This article appears in the June/July 2021 issue of Sugar Producer as part of our celebration of Smart Irrigation Month.
You’ve probably seen the statistics: By 2050, the world population is expected to increase from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion. That’s a lot of people to feed, and it lands on growers like you to do it, even as agricultural land vanishes due to urban sprawl — not to mention that you’re trying to be a good steward of all your resources. It’s a daunting task.
As you’re required to do more with less, manufacturers like Valley Irrigation are developing connected crop management technology that’s evolving from reactive to predictive. After all, you can’t produce a profitable yield without the proper water application.
Valley has focused on sustainability since long before it became an industry buzzword. For more than 50 years, Valley has led the way in irrigation technology. From steel pipe and tubing to the latest in telemetry, it has always been our aim to help all growers deliver water effectively and efficiently to the field. The company prides itself on providing the technology to help growers improve efficiencies while increasing production.
Precision Technology Made Simple
Data and information are crucial, but what you do with that information can make the real difference. For example, once you know soil moisture content and join that with automatically updated weather data, you know where, when and how much to irrigate for optimal crop development.
Precision ag technology like Valley 365 offers growers next-level connected crop management to avoid wasted resources while improving crop health. It puts you in full control with a single-sign on and provides better water delivery through various technologies brought together under one simple application.
Valley Scheduling provides irrigators with scientific data such as soil moisture, crop type, stage of development and weather information. It also gives you irrigation recommendations, which you can use to forecast and plan water delivery in real time.
Once you’ve set your plan in place, you can use integrated AgSense technology to monitor and control your irrigation, saving valuable time and labor costs.
To help reduce over-watering, under-watering and even runoff, irrigation needs to be precise, especially with varying soil types and topography. Valley variable rate irrigation (VRI) helps irrigators optimize and apply accurately using field-specific prescriptions. This helps maintain plant health while maximizing yield.
Valley 365 also connects to Valley Insights. Through varied acquisition methods including aerial imagery and pivot-mounted sensors, Valley Insights virtually scouts for crop health concerns related to water application, pests, disease, weeds and more. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Valley Insights provides early detection and enhanced scouting so farmers can make fast and informed decisions during critical stages of crop development.
Recent Enhancements
Valley is continuously innovating technology to meet the needs of growers. Through the most recent enhancements, Pump Command is now available in Valley 365 for intuitive control of water pressure during irrigation. Water Level Management is reporting at its best so growers can see the crop is receiving exactly the right amount of water — no more, no less. This saves growers fuel and labor by reducing trips to the field to check on pumps and irrigation systems.
Why We Care
Growers work hard to be good stewards of their resources. Valley continues to participate in that effort by developing and adapting technology to help growers effectively manage and plan irrigation technology to sustain groundwater supplies, monitor water usage to avoid waste, and track crop health and optimize yield.
The bottom line: Sustainability is just the old-fashioned idea of stewardship, which is “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” That can mean anything from preserving the earth’s resources or managing a corporation responsibly, down to being smart with a dollar or performing your daily work with integrity.
It’s what Valley has been doing from the beginning. Giving back. Taking care of the land. Helping farmers grow crops better, and maximizing our value to our growers.