2018 SWCS International Annual Conference July 29-August 1, 2018 Albuquerque Convention Center

1. Circular Buffer Strips (CBS): An
Innovative Way to Add Ecosystem
Services to Irrigated Agriculture
Dr. Sangu Angadi
Dept. Plant and Environmental Sciences
and Agricultural Science Center at Clovis
New Mexico State University
Clovis, NM 88101
NIFA Award #: 2016-67019-25028

2. Collaborators
• Drs. Rajan Ghimire, John Idowu, Sultan Begna,
Steve Gulden, Mr. Paramveer Singh
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM &
Agricultural Science Center at Clovis, NM
• Dr. Prasanna Gowda, USDA-ARS, El Reno, OK
• Dr. Gary Marek, USDA-ARS, Bushland, TX
• Dr. John Stout, USDA-ARS, Lubbock, TX

3. Grassland with Bison
1930’s Dust Bowl
Irrigation and Ogallala Aquifer
Drought, Declining Ogallala—Dust Storms
Designer Pivot
IrrigatedNon-irrigated
(NOAA-G.E. Marsh)
(Clovis, NM 2013)
Grass Buffers Annual Crops
Why CBS?

4. We are Windy….

5. (Clovis, 2006)
Wind Erosion and Resource Loss

6. Wind Erosion and Resource Loss
(Clovis, 2006)

7. Rain Storms
Runoff
(Clovis 7th June 2014)
Precipitation:
Amount, Intensity and Distribution
Soil Erosion
(Oct 2, 2017)

9. Irrigation Systems in the Region
(Clovis, 2009)

10. Evaporation Loss
Evaporation
Wind
In a row cropping system, >
50% of irrigation water
applied before canopy closure
is lost by evaporation (Agam,
et al., 2012)

11. SD
NB
KS
TX
NM
CO
WY Clovis, NM
Ogallala Aquifer Circles of Center Pivot Partial Pivots
OK
Declining Ogallala Aquifer
If not addressed immediately,
35% of Southern Great Plains
Irrigated land will be dryland
(Scanlon et al., 2012)

12. Partial Pivots:
Can we look this as
an opportunity?
Ogallala Aquifer Condition

13. Partial Pivot to Designer Pivot with Circular
Buffer Strips
Cross Section of pivot during offseason
Cross Section of pivot during crop growing season
Grass Buffer
Crop strip
Grass Buffer
Crop stubble
Buffer circleCrop circle
1/3
2/3
(Irrigated Crop)
(Fallow)

14. Wind Direction and Barrier Efficiency
chemeschemes
ch
e
m
es
Efficiency
High
Wind
Barrier
Efficiency
Low

15. Benefits from Circular Perennial
Grass Buffer Strips
Direct Benefits of
Perennial Grass
Indirect Benefits of
Grass Buffer Strip
Increased Benefits of
Circular Design
Multiple Buffers
↑CSequestration
↑SoilOrganicMatter
↑SoilQuality
↑Biodiversity&wildlife
↑RootingDepth
↑Infiltration&WHC
↓InputRequirements
↑ResourceCapture&Time
↓WindSpeed
↓Evaporation&runoff
↓Pollution
↓Soil&WaterErosion
↑NetPrimaryProductivity
↑RainandSnowCapture
↑CropMicroclimate
↑SeedlingProtection
Nowinddirectionproblem
↑Efficiencyofirrigation
↑AirQuality
↓WheelTrackProblem
↑WellPressureTolerance
↑ManyDirect&IndirectBenefits
InsectandDisease???
Noneedoftalltrees..Tallgrassesfine
Covermostofthepivotarea
Morebiodiversitybenefits
Productivity
Environment and
Natural Resources (e.g. Water)
Quality of Life
Profitability

