I might be biased saying this. But since I grew up in agriculture, I know it’s the best industry there is. Tyler Fields,
Just how important is agriculture to our way of life? When US President Ronald Reagan drafted a farm bill in the 1980s to help American farmers, he said: “My main thought throughout all our efforts to create a truly useful farm bill was this: We are nothing without farmers. They are the backbone of this country. And everything we do to help them helps our country and its future.”
I believe President Reagan’s words to my core, but there’s one element he didn’t address: water. Just as important as agriculture is to America, water is just as important to agriculture. Without water, farming and ranching are practically impossible. Recognizing that water is a precious resource that must be conserved for future generations, we also make every effort to use irrigation water as efficiently as possible.
The Irrigation Association sets standards to make sure irrigation specialists design the most efficient systems. Many factors affect how efficiently an irrigation system runs, but right now I’ll focus on the three biggest ones.
One integral component is the set of sprinklers mounted on the center-pivot system. Water needs to be delivered to the irrigation machine through some kind of pumping station for correct application. Finally, there needs to be a central mechanism to bring all the components together. Maintaining all these components is essential to keep the system running as designed, conserve water and other resources, and increase the profit margin for the end user.
The irrigation machine
Logically, the most important part of an irrigation system is the central span line, since it’s where the sprinkler package is mounted, and it carries water from the pumping station along the length of the spans to the sprinklers. Timely maintenance of irrigation equipment is critical for a long service life. Valley irrigation machines are designed and built to be the longest and sturdiest in the industry, but every machine sometimes needs servicing. There are a lot of moving parts on an irrigation machine, so it’s important to keep them in working condition at all times. If the machine can’t start up, water can’t be applied to the crop – it’s that simple.
If a farm is located somewhere with typically harsh winters, insulating and winterizing the machine for that period is especially important for long-term function and reliability.
Your local Valley dealer can help, or you can get a head start by reading this blog. One thing that’s often overlooked is checking tire pressure before the watering season. This way you can prevent a flat tire, which holds up the system, from getting in the way of work during the peak growing season. Preventing breakdowns proactively is also very important. Valley dealers can put together a package of advice showing which parts should be checked and potentially replaced to avoid a breakdown during the season.
Pumps
Another piece of the water-efficiency puzzle is transferring water from the source to the central span line. In some situations, an irrigation pump may not work properly, or it may be significantly oversized because the hydraulics weren’t built to specification. As power increases, kilowatt-hours increase too, so the goal would be to design a system with the most efficient hydraulics/pump combination, to save on operating costs. Beyond that, over time even normal wear can reduce its efficiency. Pumping “sand” can also harm a pump’s long-term efficiency. An irrigation pump wears out because, over time, the impeller inside the pump bowl wears down and becomes less efficient. Tracking rises in water level can also matter a great deal for the pump. Making sure the pumping level matches the design is vital, otherwise the pump won’t run as efficiently. There are pump and motor maintenance guides available online, but with open pumps, above all, keep an eye on this during the season: check whether drops of water are coming through the valve, to make sure the pump shaft stays lubricated.
One more point: track the pressure at pumping stations or turnouts over the years and record the results. This can help identify when a pumping station starts losing some of its efficiency, which will mean rising costs every year.
Sprinklers
Of course, correctly delivering water to the actual crop is part of using water efficiently. Saving water can save money, increasing profit and letting you achieve the goal of doing more with less. That’s where sprinklers come in. To achieve “more crop per drop,” you need to make sure the sprinkler package is up to date and uses the latest technology for distributing water.
Technology is a broader concept than just the latest model of mobile phone – according to Webster’s dictionary, it’s “the practical application of knowledge.” Irrigation companies have invested a lot of time and money to give farmers access to the most efficient irrigation technology. There are mobile labs that can test the efficiency of irrigation setups, and your Valley dealer can commission new irrigation systems.
Checking every component of an effective watering system is necessary to make sure next season is a profitable one for your farm. But this was just an overview. Talk to your local Valley dealer to get all the details.
Agriculture is essential to the American way of life, and water is essential to agriculture. We can’t have one without the other, so it’s worth looking for ways to conserve both together.
Tyler Fields,
Director of Irrigation Systems Development, Valley
Tyler, an agricultural engineer specializing in land and water resources, joined Valley in April 2013. For many years he worked within the Valley network, letting him work closely with the agricultural irrigation community to assess the needs of farmers and other agricultural sectors. Tyler grew up on a dairy farm in south Florida, and also took part in daily ranch work and row-crop farming. Working at Valley lets him combine his education and his love of agriculture.
