LTD Farms, achieving irrigation efficiency
LTD Farms, achieving irrigation efficiency Farm Progress
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Sustainable Farming Practices at LTD Farms
The first thing you see when you approach LTD Farms, south of Stuttgart, Ark., in mid-December may not be the precision leveled fields or the tail water recovery system or the grower’s commitment to sustainable farming, but what you will see are thousands of migratory geese taking advantage of abundant food and water on their way south for the winter.
As an indicator of a healthy biome, the geese flourish as they pass through an area where growers know the benefit of taking care of the land they hope to farm years into the future.
Taking the lead in initiating a process by which they can take care of the land in their charge are Lori and Terry Dabbs and their son Trent Dabbs, the Southern Cotton Ginners Association Ag Achievement Award winners for 2024.
The award celebrates collaboration between farmers and Universities to promote sustainability and on-farm innovation.
“Terry’s involvement with the university goes back to when he started farming,” Lori said.
“Thirty or 40 years, or longer,” Terry added.
Verification trials
It started with verification trials for the University of Arkansas – taking the university’s small field trials and putting them into full-scale, on-farm action to verify the results.
“We’d tell them what they were doing out there on a 10-by-10 plot may not work on an 80-acre field,” Terry said. “Let’s get out here in the real world and test something. So, they started the verification program.”
Data collection
Some growers were skeptical about allowing the university to collect data on their farms regarding nutrient runoff or greenhouse gasses, according to Lori.
“Do you really want these people coming on your farm to find out this real information?” she said. “But we’ve always been Guinea pigs for them, and they knew they could count on us to jump in and support their efforts.”
The need for real data to provide to those who were not on the farm, but made decisions that would impact the farm, was vital.
“We were getting blamed for things that weren’t going on,” said Terry. “So, we needed some third-party data to go to the legislature and say, ‘Hey, we’re not doing what we are being blamed for.’”
What’s available
The farm sits in an area where very little water is available from the aquifer – the last pumping was done sometime in the 1970s – so everything is irrigated by ground water. Little ground water is available to the farm from off-site sources, so they have to rely on what is available to them on the 2,000-acre farm.
Over-use or mismanagement of water on the farm can lead to a situation where no water would be available for the crop. When they took over management of the farm around 1998, they realized that capturing the water that flowed over the farm needed to be a priority.
Plant water use
The sensors also identify where the plant is using water and where it is not using the water. This is especially helpful after a rain, when the crop may not need to be watered, thus saving the time and energy to get water to the crop. It also indicates just how much water is being used at particular points in the plant’s development.
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
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SDG 2: Zero Hunger
- Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
- Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture.
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SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
- Indicator 6.4.1: Change in water-use efficiency over time.
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SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
- Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement.
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SDG 13: Climate Action
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula.
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 2: Zero Hunger | Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality. | Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture. |
| SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation | Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity. | Indicator 6.4.1: Change in water-use efficiency over time. |
| SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production | Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment. | Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement. |
| SDG 13: Climate Action | Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. | Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula. |
Analysis
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SDG 2: Zero Hunger
The article highlights the commitment of LTD Farms to sustainable farming practices, which aligns with the goal of ensuring sustainable food production systems. The farm’s efforts to improve land and soil quality through conservation practices contribute to the target of implementing resilient agricultural practices.
The indicator mentioned in the article is the proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture, which reflects the progress towards sustainable food production systems.
-
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
The article emphasizes the importance of water conservation and efficient water use on LTD Farms. The farm’s initiatives to capture and reuse water for irrigation contribute to the target of increasing water-use efficiency and addressing water scarcity.
The indicator mentioned in the article is the change in water-use efficiency over time, which measures the progress towards sustainable water withdrawals and supply.
-
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
The article mentions the Dabbs family’s commitment to environmental sustainability and their efforts to manage chemicals and wastes on their farm. This aligns with the goal of achieving environmentally sound management of chemicals and wastes throughout their life cycle.
The indicator mentioned in the article is the number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations. This indicator reflects the progress towards responsible consumption and production practices.
-
SDG 13: Climate Action
The article discusses the Dabbs family’s focus on irrigation efficiency and their collaboration with the University of Arkansas to optimize irrigation practices. This aligns with the goal of improving education, awareness, and capacity on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The indicator mentioned in the article is the number of countries that have integrated climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning into their educational curricula. This indicator reflects the progress towards climate action through education and awareness.
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Source: farmprogress.com
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