To determine the width, you can size border areas by dividing the length of field into the number of square feet in 21.3 acres. The difference is that one is a flat rule of thumb and the latter one, using flow rate and replacement moisture, is based on a known deficit and runoff or loss value of 3 inches, as compared to a calculated deficit of about 4.5 inches. Either system works, replacement water or flow rate per unit foot of width. The main factor is that the assumptions being made are correct. Border Levee Construction Actual border construction is simple.
Most producers use some form of a single-row hipper to build the borders.
One or two passes with the hipper give enough height difference to contain the water in the bay. Only a slight height difference of 2 to 3 inches, from the top of a settled border dike to the top of the planted ground level, is needed to guide the water down the bay. Many producers are putting the border dike in the wheel tracks, since these tracks often are unplanted. You can use a levee plow, but it is much higher and wider than it needs to be, destroying production area. You can install border dikes or borders almost any time during the growing season.