CORN IRRIGATION IN A DRY YEAR

Marsha Mathews, Farm Advisor, Stanislaus County

Dr. Larry Schwankl, Extension Irrigation Specialist, UCD
Dr. Richard Snyder, Extension Bioclimatologist, UCD

A FEW FUNDAMENTALS

Growing corn on the minimum amount of water possible requires matching exactly the
amount of water you put on with the amount of water the crop needs. To do this you
have to know two things: when to irrigate and how much water to put on each irrigation.

HOW MUCH WATER TO PUT ON EACH IRRIGATION

Under our corn growing conditions, greatest water savings will come from putting on just
enough water to fill the root zone to field capacity and no more. How much water to put
on each irrigation depends on the amount of water the soil will hold and how deep the
roots go.

The amount of water which can be stored in the soil depends on the soil type. Here are
the approximate amounts of water available to the plant which various soil types will
store per foot of soil:

Sand 1”
Sandy loam 1.25”
Loam 1.5”
Clay 2”

Plants can only extract water from as deep as their roots are. Under irrigated growing
conditions, most of the roots, and most of the water comes from the upper part of the
soil. Even though there may be a few roots very deep, these don’t usually supply much
water.

Under our conditions in Stanislaus/upper Merced counties, most corn roots are in the
top 3 feet of soil. That figure may be somewhat generous in some compacted or high-
water table fields, but 3 feet is probably a workable average in most instances.

If you have a sandy loam soil which holds 1.25 inches of water per foot and your roots
draw water from 3 feet, then the total water holding capacity of the soil in the root zone
is:

1.25 in/ft x 3 ft or 3.75 inches.

The plant can’t actually use all of that water, however, because the drier soil gets, the
more difficult it is for the plant to pull water away from the soil particles. Only about half

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

of the total available water stored in the soil is easily accessible by the roots. So, in this
example, the effective soil water holding capacity is:

3.75 inches x 0.5 or 1.9 inches

The perfect irrigation would apply exactly that amount of water to the soil to replace that
which the crop used. This assumes that a uniform amount of water will be applied to
every square foot of the field. Of course that’s impossible; there will always be high or
low spots and, depending on the slope and the head of water, there may be more water
soaking in at the beginning and/or the tail of the run. In order to assure that all areas in
the field get enough water, the amount of water needed to fill the root zone has to be
increased. An efficiency of 75% on a sandy loam soil would be considered very good.
A good target irrigation rate on sandy loam would be about 2.5 inches per irrigation. At
a flow rate of 15 CFS, this works out to be about 10 minutes per acre. Target
gallonages and times per acre for other soil types and flow rates are given in the
following table:

MINUTES PER ACRE TO APPLY ENOUGH WATER TO FILL A THREE

FOOT ROOT ZONE ASSUMING AN IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY OF 75%

SOIL TARGET 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 25 30

TYPE APPLICATION CFS CFS CFS CFS CFS CFS CFS
Sand 2.0” 12.10 9.68 8.07 6.91 6.05 4.84 4.03
Sandy Loam 2.5” 15.13 12.10 10.08 8.64 7.56 6.05 5.04
Loam 3.0” 18.15 14.52 12.10 10.37 9.08 7.26 6.05
Clay 4.0” 24.20 19.36 16.13 13.83 12.10 9.68 8.07

Most growers on light soils will find these target rates of application very difficult to
achieve simply because the water will not reach the other end in this amount of time.
Because of this, during each irrigation, more water is put on that can be stored in the
root zone. The excess water moves on past the roots and is never used by the crop.

If it takes you 20 minutes an acre to irrigate with a 15 CFS head, here’s how much
water you are actually putting on:

If 1 cfs = .0165 acre-inches/minute,

Then 15 cfs x .0165 = .2475 acre-inches/minute

.2475 acre-inches/minute x 20 minutes = 5 inches

A sandy loam soil only needs about 2 inches to replenish a 3 foot root zone, so with
each irrigation you are putting 2 inches on the crop while 3 inches are going right past
the roots! It’s obvious, then, that the best way for farmers on light ground to grow corn
with less water is to get the water across the field FAST.

