tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74214548117368875852024-02-19T05:24:35.544-06:00Growing the Conversation: by Valley IrrigationUpdates and news from Valley Irrigation, the leader in center pivot and linear precision irrigation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger394125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-57087096657612186662015-07-02T11:00:00.000-05:002015-07-02T14:58:11.786-05:00We’re Moving! | by Kelly Cox<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After six wonderful years of calling Blogger our “home,” the Valley<sub>®</sub> Growing the Conversation blog is moving! Starting today, you’ll be able to find our blog posts directly within the Valley website at <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/mediaroom/growing-the-conversation-blog/blog-home">www.valleyirrigation.com/blog</a>. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvPlMiQjgkDSYdKRR1Z2JHEUDlWLA9YfYciYk9DqhOUrAjZL5YZlvJhSjbPXGKw8p2uOESTucQYRm4dvkBWUKzL1mkJVZ1x-ixvLlL0o8hJrqbdtFgp3GxYU9qZPsamDwUuhyphenhyphenO-_FVLZP/s1600/Moving_July2015_blog_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvPlMiQjgkDSYdKRR1Z2JHEUDlWLA9YfYciYk9DqhOUrAjZL5YZlvJhSjbPXGKw8p2uOESTucQYRm4dvkBWUKzL1mkJVZ1x-ixvLlL0o8hJrqbdtFgp3GxYU9qZPsamDwUuhyphenhyphenO-_FVLZP/s400/Moving_July2015_blog_opt.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we started “packing up the place,” we’ve gotten the question “Why are you moving?” more times than I can count. We’re moving so that YOU can find Valley more easily! By moving the Growing the Conversation blog into our website, you’ll be seeing more links to Valley from your Google searches. Of course, we also had to take the opportunity to spruce it up a bit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />If you are a current subscriber to this blog, we invite you to re-subscribe on our new blog <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/mediaroom/growing-the-conversation-blog/blog-home">here</a>! If you are new reader, we invite you to begin following us at any time. Just click on the RSS icon on the blog and you’ll be good to go.<br /><br />As always, we’ll publish new blogs and articles each week. Our goals are to keep you informed on the latest irrigation news and provide you with insight to the “people behind the pivot.”<br /><br />Thank you, Blogger, for many years’ worth of blog hosting and friendship. You’ve never let us down!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kelly Cox</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global Digital Marketing Manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kelly is a native of Omaha, Neb., and has degrees in English and web development. She joined the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Department in 2008 where she shares her love of web and all things digital marketing with her colleagues and the Valley dealer network. Outside of her life at Valley, Kelly enjoys reading, singing and spending time with her family.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-6644033410461640672015-06-29T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-29T11:00:00.724-05:00Why Dealer Education Matters to Growers | by Kelly Schultze<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the equipment they purchase to time spent in the field, growers put many resources into their operations. A grower’s investment involves much more than money. Growers have every right to expect trustworthy, skilled and knowledgeable salespeople and service technicians at their local Valley<sub>®</sub> dealership. <br /><br />At Valley University, we strive to make sure this expectation is not only met but exceeded. By providing our dealerships with the most accurate and up-to-date information on our products, we ensure that they are ready to answer any questions a grower may have. It is our goal to give all dealership sales employees the knowledge and skills needed to determine the best irrigation solution for each grower’s specific needs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The commitment of excellence Valley makes to its customers goes beyond the point of sale, just like our commitment to support all dealership roles. In addition to product information, we provide courses to train service technicians. When service personnel are more knowledgeable about and experienced with Valley equipment, they are more efficient and accurate at the job site. <br /><br />To train our dealerships’ service techs, we use interactions and simulations within our online courses. Service technicians can practice product installations and troubleshooting before ever leaving their dealership. This increases their comfort with the machines, and gives our growers peace of mind that they have the best trained service techs working on their equipment.<br /><br />The Valley U team is dedicated to making online learning accessible and beneficial to our dealerships. We already know we have the best mechanized irrigation products available, so it’s our job to focus on making sure we have the best dealerships in the world to support our growers.</span>
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kelly Schultze</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">E-Learning Instructional Designer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Kelly joined Valley Irrigation in early 2014 as an E-Learning Instructional Designer. When she isn’t at work, she is typically creating replica costumes and props from films, comics, and television shows. Kelly also enjoys learning languages and is conversational in French and Korean. She loves to travel, and has lived abroad while studying in South Africa and South Korea.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-69500923502697334862015-06-25T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-26T16:58:47.884-05:00 Seven Center Pivot Myths Debunked | by Senninger Irrigation<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This piece was written for and published by <a href="http://www.senninger.com/blog/" target="_blank">Senninger Irrigation</a>, and reprinted with permission.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Center pivot technology has come a long way in recent years with improvements to irrigation efficiency and data tracking. As pivot and sprinkler manufacturers develop a better understanding of soil health and the water needs of various crops, technologies change and evolve so farmers can irrigate with less water and less energy, while still keeping the high yields needed to feed the world. <br /><br />Today, most pivot irrigators have abandoned the inefficient impact sprinklers familiar to most fruit and vegetable growers and replaced them with water and energy efficient sprinkler heads, like LEPA applicators.<br /><br />They have adopted new monitoring technologies that give them the ability to monitor almost every aspect of the system, from how much water needs to be applied and to when water is delivered. Farmers can also verify a machine’s efficiency and make any necessary adjustments to their pivots easily. