Parts of Michigan have been abnormally dry in recent months as rainfall is becoming less reliable. According to the National Weather Service, the summer of 2025 was one of Michigan’s driest summers on record.
Researchers at Michigan State University say that means farmers are relying more on irrigation to water their crops. This is especially true for tree fruit growers who have densely packed orchards, according to Younsuk Dong, an irrigation specialist at MSU.
“The roots are shallow, and trees are planted like closer,” Dong said. "So there's going to be more competition of water use between the trees.”
A new program ran by Dong is helping tree-fruit growers monitor soil moisture. Dong said the goal is to help growers apply irrigation more precisely without wasting water.
The Apple Irrigation Management Project is one of several programs ran through MSU extension that provides irrigation support for farmers.
Before his orchard was enrolled in the program, Travis said there was a lot of “unknowns” when he used irrigation on his apple orchard in Williamsburg, Michigan.
“You’re basically kicking the dirt,” Bratschi described how he used to check soil moisture. “You're looking at the tree, do they looked stressed, do we need to add more water to them?”
Now, Bratschi knows exactly when and how long to activate his drip irrigation system.
MSU places sensors throughout the orchard’s soil to collect data. Bratschi said researchers are then able to tell him when and how long to run his drip irrigation system daily.
Dong said there are many different ways that researchers can determine when to use irrigation, and they are still figuring what works best for Michigan’s climate and various soil types.
“That’s why we are we have been demonstrating different methods to see which one will be good recommendation that we can provide it to the growers,” Dong said. “This year we'll get some fruit data. I'll be really excited to see what the impact on the fruit quality and size.”
One of those new methods involves using data from water movement in the atmosphere and soil.
Bratschi said that evapotranspiration calculations help give researchers a better idea of what trees on his orchard need.
“I think there's we're just uncovering the benefits and what we can do with it,” Bratschi said.
Mobile technology
Other irrigation tools from MSU like the Low-Cost Monitoring System are more developed and widely available to Michigan farmers.
The LOCMOS also uses data from sensors places in soil around a farm.
The sensors track how much water is used on farms and can give growers recommendations for pesticide, fertilizer and water applications through a mobile app.
Technology like this is usually very expensive for farmers to utilize. According to Dong, it’s free for farmers to utilize.
Casey Carr, the senior agronomist at Sackett potato farm in Mecosta County said having the sensors has been extremely valuable on her farm.
“Potatoes are really sensitive to being overwatered or underwatered, you have to get it right,” Carr said. “If you overwater potato, you increase potato diseases, and if you underwater potatoes, it's hard for them to recover and rebound to good plant health.”
Carr also said the sensors help Sackett farms track how much water they use.
“Consumers are really interested,” Carr said. “They don't understand how much water it takes to grow food and so it's important to help inform customers.”
Conserving water has been at the heart of MSU’s irrigation research, according to Dong.
“Our program goal is to provide knowledge and tools to the growers to improve irrigation management, so they can use water more efficiently and responsibly,” Dong said.
Another irrigation program which was launched in 2023, called the Mobil Irrigation Lab, ensures that farmers irrigation systems aren’t wasting water.
Dong said experts test irrigation systems on farms to make sure they are functioning properly. He told MSU that faulty equipment can lead to wasted water and nutrients which can lead to underperforming crops.
“We have abundant water compared to other states, but we should be using our water responsibly,” Dong said. “I think the adoption of a tool will be very important for ag communities so that we can better use our water.”
WCMU's Rural Life and Agriculture reporting is made possible through the generous support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