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

While there are system constraints which make reaching these target irrigation times
difficult (some would say impossible), anything that can be done to speed the irrigation
up will pay off in big water savings. Here are some ideas:

Laser level. Most fields irrigate much faster after being leveled. Don’t
compensate for the increased speed by taking out valves and increasing
check size. Be cautious, however, about changing to a steeper grade. It
may be difficult to control water on fields which are too steep, resulting in
poor uniformity or application.

After leveling, the best way to speed up flood irrigation is to put higher flow
into smaller checks. If you have to cut back on your acreage, the easiest
way to improve irrigation efficiency on the rest of your ground is to cut off
the lower ends of all fields with long runs and plant only the area nearest
the valves.

Do everything you can to irrigate with the highest possible flow. Arrange
with your ditch tender and the neighbors for everyone to have a larger
head for a shorter period of time. Supplement your head with pump or
lagoon water. If running fewer valves will increase flow without causing
system problems, make more checks and put a larger head into each one.

If you run one valve per check, divide each check in half by putting an
additional levee in front of each valve. Then use some sort of temporary
diversion structure (corrugated metal roofing & 2x4’s?) to divert the entire
flow from each valve into one side or the other.

If you run two valves per check with full-flow out of both, make all levees
line up directly in front of the valves. Then use diversion structures to
direct the flow from both valves into one check.

One valve per check Two valves per check. If the

output of each valve is 15 CFS,
the combined flow rate is now 30
CFS

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

Even though this means more water changes, remember the goal is faster
irrigation, so hopefully the net result of more work will be irrigating for a
shorter period of time.

Rolling or packing loose, fluffy surface soil before preirrigating and after
planting should speed up the first irrigations, which are usually the slowest
and thus most inefficient. Take care to pack just the surface soil, rather
than compacting the subsurface which results in poorer root growth and
water penetration.

Plant with the levees rather than across if possible.

Control weeds. Not only do they slow water movement across the field,
they also use up water that should be going to the crop.

Any steps which can be made to make irrigations faster have advantages beyond water
savings in times of drought. By not over-irrigating you can reduce losses of water run
nitrogen, avoid leaching out other nutrients, help prevent corn from drowning out on
hardpan or shallow soils, and reduce problems with high water tables.

What about going to another type of irrigation system?

For field crops on light soils, border check irrigation probably has the best potential for
maximum efficiency. Sprinklers, aside from capital expense and pumping costs, can be
quite inefficient because of wind altering sprinkler patterns and evaporation.

Furrow irrigation on sands would greatly reduce the rate of flow across the field, and
result in too much water applied at the upper end. A properly designed border system
with small basins and large flows can result in very uniform water application.

On loam and clay soils, furrows may improve irrigation efficiency. Depending on
conditions, consider irrigating every other furrow or planting double rows on a 60 inch
bed.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD CORN BE IRRIGATED

Corn needs to be irrigated whenever the crop has used up the water stored in the root
zone. Irrigating sooner results in more irrigations than necessary, while irrigating later
will mean stressing the corn and losing yield. While there are a variety of soil moisture
sensors (including a shovel) which will tell a grower when water content has dropped to
critical levels, one method commonly used is to schedule irrigations according to the
amount of water the crop is using.

How much water a corn crop needs depends on the growth stage of the plant, how
much leaf surface it has, and weather conditions. In addition, a certain amount of water
is lost through evaporation from the soil. The total amount of water evaporated from the

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

crop plus the soil is called Evapotranspiration, or ET. For 105 day silage corn in the
Central Valley, the ET is about 20 inches of water. In other words, regardless of the
amount of water you apply, the crop actually uses only 20 inches. At 75% irrigation
efficiency, the amount of water needed to grow a corn silage crop becomes about 25
inches.

