New Zealanders learn about groundwater during stops in Chase County, Colorado

    Twenty-five New Zealanders made a stop in Imperial Tuesday to learn about groundwater management during a two-state irrigation tour.
    The group included 15 farmers/irrigators with the rest of the group comprised of irrigation  industry representatives and consultants from the country.
    The group spent the night in Imperial Monday after learning about fertigation at Agri-Inject in Yuma, Colorado. They also visited the demonstration farm of the Irrigation Research Foundation there.
    Tuesday morning they met with the Upper Republican Natural Resources District.
    Manager Jasper Fanning explained how the NRDs came to be in Nebraska and their duties and responsibilities.
    He also addressed compact issues with Kansas and the augmentation projects developed to keep Nebraska in compliance.
    From there, they visited the Mike Bauerle farm to learn how Bauerle uses technology in his farming operation.
    That afternoon they toured Valley’s irrigation manufacturing plant in McCook and met with representatives of the Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District.
    Wednesday they were scheduled to tour the NCORPE augmentation project in Lincoln County.
Irrigation practices
    Farmers in the group noted that while they do use some groundwater for irrigation, most of their water comes from snow runoff from the Alps mountains.
    Being below the equator, their climate is opposite of that in the U.S. The continent is just beginning to enter spring while here in the U.S. fall is beginning.
    Several farmers said they had to get planting done before leaving on the 10-day tour.

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