tornados