Looking for some good ideas and advice for irrigating pastures

[soarwitheagles]

Hi again everyone!

We are considering irrigating 1-2 acres for green pasture during the summer months here in central valley, CA.

The PVC lines and sprinklers really are not that expensive and we have an awesome ground saw.

Purchasing and feeding hay for 3-4 months would be expensive. We are trying cut costs.

Just wondering if the electricity bill would be astronomical to run the well pump to irrigate an acre or two.

Also, wondering how feasible it would be to run the well off of a propane generator...would it save on costs for running the well?

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, ect. for us?

We are all ears!

Thanks!

 

[Baymule]

I have no experience in this area, anybody? I would be concerned about running the well for extended periods. Hopefully someone who knows more about this will come along and help out.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Few years back when we were in a drought scenario...(not like these days) I had the best garden I've had in forever...also had a huge bill replacing the water well motor. UGH!

 

[Pamela]

I second and third the caution about using your domestic well to water that much property. We live on 2 acres and only use the domestic well for household needs and watering animals in the winter months. The rest of the time, we use a sandpoint well (shallow well), to water our pastures, yards, garden, and livestock. Hope you find a good solution.

 

[babsbag]

I don't think there are many sandpoint wells in California and if the county he lives in is like mine they usually won't even let you dig another well; one is all you get. But if the property is zoned ag. they might make exceptions. I water my garden, my orchard, my livestock, and my lawn with my domestic well, it gives 13 gallons a minute and it does ok. I also run an evaporative cooler all summer which uses quite a bit of water. It gets expensive to run the well.

We have solar panels on our house so the time of day that we use power matters; 8 PM to 10 AM is the cheapest. So I do all my irrigating at night and our ultimate plan is to have a 3000 gallon tank that we fill at night and then use a 12 volt pump to use water from the tank during the day.

How much do you think you would have to irrigate? Friends that I have around here that grow pasture actually flood irrigate but they are on ag. irrigation water and once a week the irrigation district just turns on the flow for them so they are told how much head they will get and for how long. My one friend that was trying to irrigate from a well just gave up as it was too much money. We don't try to grow pasture as we have no level land.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I have taken it to heart! A new well motor would cost us $6400! Ouch!

I finally called the company that installed the well. He told us it is a 3 hp motor, and can easily be set up to water an acre with no problems. Biggest issue is to set the pump up in a manner that it does not turn on and off repeatedly, but, rather, runs continuously. He told me to set the shut off at 55 psi, the top end at 60, and to run enough sprinklers so per station so the pump runs continuously. I will give it a try.