Irrigation Calculator Information

The agricultural producer that has never used an irrigation system is the demographic for this simple tool. Using evapotranspiration information from CIMIS this calculator is meant to be used as a guide for your general irrigation management.

What is Evapotranspiration?

ET = The sum of Evaporation of water from the soil surface plus Transpiration (water loss) from (primarily) leaves of plants. A: ETo = "Reference ET" = The amount of full water use by a well irrigated crop. ETo varies daily with changes in temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind.

What is CIMIS?

CIMIS is an integrated network of more than 80 computerized weather stations located at key agricultural and municipal sites throughout California. The system is operated by the California Department of Water Resources. CIMIS helps agricultural growers and managers of large turfgrass areas such as parks and golf courses develop water budgets for determining when to irrigate and how much water to apply.

History and Description

North Valley Ag Services is a grower-owned cooperative that is dedicated to the success of our customers and to helping growers in our region. Built upon a rich history spanning nearly seven decades, we offer innovative products and services selected to best serve the needs of our agriculture community in Northern California.

We’ve been pleased over the last three years to be awarded a USDA Risk Management Education Partnership Program grant which has provided opportunities to further educate growers in our region about how to more effectively manage risk. The purpose of this program is to deliver crop insurance education and risk management training to U.S. agricultural producers to assist them in identifying and managing production, marketing, legal, financial, and human risk.

In 2018, in addition to a video that was the outcome of two on-farm field days, we are pleased to provide this resource to walnut and almond growers in the region. Our intent is to assist the grower on how to better mitigate production and financial risks through training on irrigation and limited irrigation best practices in the aftermath of drought.

Additional Resources

Almond Day

• Almond ET/Yield Production Function
• Summary of Monterey Almond Yields
• Irrigation Distribution Uniformity – Why and How?
• Irrigation System Maintenance
• Controlling Biological Clogging of Drip and Microsprinkler Irrigation Systems with Chlorination
• Managing Soil Variability for Increased Almond Production
• Features of Aerial Imaging
• Ceres Thermal Imagery Predicts Applied Water Differences in Controlled Irrigation Trials

Walnut Day

• 2017 Season Update
• 2018 Dendrometer
• CWB Newsletter 2018
• Pressure Chamber Final Article Submission
• Feasibility of using a Leaf Monitor to Detect Plant Water Status in Walnut Crops

Other Resources

• Almond Evapotranspiration Yield Production Function (PDF)
  Shackel, Dooo, Fulton, Lampinen and Sanden
• Controlling Biological Clogging of Drip and Microsprinkler Irrigation Systems w/ Chlorination (PDF)
  Fulton, Schwankl
• Irrigation Distribution Uniformity Why and How (PDF)
  Allan Fulton
• Irrigation System Maintenance (PDF)
  Lightle and Greer
• Managing Soil Variability for Increased Almond Production (PDF)
  Allan Fulton
• Pressure Chamber: Does it Have a Place in Your Toolbox (PDF)
  Fulton, Milliron and Buchner
• Walnuts, Water and Goldilocks: Too Much, Too Little or Just Right? (PDF)
  Shackle, Fulton and Lampinen
• Water Balance Irrigation Scheduling Using CIMIS ETo (PDF)
  Snyder and Sheradin

Our Thanks To:

Catharine Anderson
Risk Management Specialist
Risk Management Agency
Davis Regional Office

Agnes Douglas
Grants and Agreements Specialist
Risk Management Education Division
Risk Management Agency

Hal Crain
Crain Ranch

Allan Fulton
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Ken Shackel
Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis

Bruce Lampinen
Statewide Orchard Systems Specialist in UC Cooperative Extension

Ryan Kaplan
Owner/Developer, Pressure Bomb Express

Lastly we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to our grant consultants who have been immeasurably helpful through the North Valley Ag Services’ grant odyssey:

Hilary Tricerri
Consultant
Toni Scott
Principal
Morrison and Company