Irrigation technology

The Reinke irrigation company has some fabulous innovation and I talked with their Director of Marketing Tom Palmertree. “What is it that you think separates you from the rest of the pack? Our investment and our focus on technology. Whether it be GPS control for swing arm towers or our soon to be introduced rain sense product which is soil moisture monitoring. Our goal is to give growers more tools so they can manage their irrigation better and in the big picture help them manage their operation better. We have GPS in the system for swing arm corner control and what it does is take the system around and turns the end gun on and off and you can do that with GPS guided accuracy. For a swingarm corner system, you can use GPS to guide that swing arm around the field on a definite path and the same path that is repeatable time and time again. Let’s say you know it rained, you know approximately how much it rained, but you need to know how much of that water has gotten down to the root level of your crop based on what stage it is in in its growth process. You also have to base this on what kind of crop it is because different crops take different amounts of water and their root depth is different. Using soil moisture monitoring allows you to do that and you can adjust your water scheduling and pivot rotation accordingly. You do not have to guess on when you think you need water. You have a much more definitive answer as to when that plant actually needs water.