In many areas of the state where water is expensive, the crop water usage (ET) for the
previous day is published in the newspaper or announced on the radio. Growers then
keep track of how much water their crops have used since the last irrigation and apply
water when the amount of water stored in the root zone has been depleted. For
example, during the peak of the season, corn uses about a quarter inch of water per
day. If your soil stores 1.9 inches, then you will need to irrigate every 7 days to avoid
water stress.

Timing irrigation according to ET information will probably mean you will be irrigating
more often than you are used to. This is because corn can be under water stress long
before showing any visible signs such as wilting or color change. Scheduling irrigations
according to crop water usage eliminates this hidden stress, which means more
irrigations—and higher yields.

Of course, irrigating more frequently would result in even higher water usage than
normal if you have large amounts of water going past the root zone with each irrigation.
If you cannot get close to the target irrigation time per check, don’t bother using ET to
schedule irrigations. Just do as you normally do and decrease your corn acreage by
whatever percentage you are over on your target irrigation time.

If you can find a way to irrigate at 75% efficiency, then using the ET schedule will not
only keep your water use to around 25 inches per acre, but you will likely see a yield
increase. Practical experience has shown that ET of the crop doesn’t vary much from
the 30 year average in any given year. For any given planting date, it’s possible to plan
in advance on what days you will need to irrigate for the rest of the season.

Sample irrigation schedules for different soil types and planting dates can be found at
the back of this publication. In general, if a hot day comes along, keep to your plan; it’s
covered. If there is an extended period of exceptionally hot or cool weather, just irrigate
a day sooner or later. With some experience, you’ll also learn how your soil may vary
somewhat in rooting depth or water holding capacity from the averages in these charts.
Contact your farm advisor or professional irrigation consultant for charts customized for
your operation.

WATER STRESS

It’s important to understand that the typical symptoms of water stress in corn—wilting,
turning blue, etc.—doesn’t occur until long after the plant has suffered other
physiological effects, such as stopping growth. All plants have pores in their leaves,
called stomata. The plant has to have these openings for two reasons: first, water

5
 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

needs to move through the plant to move nutrients from the roots to the leaves, and
evaporation of water from the leaves provides the suction which drives this process.
The second reason is because plants make carbohydrates—food—by using the sun’s
energy to combine water with carbon dioxide in a process called photosynthesis. The
carbon dioxide comes from the outside air, and there needs to be portholes in the
leaves to let the carbon dioxide in.

When the plant gets under even slight moisture stress, the plant’s first line of defense is
to close off the largest source of water loss, the stomata. When the stomata are closed,
carbon dioxide cannot come in and food manufacturing stops. Without food
manufacture, growth stops. That includes growing new roots. Roots won’t grow deeper
if the plant suffers for water—in fact, often the roots can’t grow at all!

Only after the water stress on the plant becomes much more severe does the plant wilt.
It’s possible for a corn plant to look just fine and still not have enough water to grow.
While this is important throughout the life of the corn plant, the most obvious effects of
slow growth due to moisture stress is during the seedling stage.

STRESS DURING STAND ESTABLISHMENT

Because moisture is dropping so rapidly during the seedling stages, even small
differences in growth rate can determine whether or not the plant will be able to grow
roots fast enough to stay in the falling moisture. If the roots can’t keep up with the
moisture, stomates close, growth slows or stops, and the plant gets farther and farther
behind. This is the main reason for uneven heights in seedling stands. Keeping the
plants growing fast during stand establishment not only helps the plants develop a good
root system, but also allows the plant to outgrow damage from many soil insects and
seed pathogens. Keeping the soil moist during the early part of the season also makes
it somewhat easier for the roots to penetrate tight soils, resulting in a better root system
under compacted conditions. The irrigation schedules based on ET call for the first
irrigations to be applied sooner than the common practice.

WHEN TO STRESS CORN FOR WATER IF STRESS IS UNAVOIDABLE

In general, corn is more sensitive to moisture stress than are some other crops such as
sorghum. If water is short, it is best to plant less corn and irrigate it well.

