Page 22 - Logan County Farm Outlook - Spring 2013

2013 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com March 21, 2013
22
Since the days of farm pioneer
William Scully, managing water
on Logan County farm ground has
been a big issue that farmers have come
to accept.
Most of what they have dealt with is too
much water. However, this
past year what they saw
was not nearly enough.
While several popular
opinions are that the
drought of 2012 may have
been a fluke and not the
beginning of a long-term
problem, there are those
who are concerned and
playing the game “What
if…?”
Colder temperatures
and wet snow over the last few days of
February and the first few of March came
at perfect times for soil saturation. The
snow days were followed by warm days
that allowed the frozen precipitation to
melt slowly and be absorbed by the
thirsty soils below.
This has been a cause for some
optimism, unless you are one who
believes that the real trend heading
into this area is one of wet springs and
dry summers.
So, what if in July the
rain does stop? Should
Logan County farmers
be considering irrigation
systems as a backup
plan?
There are pros and
cons to every situation,
and looking at these
may offer the answers.
In the northern
regions of the county
especially, the question of water
resources is an easy answer. There
is plenty. Logan County sits atop the
Mahomet Aquifer, which stretches
from Champaign County to the Illinois
River. Shallow wells in the county are
productive, and if that is not enough,
deeper drilling could reach the aquifer.
On the downside, according to John
Fulton of the Logan County Extension
office in Lincoln, there is a waiting list
for well drillers, which means that even
if farmers wanted to have a backup
system in place for this year, it might
not be possible.
Another option could be a retention
Is irrigation a good backup plan for
Logan County producers?