Mobile lab helps farmers compare irrigation technology through on-farm trials

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Irrigation Water Management Lab is helping western Nebraska producers evaluate irrigation technologies under real-world field conditions before investing in them. The program also helps farmers learn how to use data from various technologies to make irrigation decisions and become better stewards of available groundwater resources.  

As water availability, input costs and water management become increasingly important concerns for growers, the initiative demonstrates how on-farm testing and data-driven irrigation decisions can improve water-use efficiency without sacrificing yields. 

The Mobile Irrigation Testing (MIT) Lab works directly with growers to compare tools such as soil moisture sensors, satellite-based crop monitoring and irrigation scheduling. The goal is to help farmers with one of their biggest challenges—knowing when to schedule their irrigation.  

Interested farmers can contact Abia Katimbo at abia.katimbo@unl.edu to learn more about participating.