American farmers along with the companies that provide inputs, equipment and research on practices have been highly successful on the production side of their operations.  Gains in quality, yield and efficiency have been remarkable over the past century and more.  From 1948 to 2017 total US total “factor productivity growth” for agriculture has tripled while land in production dropped by 28% and labor dropped by 76%.  Total inputs have remained flat.  Farmers have excelled in production growth!  The main driving factor has centered around economics…

You have probably seen green circles while flying over parts of the central and western United States.  Large open, flat fields in Nebraska and surrounding states where the center pivot industry began.  Using an elevated pipeline that travels around the field continues to be an efficient way to irrigate larger parcels of farmland.  The simple fact that a circle takes less iron to cover more acres continues to be a cost-effective strategy.  In Michigan and the Great Lakes area, while we may not have as many wide-open spaces, we have two key factors not present where center pivot irrigation was born.  We have the most abundant fresh water supply in the world.  Due to our climate, we also have diverse growing conditions for many crops and a demand for several kinds of livestock.  With an increasing demand for food to feed our growing population, whether directly or through livestock, options exist to grow higher value crops…

With the cost of land ownership and rising rental expenses, we need to look for ways to get more from our existing land base. How can we produce more yield with our existing land base?  Increasing plant populations is a logical first step.  Squeezing more plants and hopefully more yield from every acre is certainly a reasonable option, but that increases our cost per acre for seed, fertilizer and crop protectants.  With this approach, it will clearly take more water as well.  While we cannot control the sunshine, water is a controllable input…

A Riverscreen is a brand of suction device that has been time tested for several challenging irrigation applications.  Any surface water source is likely to have debris that can cause plugging issues at the smallest orifice in your irrigation system. If you are using pivots, that will typically be in the first few spans. 

Successful Farmers have learned to control the controllables.

Water is one of those inputs.

Adequate water is critical to crop development and yield.

Drainage and water application are significant factors.

Proper timing and amounts will reap substantial benefits.

We are blessed in Michigan during the growing season to get some reasonable precipitation and have access to more freshwater than most.   Are you getting the most from your irrigation system?  Do you know the gallons per minute entering your system?  Do you feel confident that you are maximizing plant yield by getting the right amount of water across your irrigated fields?

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.