Watering season has often been called “Irritation Season.”  As crop farms have grown by acres, the number of pivots and the distances between them have grown substantially.  What used to be a quick trip to the pump station out by the well or the pivot point across the road now takes more time and fuel for startups, shutdowns, or safety checks.  Many of those trips can now be performed remotely using telemetry.  While these options are not completely new, reliability, functionality, and options have improved significantly in recent years.  New products are available at a steady pace…

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.

Dairy farms are busy places with time demands that never go away, ever.  Now you want me to manage irrigation on top of all my other responsibilities?  What if I showed you several benefits that could save time, money and improve yield?  Would that get your attention?

Three years ago, Michigan Valley Irrigation was approached to assist in proof of concept for a new technology, intending to use cameras on pivots to identify weeds, insects, and nutrient deficiencies. Partnering with Prospera Technologies and Valmont, we installed and supported camera systems with the mission of gathering data for machine learning…

Ultimately your biggest yield robber is probably cash.  Without cash it is hard to do much of anything from paying property taxes to paying for equipment, inputs, and labor.  So, let’s consider the next most significant input or factor and making yield.  If you guessed water, you agree with many others.  It’s a little more complicated than just water, but that seems to be the critical factor.  In a few cases it may be too much water, but often it is lack of moisture.  Dry weather is another description used…

If your farm is looking to make a major investment in irrigation equipment, do you follow the major brand with the established reputation, or do you select the local dealer that you know provides excellent service?  It would be easy if the big brand and the good local dealer worked together…

Winning at the game of farming is no easy task. There is no score card, referee, judge, timeclock or TV announcer. The game is becoming much less popular, as the number or teams and players continues to shrink. So how does it get measured? When can you tell if you are a winner?

Center Pivot Irrigation Systems require a good water supply both in flow rate and total gallons for a season. If you are considering irrigating 100 acres with an average of seven inches applied during the season, you will need 19,007,800 gallons of water at about 550 gallons per minute. For a one-inch application on those 100 acres, you will use 2,715,400 gallons…