Center Pivot Friendly Fields
Does my farm have fields suitable for pivots?
If you are considering center pivot irrigation for your farm due to escalating land prices, higher inputs and lost yield, let’s look at a few basics impacting economic feasibility. While every farm has its own unique characteristics, some basic metrics should be considered.
Best PLACES TO START
Larger fields (40 acres +) that are relatively symmetrical.
Minimal obstacles such as power lines, trees, or structures
Topography that is fairly flat or gently rolling
A proximal water supply with adequate flow (5.5 GPM / Ac) and capacity (6+ Acre Inches x 27,154 Gallons = 162,924 Gal./ Acre/Season)
An adequate power supply that can be connected to your pump station and pivot
Soil types that are course and well drained
Crops that require more total water like corn and hay will generally show a greater response
Higher value crops like vegetables, potatoes and seed corn are part of your rotation
Longer, full turn pivots are the most economical units. The more acres you can cover with a single pivot point and a complete or mostly complete revolution will lower your cost of equipment per acre. A good rule of thumb would be to determine the feet of iron needed to water the total acres watered. Each pivot point required will need water and power hookups, a control panel, a pad, and a pivot point. Each of these items will add cost. For example, 2 – 600 ft pivots will cover about 60 acres total, while 1 – 1000 ft pivot will cover about 72 acres with 200 ft less iron and without the additional cost of a pivot point. This same principle also applies if you have partial turn machines to cover odd-shaped fields compared with full turn machines.
Obstacles such as power lines, trees, ditches, and structures often limit the ability to have longer machines that can make full circles. Experienced designers can develop and explain features to minimize added expense. Lots of options still exist like bridges over ditches, machines that bend around an obstacle or corner arms that tuck or extend to improve acres covered.
Topography can have an impact on your machine design. There are limits to ground clearance, climbing capacity and span length, which can often be overcome. Options for tower height, span length, drive units, and tires can all be considered. It is often as simple as careful placement of drive wheel tracks and span length selection.
Locating an adequate water supply is critical. Having an adequate flow rate and total capacity are both important. Finding a source closer to the pivot point may also be favorable. Just because there is a convenient water source does not mean it is always available (by state regulation). Our Michigan Valley staff is well versed with the procedures for submitting and working through the water withdrawal process with EGLE, the state regulatory authority.
Having an adequate supply from a power source in another key element. Three-phase power is needed for all the major pivot manufacturers. Our goal is to place the pump station as close to the power supply as possible, keeping wire expense to a minimum. Not to worry if the source is only single phase, more than half of our installations require a device to convert single phase to three-phase power. Other options exist such as solar panels and diesel or natural gas generators if the grid is not accessible.
Course well drained soils require more water and show a greater yield response to irrigation. This is because soils with greater moisture holding capacity will retain and have plant available moisture longer from either rain or irrigation. If you combine this with crops that have a higher return per unit of yield, your return on investment will be better. For example, crops like corn and hay require more water, while seed corn, potatoes and vegetables are higher in value. I have summarized the absolute best situations giving you the opportunity to get your feet wet with the best ROI situation. Michigan in general does not have as many perfect pivot fields, but we do have an abundant water supply and many options for higher value crops unlike states like Nebraska.
Once you get started with fields that have the greatest potential return, you can begin to share infrastructure and resources making additional pivot systems more cost effective. For example, sharing a well with multiple pivots or adding to existing buried pipe and wire to reach another location will often lower your per acre investment.
When considering if your farm has fields that would benefit from center pivot irrigation, the short answer is most likely yes. Most years Michigan does not get enough rainfall during the growing season for your crops to reach their yield potential. Just because you think you have heavier dirt that holds water better or your fields are too hilly, do not stop looking. Do some research. Take some time to calculate costs and potential returns. We would be happy to help with that. Michigan Valley Irrigation has been at this since 1985, with over 450 years of combined irrigation experience. If you have questions, we have answers. We would be happy to help you evaluate options for your farm.
Give us a call at
989-762-5028
or check us out at
mvi.farm
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pete is the marketing manager for Michigan Valley Irrigation, having joined the company in 2016. He was raised on a dairy farm in western New York and graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in agricultural economics. His entire working career of over 37 years has been involved in agriculture. A farmer helping farmers. When away from Michigan Valley he operates, Joyful Noise Farm, a small livestock and produce farm and spends time with his family.
