Are you looking for ways to increase yields and improve your irrigation efficiency? Try these tips for better pivot operation.

There are a lot of factors to consider when converting to a different form of irrigation. What type of irrigation should you switch to? What changes will need to be made to your management? How do you make this transition as easy as possible?

Over the past few years, we have seen more and more people adopt home and personal automation tools; these have simply become a way of life. Google, Amazon and Nest, among others, have taken the automation market by storm and have created a demand for connecting people to the internet beyond just using a personal computer. People are using this Internet of Things (more commonly known as IoT) concept to live their lives more efficiently; they keep going back to the internet and back to the Cloud.

If the agriculture industry could be described in one word, the most fitting word would be innovation. The ag industry is constantly discovering new ways to produce a safe and abundant food supply for an increasing population.

In farming, no matter if the crop is corn, potatoes, or grass hay, the name of the game is water. Whether it comes from Mother Nature in Kansas or from center pivot irrigation in California, the number one input to the crop is water. Water can carry nutrients from the soil through the roots to the plant, so that it can grow and return a yield; unfortunately, it can also run off the field, carrying nutrients and topsoil with it, or it can leach nutrients past the roots. Loss of water and nutrients have the same result – lost dollars – both in operating and fertilizer costs.

Popcorn is an entertainment snack food staple in America. From the local little league game to the multiplex theater, popcorn is the first snack we reach for. It is so common that we often don’t stop to think about where it comes from and all the work that goes into making that perfectly fluffy treat.

Valley Develops Solution For Pipeline Corrosion

Problem areas with low pH concentrations in the aquifer would require alternate solutions for farmers, and would eventually lead to Valley® engineers developing a permanent solution to pipeline corrosion issues in 1992 with their PolySpan® product line.

Advancements in technology have allowed crop irrigation pipelines to run with minimal problems for years at a time. New products and techniques such as digital control panels, sprinkler packages, and protective coatings like galvanizing have extended these machine’s lives considerably, and have secured irrigation pipelines as a lasting investment.

Generation upon generation of Nebraska farmers have worked to optimize their use of water through irrigation. In recent years, Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) – which matches the water application rate of center pivots to specific areas of a farmer’s field that need more or less water – has garnered attention as a way to optimize water use and yields.

Many people don't consider center pivot irrigation because of the size or shape of their field. Some farmers may not realize that small, irregularly shaped fields can also benefit from an irrigation system. Linear irrigation, although less common than center pivot irrigation, can be a solution for these types of fields.