If stress is unavoidable, it is better to have mild stress several times during the season
rather than have severe stress at any one time. Good moisture should be maintained
during the time the crop is young because stress at this time can slow canopy
development. Since the ability of the plant to photosynthesize and grow is proportional
to the amount of leaves it has, reduction in leaf area while the crop is young may reduce
growth enough to hurt the final yield.

Severe stress at any time (e.g. wilting for several days) may decrease yields. The plant
part most affected will depend on the growth stage of the plant. If stress occurs during

6
 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

ear initiation, the final ear size may be limited. If the stress is during early pollen shed,
the pollen may die and poor pollination will result. The best strategy for corn is to avoid
moisture stress at any stage.

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

OTHER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR WATER CONSERVATION

While by far the most water savings will come from controlling water losses past the root
zone, there are other practices which growers may want to consider which may result in
conserving additional water.

ELIMINATE OBVIOUS WASTE

Water in roads adjacent fields is not only wasteful, but creates friction with neighbors
and ditchtenders. Watch water carefully and control gophers. Fix all leaking valves and
pipes.

CUT DOWN ON CORN ACREAGE

If possible, switch to another crop such as beans which doesn’t require as much
irrigation. Plant sudan and make as many cuttings as you can before you run out of
water. Plant less corn and leave the rest fallow.

To figure how much corn you can plant, first calculate how much water you are putting
on with each irrigation by following the example on page 2 which uses flow rate, and
minutes per acre. Multiply the number of inches applied per irrigation by the number of
irrigations you expect, and compare that with the amount of water you have available.
Adjust your acreage accordingly.

After leaving out your worst fields, maximize efficiency on the rest by shortening runs
etc.

VARIETIES

At first glance it would seem that at least one irrigation could be saved by switching from
a 110 to a 100 day corn. However, in our area, a shorter season corn planted early will
come off at about the same time as the longer season corn. Late in the season, the
differences between the maturity groups become more pronounced, but planted early,
there will probably not be more than 2-4 days difference.

Very long season corns will certainly need more irrigations, so they would be less
desirable. Three and four way crosses have the reputation of being more tolerant to
stress if shorting the corn is unavoidable, and their use may have advantages if they are
not too long season.

The yield potential of very short season corns is much below that of mid-season corns
and it may be better to plant less acreage of a mid-season corn that you are familiar
with than to plant a larger acreage of something with which you have no experience.

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

PLANTING DATE

Corn planted for silage will use (evaporate) less water if it is planted early. On a sandy
loam soil, projections based on long-term weather data show 9 irrigations for April 16
planted corn, 10 for May 16 and 11 for June 16. For grain corn, later plantings use less
water because the grain filling period is during the cooler months.

SEED BED PREPARATION

To conserve water, the preirrigation need not soak the ground any deeper than the
roots will grow—about 3 feet. That means, for a sandy loam soil, no more than about 5-
6 inches of water, even if the soil is bone dry. You could actually get by with less, if
subsequent irrigations result in wetting deeper than the root zone. In other words,
preirrigating extra long in order to saturate the deep root zone is unnecessary because
in most cases on our light soils, every irrigation results in water going past the roots
anyway.

Of course, the problem is that preirrigation takes a long time just to get the water across
the field. The longer the time, the more water is wasted. If water is short, anything
which can be done to speed the water up will be helpful. If you must rip to get root
penetration, try to pack (not compact) the loose surface by rolling and scraping. Better
yet, if you ripped before the oats, let the ground dry out before cutting the oats (they
have to wilt anyway) so as not to compact the soil during harvest. Then skip the ripping.
If stubble will slow the water too much, a light disking may help, otherwise, the
preirrigation can go on right after the oats come off.

