Precision Irrigation Addresses Two of Western Agriculture's Biggest Challenges
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Two things that are constantly in short supply in western agriculture are labor and water. These can both be addressed, at least in part through precision irrigation. Netafim’s Mike Hemman says precision irrigation is just getting started. And the company’s GrowSphere system helps to not only reduce overall water needs, but improve the crop while requiring less manpower.
Hemman… “ I think one of the biggest components that drives this is labor, and the second is water scarcity. Unfortunately, there are areas where we have very scarce water sources. If you look at the state of California and you think about SGMA, if you look at the challenges that we have with water off of the Colorado, these are people that already have to deal with very scarce water supplies.”
Hemman realizes that for farmers, water is important but there are other considerations as well when making investments into irrigation.
Hemman… “ Labor is expensive, and so if you've gotta have a person physically visit the field to turn the irrigation system on and off, and you can now do that remotely, there's a significant cost savings for the farmer. And if you get the relationship of water to plant growth right at the right time, you'll have better quality and you'll have higher yield as well.”
That’s Mike Hemman of Netafim.
