Author Archives: Allan Fulton

Northern California Cropping and Irrigation Patterns (Part 2)

Posted on September 28 2016 by Allan Fulton

Methods of irrigation have also changed from flood and furrow to drip, micro sprinkler, solid set sprinkler, and buried drip. Today, there are about 203,000 acres of land in the northern Sacramento Valley irrigated with pressurized systems that were not in place approximately a decade ago. Continue reading →

Northern California Cropping and Irrigation Patterns (Part 1)

Posted on September 22 2016 by Allan Fulton

The most recent land use surveys by the California Department of Water Resources indicate approximately 982,500 acres of irrigated or potentially irrigated cropland in the Northern Sacramento Valley counties of Shasta, Tehama, Glenn, Butte, and Colusa. Manual field surveys taken approximately one decade apart suggest the total crop acreage has increased by about 73,000 acres or 8 percent. Continue reading →

Zone Irrigation, Part 2 – Designing a System

Posted on July 23 2016 by Allan Fulton

A good understanding of the soil variability patterns is essential to optimally design and install a zone irrigation system. Rapid, non-intrusive methods of measuring soil electrical conductivity combined with global positioning systems (GPS) are used to map the soil variability patterns and provide waypoints to guide the design and installation. Continue reading →

Zone Irrigation, Part 1 – Zone Irrigation Concepts

Posted on July 20 2016 by Allan Fulton

Variable soils contribute to irregular patterns of crop water stress and in turn more variable crop development and pest problems over the course of a season. One concept to irrigating highly variable soils that is gaining some adoption is zone irrigation. Zone irrigation is being used in some orchard settings in the Sacramento Valley where changes in topography are gradual and variability in soil profile depth, texture, structure, and water-holding capacity exists. Continue reading →