Directional Slope by Yield - What Does it Tell Us?

Directional Slope was developed by PCT for their irrigation customers who utilize hills/beds.

This report allows the assessment of the grade in the field, and it is a strong indicator of irrigation efficiency.

The result is a graph and a loss assessment. Be careful not to assume that you need to change your slope. It can mean you need to change your irrigation habits to make the field think it has a different slope. I.e. speed water up or slow it down depending on the soil type.

Higher yield from steeper slopes usually indicated too much water or irrigation that may have been too long or close to a rainfall event.

Higher yield from flatter slopes usually indicates a water deficit.

These are compared to the grade in the field that has the highest area. In the example below, the 3rd zone is the one with the most area while the 4th zone (slightly steeper) is the zone with the highest yield.

The loss is Total Loss and assumes a field with no variability in slope (recently levelled) and irrigation timing that suits that slope. 

Just because a field has been re-levelled does mean it has been irrigated properly.