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Irrigation and Water Quality

One of the primary concerns that the irrigation and water quality staff focuses on is not necessarily water quality, but water quantity. The department’s on-farm research has validated that many producers if they have the capacity, historically over-water. Sometimes as much as 30-50%. That said, one of the most important missions is to help educate farmers on how to manage their water resources so they can be more profitable, but also to avoid any potential regulatory issues. The department is proud to say that there is probably no other land-grant institution that has put as much research into preserving water resources than MSU. Not only is the department’s focus on protecting water, but also looking at other areas of preserving water like cover crops, nutrient transport technologies, and developing new soil amendments. The department also regularly cooperates with agronomist and engineers and other universities by collaborating with them to come up with new and better solutions. This research also includes the continued development and implementation of computerized hole selection and surge irrigation and sensors.

Contact: Mark Henry, 662-686-3298.

2016 Research

2015 Research