                                  T H E

                               Z E P H Y R

                      __     M A G A Z I N E
                     {__]++++++++++++++++++++++++++[]
                     Issue #63                4-26-89

                A weekly electronic magazine for users of
                            THE ZEPHYR II BBS
                        (Mesa, AZ - 602-894-6526)
                    owned and operated by T. H. Smith

                        Editor - Gene B. Williams

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                                (c) 1989

       Most of you know him - Lyle Knox. He's fairly new to the
    boards, but one of the old-timers when it comes to simply
    being around. His family has been in farming here in Arizona
    for quite some time (and take it from me, he knows his stuff!).
       The article may not be of direct interest to most of you.
    Laser leveling is practical only on a fairly large scale. Still,
    it's a part of our lives. An important part.
       First, it's high-tech, a topic of interest to many of us.
       Second, it shows that scientific discoveries really DON'T
    need to be turned into weapons.
       Third, agriculture affects all of us directly in several ways.
    We eat the food grown, wear the clothes made from fibers of other
    plants . . . .
       Fourth, the water used to grow crops in Arizona belongs to
    all of us. Every drop conserved - or every drop wasted - is of
    direct concern to all of us.
       You may never have any laser leveling done, but every time a
    farmer does, our precious water supply is conserved.

                     THE BENEFITS OF LASER LEVELING

                        FLOOD IRRIGATED FARMLAND

                                   by

                                Lyle Knox

       When most people think of lasers they think of spaceships,
    death-rays and "Star Wars"; but there is a very practical side to
    the use of lasers.  Lasers are used in surgery, heavy industry,
    electronics, construction, and many other areas where almost
    perfectly straight lines or pure color light is needed, and this
    includes farming.
       The way lasers are used most in the farming industry is as a
    guide for the leveling of flood irrigated farmland in the Western
    U.S.  There are three major benefits to laser leveling farmland
    here in the West.  First, and formost, is water conservation
    which leads directly to the second benefit which is lower crop
    production costs.  The third major benefit is higher and more
    uniform crop yields.
       Let me first explain the laser leveling process.  LASER is an
    acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of
    Radiation; suffice it to say that a laser beam is a beam of light
    that is completely "pure" (of a single frequency).  A small low-
    power laser is used; a 5 milliwatt laser being the most common,
    and generally gives a range of about 1,000 feet.  The laser is
    vertically mounted in a windowed housing that looks much like a
    miniature light house.  The laser beam is projected up against a
    mirror that is angled at 45 degrees from the laser and rotates
    several times a second.  This produces the plane of light that is
    the reference point for the leveling process.  The mounting case
    also has an automatic leveling device in it to keep the plane of
    rotation level or at a preset angle.  This unit is placed in the
    middle of the field on a stand 10 to 15 feet above the ground.
    The earth moving equipment has a sensor located on it that
    "reads" the beam and tells the operator the elevation of the
    equipment in relation to the guide beam.  Most systems are
    automated and control the elevation of the cutting blade; when
    the tractor hits a high spot the blade is lowered, taking a cut,
    and when a low spot is encountered the blade is raised, letting
    dirt spill out, filling the hole.  The operator only needs to
    drive to the high spots to fill his bucket then move to the low
    spots to unload and fill the hole level.

       Water is the lifeblood of the Arizona farmer and without it
    there would be little or no farming here.  With our growing
    population changes were needed in our water laws; and in the past
    few years, we have seen these changes made.  Conservation of our
    water was the most important point of these changes and by laser
    leveling farmland, many acre feet of water can be saved by
    farmers.
       The efficiency of water use depends largely on how level the
    ground is and soil type.  On the average, a 50-70 percent
    efficiency rate is seen; this can be increased to 85 and even as
    high as 95 percent.  (Dino DeSimone, interview, 5 May, 1986.)
    These high results are seen mostly in what is known as "level
    basin" fields.  Level basins are fields that are dead level, that
    is, having no slope whatsoever.  These basins allow farmers to
    precisely control water application rates by varying the time
    each area is watered.  This is done both by increasing or
    decreasing the rate at which water enters the basin as well as
    the total volume allowed to enter.  (Ken Lucas, "Level Basin
    Irrigation in Mojave County," Arizona Farmer-Ranchman, Sept.
    1979, p. 24.)
       This system lends itself to automation very readily by having
    computers control water gates to individual fields with the
    farmer programming in exactly how much water is needed and how
    fast.  (Lucas, p. 24)  All this conservation is not only mandated
    by law, it's also necessary if a farmer is to stay in business in
    this day and age. Water costs are the largest expense that an
    Arizona farmer has and any way to substantially reduce these
    costs is not only good business sense it is vital, or the farmer
    may find himself OUT of business.  The previously discussed level
    basin type of system is only used where water is relatively
    scarce; most farmers only use a "best-fit" type of laser leveling
    to move as little dirt as possible, again keeping down production
    costs.
       Water use efficiencies aren't quite as high as level basin
    systems but any increase over what was previously seen is
    justified.  My own experience is with best-fit type of leveling
    and I can say that our water use has decreased by 20-25 percent
    over the last 5 years.  Labor expenses are decreased also because
    much less physical labor is needed to irrigate level fields.
       The third major asset of laser leveling fields is the increase
    in crop yields, which translates directly into dollars.  Fields
    that are laser leveled show much more uniform crops (no dry or
    overly wet spots) as well as an overall increase for the field as
    a whole.  Two examples in Casa Grande point this out very well.
       One case went from 1100 pounds of ginned cotton per acre to
    1350 pounds the next year, a 22.7 percent increase.  The second
    case started at 900 pounds per acre and increased to 1300 pounds
    the next year, a 44 percent increase!  Both examples used 48 acre
    inches of water, down from a previous use of 68 acre inched (from
    60 percent to 85 percent efficiency).  (DeSimone)
       As can easily be seen, laser leveling paid off extremely well
    in these two cases and, if done correctly, pays off in nearly
    every other area where it is done.
       Laser leveling works:  saving our water, reducing production
    costs, and increasing yields which benefits everyone, farmers and
    consumers alike.  Farmers conserving water means helping to
    assure an ample supply for the future; cutting production costs
    and increasing yields mean increased profits for the farmer as
    well as insuring adequate food and fiber supplies at reasonable
    prices for the consumer.

                              BIBLIOGRAPHY

         DeSimone, Dino.  Soil Conservationist with Arizona Soil
                 Conservation Service.  Telephone interview.  5 May,
                 1986.

         Lucas, Ken.  "Level Basin Irrigation in Mojave County."  Arizona
                 Farmer-Ranchman.  September 1979: 23-28.

    UNTIL NEXT TIME

       Thanks, Lyle!

       Next time - I hope to be out from under this present deadline
    shortly. And one of my first tasks will be to knock out two or
    three issues for the magazine. Meanwhile, since downloads are not
    presently available, I'll pull some old issues for repost.
       So many of our users are new, so these issues will also be
    "new" to most people. For the old-timers on the board, it will
    have been a while.
       (As a side note - when Thane fixes the upload/download section,
    all back issues will once again be available.)

       Meanwhile, a new project has come up. Perhaps some of you have
    suggestions. I need a number of simple experiments that can be
    done by children - figure 5th or 6th grade.

       I'd prefer these to come in private mail, but will break the
    usual magazine area policy and allow them on the board if you
    prefer.
       Otherwise, the topic is specifically laser leveling. Legitimate
    side topics include almost anything having to do with efficient
    farming techniques, raising food, water conservation, water in
    Arizona in general . . .

Zephyr Magazine is © Gene Williams. All rights reserved.