I'm researching different methods for food plot irrigation. How many of you guys currently use (or have used in the past) some form of irrigation for wildlife food plots?

Also, what recommendations do you guys have for the most inexpensive, yet still effective, method of irrigation (wheel line irrigation, pivot system, in-ground sprinklers, etc...)

The food plots in question will be perfectly square and 5-10 acres each.

I'm aware that any method of irrigation will cost quite a bit of money, so no need to waste any bandwidth trying to educate me on why you don't think it's worth it.

Thanks guys.

Hi Wade,
I have 3 food plots, 4-5 acres each & went with wheel-line irrigation.
We already have the underground lines in place for large alfalfa fields which
are adjacent to these food plots, so there wasn't a lot of infrastructure to add.
With the wheel-line, we do 12 hours sets, & there are only 4-5 sets for each field.
We purchased the wheel-lines used (about 40% of new price) which helped.

Our food plots are primarily for pheasant, so we put in mainly sorghum.
This seems to work great for food & winter cover.
The adjacent alfalfa fields attract lots of deer & elk, so we wanted something
that they wouldn't hammer, so far the sorghum has worked.

One year before the wheel line system, we used cannons, but they were alot
more labor intensive & the irrigation wasn't as uniform.

Good Luck, Jim

Thanks Jim!! Good info...

In South Tx the best food plot irrigation I have come up with is a 300-500 pounder made by All Seasons . Rain or shine it works great to provide deer with the nutrion they need.

What is your water source? That will determine everything else. Ground water, storage tank or straight out of a pipe?

I do irritation for a living. Water source/ quantity/quality, power source, and labor availabilty are all considerations that must be taken into account before I could make a recommendation. I call it irritation because irrigating anything is not easy. Get back to me and we can discuss it.

I plant mine in Swamp land.Don`t need no irrigation!!!!

Water source will be a well (300-500 ft. deep)....likely with a large storage tank/pump at the top of a small hill.....using gravity to get the water to multiple plots nearby.

You didn't say what species your food plots will be for. For upland birds, flood irrigation is best and usually the cheepest but it also uses the most water. For big game it doesn't make too much difference. So if water is expensive then consider other choices. Pivots are expensive due to electric costs to pump and run it. Wheel lines may work best but they are more labor intensive.

465H&H

quote:

Originally posted by 465H&H:
You didn't say what species your food plots will be for. For upland birds, flood irrigation is best and usually the cheepest but it also uses the most water. For big game it doesn't make too much difference. So if water is expensive then consider other choices. Pivots are expensive due to electric costs to pump and run it. Wheel lines may work best but they are more labor intensive.

465H&H

Whitetail deer...

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
Water source will be a well (300-500 ft. deep)....likely with a large storage tank/pump at the top of a small hill.....using gravity to get the water to multiple plots nearby.

The gravity system you mentioned pretty much limits you to flood irrigation - the least effecient method but also probably the cheapest. To use any other system, you need to pressurize the system.