Although we have little or no experience with intentionally irrigating up corn on sand,

there is a potential water savings from this practice. Weed control is one obvious
problem. Cultivation is one possible solution. The best guess for herbicides come from
the midwest, where corn depends on rainfall to bring it up and to incorporate pre-
emergence herbicides. Assuming a sandy soil and a 3 inch rainstorm immediately after
planting, some ideas would be Dual at 2 lbs + Bladex at 1 lb 90 DF or 1 qt Prowl + 1 lb
Bladex. Prowl has the advantage of having some activity on Johnsongrass seedlings,
but the disadvantage of being fairly risky. If your organic matter is , < 1%, the Bladex
could be a bit hot, too. These are not recommendations. These treatments may not
even be registered. They are just what works under sort of similar conditions in the
midwest. (If anyone tries this, please let me know how it works!) One more thought:
plant as shallowly as think you can get away with to avoid problems with crusting and
disease or insect problems due to slow germination.

PLANTERS AND PLANTING

It goes without saying that planting into as good a moisture as possible will help get the
corn off to a good start. Faster emergence means that the roots will be able to grow to
keep up with the falling moisture.

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

A common problem on light soils is dry dirt falling into the planting hole along with the
seed. When this happens, moisture must first move into the soil surrounding the seed
before the seed can begin to swell and germinate. Most older disk openers allow globs
of both dry and moist soil to fall randomly into the planting furrow, resulting in an uneven
stand depending on the moisture status surrounding each individual seed. As
discussed previously, small differences in moisture at this stage can result in large
differences in growth rate of the seedlings. The more elaborate planters do not
necessarily do a better job; rather, a precise amount of dry dirt falls into the planting
furrow along with the seed, resulting in a uniformly delayed emergence.

Growers in other areas have solved this problem by installing a runner-type planting
shoe which is designed to keep dry soil away from the seed. The Acura shoe,
manufactured by a company in Iowa, is popular with corn growers around Woodland
and has virtually eliminated emergence problems due to moisture in that area.

Running sweeps in front of the disk openers to push away dry dirt is only partially
effective because they do not leave a mulch of dry soil over the planting row. They may
also leave ruts which are objectionably deep.

Packing or rolling fluffy soil may not only improve soil contact with the seed, but may
also help speed up the first irrigation.

10
 IRRIGATION SCHEDULE FOR SILAGE CORN ON SAND SOIL

ASSUMPTIONS: 1.0 in/ft available water

3.0 ft root zone
50% depletion
75% irrigation efficiency
2.0 inches water per irrigation

APRIL 16 PLANTING MAY 16 PLANTING JUNE 16 PLANTING

Seasonal

Seasonal

Seasonal
Irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation
Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.
Season

Season

Season
Day of

Day of

Day of
From

From

From
Total

Total

Total
Days

Days

Days
Date

Date

Date
Last

Last

Last
PRE 2 PRE 2 PRE 2
1 5/7 22 4 1 6/7 22 4 1 6/21 6 4
2 5/26 41 19 6 2 6/23 38 16 6 2 7/4 19 13 6
3 6/6 52 11 8 3 7/2 47 9 8 3 7/12 27 8 8
4 6/13 60 8 10 4 7/9 54 7 10 4 7/19 34 7 10
5 6/19 67 7 12 5 7/15 60 6 12 5 7/25 40 6 12
6 6/25 73 6 14 6 7/20 65 5 14 6 7/30 45 5 14
7 6/30 78 5 16 7 7/26 71 6 16 7 8/5 51 6 16
8 7/6 84 6 18 8 8/1 77 6 18 8 8/11 57 6 18
9 7/11 89 5 20 9 8/7 83 6 20 9 8/17 63 6 20
10 7/16 94 5 22 10 8/13 89 6 22 10 8/23 69 6 22
11 7/21 99 5 24 11 8/20 96 7 24 11 8/30 76 7 24
12 7/26 104 5 26 12 8/27 103 7 26 12 9/7 84 8 26
13 9/16 93 9 28

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

IRRIGATION SCHEDULE FOR SILAGE CORN ON SANDY LOAM

ASSUMPTIONS: 1.25 in/ft available water

3.0 ft root zone
50% depletion
75% irrigation efficiency
2.5 inches water per irrigation

