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Generations of innovation
Farmer’s pilot project saves water.
Hastings area farmer Chris Johns (right) talks with the District’s Vince Singleton about a metering system he installed to help monitor water usage as part of the farm’s water conservation efforts.
On a wall at the offices of Tater Farms in Hastings hangs a reproduction of the front page of a publication called Tractor Farming. Dated 1930, the feature story describes how Frank Johns and his son operated “Florida’s First Horseless Farm.”
Chris Johns, the great-grandson of Frank Johns, has the same penchant for innovation. The fourth-generation grower is experimenting with fertilization and irrigation techniques that have the potential to yield profitable crops while simultaneously reducing water and fertilizer use, as well as abating environmental impacts from stormwater runoff.
Tater Farms is in the heart of a region known as the tri-county agricultural area (St. Johns, Putnam and Flagler counties), a pastoral oasis unfolding across the convergence of three counties. The Johns family’s farms cover more than 1,000 acres, the primary crops being sod, and potatoes for potato chips. The region dispels the outsider’s notion of palm tree-and-seashore-postcard Florida. Here, you’ll find big skies, wide-open land and narrow two-laners that ferry travelers past row crops and grazing livestock.
Johns, a 2007 University of Florida graduate, is a forward thinker. With support from the St. Johns River Water Management District, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), he has devoted nine acres of his farm to determine whether drip irrigation is a viable alternative to traditional irrigation practices.
“My goal is to reduce the uncertainty and risk of drip irrigation for other growers,” he says. “I’m hoping to prove drip irrigation is a viable alternative to our traditional irrigation methods.”
Growers in the region traditionally employ seepage irrigation to water row crops, a practice that requires carving evenly spaced furrows — every 60 feet — and pumping them with groundwater to apply to plants.
“Seepage irrigation has served the area effectively,” Johns says. “However, potato plants located in the middle of the bed between each water furrow can show stress during the peak hours of the day. I began to look at a better way to irrigate the entire bed of plants.”
Terry Pride, environmental administrator with FDACS, is excited by Johns’ energy and enthusiasm. His efforts could potentially change the way other growers approach farming, she says.
“Agriculture is important to the state’s economy,” Pride says. “We’re working with growers in the tri-county agricultural area to use resources as efficiently as possible without making it hard for them to stay in business. Chris is an impressive guy. He represents the future in farming.”
Producing row crops is an intensive use for land. Potatoes are king in the tri-county area, and potatoes require plenty of water and fertilizers, particularly nitrogen. The problem is that agricultural activities — grazing, plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing, planting and harvesting — can harm rivers, lakes and other water bodies. When it rains, stormwater runoff carries sediments, fertilizers, pathogens, pesticides and salts from fields to nearby river and lake systems.
The application of fertilizer on fields throughout the tri-county area must be based on the variations in soil fertility from farm to farm — even from field to field on the same farm. Other factors such as soil temperature and weather conditions also come into play. As a rule, growers take soil samples of each field and have them analyzed to determine exactly how much fertilizer is needed. A one-size-fits-all limitation on fertilizer applications isn’t feasible, Pride says.
A field is graded with a gradual slope to allow water to distribute evenly along rows.
Johns understands the need to protect water quality, but he also understands why growers can be resistant to government-imposed environmental regulations for agriculture. Realizing that there must be middle ground, he decided to take advantage of a cost-share opportunity with the District to carry out his drip irrigation endeavor.
Unlike seepage irrigation, drip irrigation requires the grower to install black plastic tubing about an inch beneath the soil surface. Holes in the tubing, called emitters, distribute water at a rate set by the grower. Johns says his drip irrigation flowed at the rate of about one quart an hour.
“Drip irrigation is much more efficient,” he says. “It allows for more control of the conditions of the plant, how moist the soil is, and the amount of fertilizer you’re providing. I was happy with the results.”
Although they assisted Johns in obtaining funding for the pilot project, District officials are “in the background,” providing support that Johns may require.
“There is a synergy that has evolved out of this collaborative effort to improve irrigation technology in the tri-county agricultural area,” says Pam Livingston Way, a District environmental scientist who has extensive experience with agricultural irrigation issues. “Chris was willing to commit his time and resources to test drip irrigation on his farm. He understands the bottom line and that improving both water and nutrient efficiency on Tater Farms will ultimately pay off.”
Johns says his biggest challenge is to increase crop yields to offset the additional costs associated with drip irrigation. Liquid nitrogen (mixed with water when drip irrigating) is more expensive than nitrogen in its traditional, granular form. However, Johns says the potential for water savings could be 60 to 70 percent, depending on seasonal weather conditions. Johns is trying to determine if efficiency from an economic standpoint is possible.
“Once I get the mechanics down, I can perfect the amount of water and fertilizer I’ll need,” he says. “I’m hoping to refine it this coming year to see how much water I can save.”
Johns, like his great-grandfather before him, could likely effect a seismic shift in long-held farming practices in the tri-county area.
“If I can get two more years with better results, I may be able to convince other farms to try drip irrigation,” he says. “I personally think it’s on all of us to find collaborative solutions to problems we face.”
A farm crew loads sod during harvesting.
