Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R, AZ-06) stopped by an N-Drip-supplied cotton field on Wednesday, May 29, to learn more about the water-saving product. Pictured are, from left, farmer J.R. Howard, Rep. Ciscomani, and N-Drip Regional Technical Manager Clifton Isom.
By Jon Johnson
BRYCE – On Wednesday, May 29, U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani capped off his day in the Gila Valley with a trip to an N-Drip-supplied cotton field in Bryce just outside of Pima. N-Drip provides precise irrigation utilizing its gravity-fed drip system to provide higher yields with less energy and water.
On Wednesday, Ciscomani heard straight from the farmer and N-Drip Regional Technical Manager Clifton Isom about how the N-Drip irrigation system saves water and energy. Farmer J.R. Howard said he had roughly 30 acres on the N-Drip system last season and will irrigate about 400 to 500 acres this season. He said he saw a 40 percent reduction in his water use with the system. The Howard fields are utilizing a hybrid watering system in which he still uses the traditional furrow flood irrigation to get the cotton started and then switches to the precision drip system.
“I’m a little worried, but, you know, I’m also kind of excited,” Howard said. “If this works, this is huge.”
“This is a big deal,” Ciscomani said. “It’s a game changer.”
Howard said he was able to increase the acreage due in part to grants from the University of Arizona. Being along the Gila River, Howard and his father, Ron Howard, (not the actor/director) have an allotment of only 6 acre-feet of water per acre that they can use.
“So, we have to figure out ways to be very efficient with the water use,” Howard said.
With N-Drip being a gravity-fed system, it utilizes a screen at the intake (which can be cleaned and reused) but doesn’t have any filters and doesn’t have the same energy use as a pressurized drip system. Additionally, the N-Drip system is seasonal and is intended to be taken out every year and recycled so farmers can still till the land.
“(With a pressurized system) you’re losing just trying to clean the water enough to push it through the tape,” Isom said. “With us, we through a screen in this bucket here in our tank and to clean it it’s as easy as taking it out (and) shaking it. Just like you would your doormat at home.”
Ciscomani questioned when he should return to check back on the farm to see if the N-Drip system worked well. Howard advised him that by the end of July and early August, he would be able to tell how the cotton was doing and it should be ready for picking by the end of October.
“Last year, the field we had it on, it was up there in the top-yielding fields that we have, so I know it works,” Howard said.
N-Drip is manufactured in Yuma but now also has a local facility based at the Safford Regional Airport – 1LT Duane Spalsbury Field.
“Our Safford Yard is in the Safford Airport and it’s been a pleasure,” Isom said. “It’s a great central location.”
Isom said with the local facility farmers have quick access to assistance locally if something needs attention. He said there was a small issue at Howard’s field and it was quickly resolved.
“Someone left a valve open, you (Howard) turned on the water, and all of a sudden there’s bubbling up in the field – I think 30 minutes. We were here faster than the pizza guy and we took care of it.”
The N-Drip system lies just below the surface and is deployed every other row, making it easily removable at the end of the growing season.
Most of the costs of the systems being deployed in the Gila Valley have been covered by grants due to the environmental impact of saving water, and Howard’s fields have a three-year life cycle. In Howard’s case, since he is capped at 6 acre-feet of water per acre it would allow him to perhaps farm more cotton rather than having to leave fields to go fallow. Moving forward, the goal is to have water and energy savings offset the system costs without having to subsidize it with grants.
“Water savings is huge,” Howard said. “There’s a lot of grants now in Arizona that are available for water savings. It’s a big deal in Arizona to save water, obviously.”