APRIL 16 PLANTING MAY 16 PLANTING JUNE 16 PLANTING

Seasonal

Seasonal

Seasonal
Irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation
Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.
Season

Season

Season
Day of

Day of

Day of
From

From

From
Total

Total

Total
Days

Days

Days
Date

Date

Date
Last

Last

Last
PRE 2.5 PRE 2.5 PRE 2.5
1 5/7 22 5.0 1 6/9 23 5.0 1 6/21 6 5.0
2 5/29 44 22 7.5 2 6/18 34 11 7.5 2 7/6 21 15 7.5
3 6/10 56 12 10.0 3 6/30 46 12 10.0 3 7/16 31 10 10.0
4 6/19 65 9 12.5 4 7/9 55 9 12.5 4 7/23 38 7 12.5
5 6/26 72 7 15.0 5 7/16 62 7 15.0 5 7/30 45 7 15.0
6 7/3 79 7 17.5 6 7/23 69 7 17.5 6 8/6 52 7 17.5
7 7/10 86 7 20.0 7 7/30 76 7 20.0 7 8/14 60 8 20.0
8 7/17 93 7 23.5 8 8/10 83 7 22.5 8 8/22 68 8 22.5
9 7/24 100 7 25.0 9 8/14 90 7 25.0 9 8/31 77 9 25.0
10 8/23 99 9 27.5 10 9/9 86 9 27.5
11 9/22 99 13 30.0

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

IRRIGATION SCHEDULE FOR SILAGE CORN ON LOAM SOIL

ASSUMPTIONS: 1.5 in/ft available water

3.0 ft root zone
50% depletion
75% irrigation efficiency
3.0 inches water per irrigation

APRIL 16 PLANTING MAY 16 PLANTING JUNE 16 PLANTING

Seasonal

Seasonal

Seasonal
Irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation
Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.
Season

Season

Season
Day of

Day of

Day of
From

From

From
Total

Total

Total
Days

Days

Days
Date

Date

Date
Last

Last

Last
PRE 3 PRE 3 PRE 3
1 5/7 21 6 1 6/6 21 6 1 6/21 6 6
2 6/1 45 24 9 2 6/27 42 21 9 2 7/8 23 17 9
3 6/13 57 12 12 3 7/8 53 11 12 3 7/19 34 11 12
4 6/22 65 9 15 4 7/17 62 9 15 4 7/27 42 8 15
5 6/30 73 8 18 5 7/25 70 8 18 5 8/5 51 9 18
6 7/8 81 8 21 6 8/3 79 9 21 6 8/14 60 9 21
7 7/16 89 8 24 7 8/12 88 9 24 7 8/23 69 9 24
8 7/24 97 8 27 8 8/22 98 10 27 8 9/3 79 10 27
9 9/16 92 13 30

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 Corn Irrigation In A Dry Year

IRRIGATION SCHEDULE FOR SILAGE CORN ON CLAY SOIL

ASSUMPTIONS: 2.0 in/ft available water

3.0 ft root zone
50% depletion
75% irrigation efficiency
4.0 inches water per irrigation

APRIL 16 PLANTING MAY 16 PLANTING JUNE 16 PLANTING

Seasonal

Seasonal

Seasonal
Irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation
Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.

Irrig. No.
Season

Season

Season
Day of

Day of

Day of
From

From

From
Total

Total

Total
Days

Days

Days
Date

Date

Date
Last

Last

Last
PRE 4 PRE 4 PRE 4
1 5/7 21 8 1 6/7 22 8 1 6/21 6 8
2 6/6 51 30 12 2 7/1 45 23 12 2 7/15 30 24 12
3 6/20 65 14 16 3 7/14 58 13 16 3 7/25 40 10 16
4 7/1 75 10 20 4 7/25 69 11 20 4 8/5 51 11 20
5 7/11 85 10 24 5 8/5 80 11 24 5 8/17 63 12 24
6 7/21 95 10 28 6 8/17 92 12 28 6 8/30 76 13 28
7 9/16 93 17 32

14