16. Major Benefits
✽ Improves Water Cycle: Reduce Losses (Evaporation and
Runoff) and Conserve Water (High Intensity Rain,
Infiltration, Snow Capture)
✽ Improve Productivity: Microclimate, Soil Abrasion Injury
✽ Protect Soil: Perennial Cover, Reduce Wind
✽ Increase Biodiversity: Plants, Microbes, Wildlife,
Beneficials
✽ Resilient Cropping System for Uncertain Climate: (C
Sequestration, Deeper Roots, Longer Growing Season,
Higher Productivity)
✽ Environmental Benefits: Reduced pollution, improved
air quality, wildlife habitat
✽ Practical Benefits: Well Pressure, Pivot Maintenance

17. (NRC 2010; Original... Glover, 2010)
Crop Diversity: Winter Wheat vs. Perennial Wheat
• ↑ Organic Matter
• ↑ C sequestration
• ↑ infiltration
• ↑ Water holding
capacity
• ↑ Biodiversity

18. Planting Circular Buffer Strip Trial at Clovis, NM
(Aug 13, 2016)
(Aug 5, 2016)
Planting Native Grass Mixture
4 Warm Season (Big Bluestem, Sideoats
Grama, Blackwell Switchgrass, Indian grass)
2 Cool Season (Jose Tall Wheatgrass, Western
Wheatgrass)
Grass Emergence
(Aug 24, 2016)

19. Planting Circular Buffer Strip Trial at Clovis, NM
(April 30, 2017)
Survived Winter and Showed
Some Promise of Catching Snow
Snow trapping

20. Planting Circular Buffer Strip Trial at Clovis, NM
(June 6, 2017)
(May 2, 2017)
Collecting Baseline Soil Samples
Grass During 2017 Season
(Aug 17, 2017)

21. Circular Buffer Strip Trial at Clovis, NM
(August 2, 2017)
Drone View

22. N
Agricultural Science Center at Clovis
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Subsurface Drip
Surface Drip
Buffer strip trial
Buffer strip control
Wind Direction

23. N
Agricultural Science Center at Clovis
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Buffer strip trial

24. N
Agricultural Science Center at Clovis
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Buffer strip trial

25. Sensors and Neutron Tube Locations
Preliminary Results
(April 30, 2017)
N
N
N
W
W
W
S S
S S
T, RH T, RH
T, RH
T, RH

26. (Center points of buffers and crop strips)
(Buffer Strip1) (Buffer Strip2)
10’ 20’
Wind measurement plan
10’20’
00
Percentupwindvelocity
100
50
00

27. Wind Moderation by Buffer Strips
Julian Day
160 162 164 166 168 170 172 174 176 178 180 182
%Wind
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
BW1
CW1
BW2
CW2
CW3 BW3Buffer Strip Lines

28. (Center points of buffers and crop strips)
Middle of crop strip..
Deeper 8 ft tube
(Buffer Strip1) (Buffer Strip2)
Profiledepth(%)
100
50
00
15’ 21’ 29’
Soil moisture measurement plan 2017
Control
6’ 54’
90’ 90’
This is for edge effect

29. Buffer & Water Conservation
Neutron Tube #s
Buffer pivot: 9 deep 18 shallow
Control pivot: 12 shallow
These tubes compare similar
tube in other pivot..
Between August 31
and October 09, 2017
167mm
179mm
97mm
97mm
66mm
64mm
66mm
62mm
44mm
24mm
48mm
10mm
19mm

30. (Center points of buffers and crop strips)
(Buffer Strip1) (Buffer Strip2)
Profiledepth(%)
100
50
00
Corn Yield with and without CBS
Control

31. Circular Buffer Strip: Impacts
Global Diffusion
Recognition from Scientists
Exciting farming community
Scientific Society Web Page
Innovative Idea Manuscript

32. In Summary..
• Circular Buffer Strip Concept has great potential to
improve multiple ecosystems services in Center
Pivot Irrigated fields.
• Preliminary observations on benefits of circular
buffer strips are promising.
• Farmers, scientists and media are showing lot of
appreciation for the concept.

33. Thank You
Funding Support:
Agricultural Experiment Station, NMSU
USDA-NIFA-Ecosystem Services (NIFA Award #: 2016-67019-25028)
Technical Help:
Aaron Scott, David Rodriguez, Miguel Nunez
Daniel Rush, Jaden Scott and Chris Lutich