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite these improvements, there are still many farmers across the world that have never considered center pivots efficient irrigation machines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We at Senninger have been working with pivots for over 30 years and we firmly believe pivots are and will continue to be efficient and continuously improving machines that save water and energy while helping growers obtain high yields. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top pivot irrigation myths and decided to debunk them once and for all!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #1 - Pivots can’t irrigate corners without water wasting end guns.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmers who want to try center pivot irrigation but want to continue farming the corners of their fields can add swing arms that attach to the ends of the pivots and water the corners of the fields.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #2 - Pivot sprinklers waste water through runoff and surface soil evaporation.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some pivot sprinklers are less efficient than others, particularly sprinklers that throw water high in the air. Good quality sprinklers irrigate with large droplets the air can’t steal and distribute water instantaneously over their entire surface area. Spreading out the droplets over a large area helps preserve soil’s intake rate and ability to absorb water.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #3 - Pivots can’t be used with crops prone to foliar disease, like tomatoes.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pivot sprinklers are extremely flexible! A spray head like the Senninger LDN can be used in spray mode to germinate fields as a growing season begins. Then it can be switched to LEPA bubble mode, which avoids wetting crop leaves. The sprinkler can also be converted to a drag hose if necessary.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #4 - Pivots can only irrigate a limited number of crops like corn or cotton. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you know pivots are used to irrigate rice, tomatoes and sugar cane? Growers with center pivots are free to rotate crops every season, change row spacing or switch between high and low profile crops. It’s easy to modify pivots to irrigate different types of crops – most of the changes have to do with sprinkler height and application rate – and they are easy to move out of the way when it is time for planting or harvesting.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #5 - Pivots are way more expensive than other systems. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The price of a pivot may seem overwhelming at first, but investing in a pivot means you invest in an irrigation system that can last up to 25 years. Pivots are very easy to maintain. Most of what you pay is for the system itself – you won’t have to worry about filtration, checking the system for rodent damage, system flushing, air discharging, etc. Moreover, if there comes a moment when a component needs repairs, fixing the components will not lower the system’s overall application efficiency.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #6 - Pivot technology is always changing so there’s no point in buying something that will soon be outdated. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main components of a pivot will last for decades. Add-ons like GPS control, automated system control and Variable Rate Irrigation Technology can be installed long after the pivot is purchased so growers always have the option of keeping up to date with the latest technologies. Sprinklers and pressure regulators can be easily replaced when they wear or if new technology becomes available.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Myth #7 - Sprinklers use too much water and energy. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprinklers use anywhere from 0.27 to 30 gallons of water per minute and they only need 6 to 20 psi to operate, depending on the model selected.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Senninger<sub>®</sub> Irrigation</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Valley<sub>®</sub> Irrigation Authorized Provider</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Founded in 1963, Senninger Irrigation, Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural irrigation products. These include sprinklers, spray nozzles and pressure regulators. Senninger products are made in the United States and sold worldwide through qualified dealers. Products can be found in farms, nurseries, greenhouses, open fields, as well as mining operations. Senninger is dedicated to low pressure, high performance irrigation solutions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />This post was written by Nicole Alvarez, the technical writer for Senninger.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-74783061295080644822015-06-22T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-22T11:00:00.364-05:00What It's Like to Work for Valmont Middle East | by Adrian Cliffe<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Established in January 2001, Valmont<sub>®</sub> Middle East (VME) has grown into a leader in safety, quality, delivery and cost. VME has matured from a Valmont Industries Inc. toddler into one of the key manufacturing plants for the Global Irrigation Division. <br /><br />Pilot production began in March 2002, providing customers with cheap shipping and excellent financial trade services. VME significantly expanded the scope of its capabilities through the years, primarily focusing on efficient customer services and lean manufacturing. Its work has fostered deep and healthy relationships with key customers and dealers, helping them grow.<br /><br />Ever true to its humble origins, the staff at VME bases its reputation on passion, integrity, continuous improvement and delivering results. This year, 11 of our 80 dedicated employees are celebrating 10 years of service with the company. All of them believe that VME is a great company to work for and continually strive to meet the wants and needs of our customers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We asked these dedicated employees for honest feedback on their experience with VME and gathered their answers into word clouds to share with you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>What makes Valmont so enjoyable to work for?</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>What’s the biggest change you've seen in VME since starting?</i></b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tell me about the best events or moment you had as a Valmont employee.</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations to our team of employees, who are listed below. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know they - and the entire VME team - will continuously strive to reach its goals by doing business the Valmont Way. With employees who are keen on the Valmont Core Values, we are excited to grow from a good company into a great company.</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSv5YjoENrv_n_CDNeYsuJacnyVpzU_MNJf-BW4m1-LrSAiqsZmRymQL4cs81qrC54n8YH3_IikvvsBrvYf-4vn5xNIoKzX_nlRy2VbKlWddXkDnuS1RWOdowGinn1nIqJCQGLmPo5HsDG/s1600/VMECloud_June2015_blog04_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSv5YjoENrv_n_CDNeYsuJacnyVpzU_MNJf-BW4m1-LrSAiqsZmRymQL4cs81qrC54n8YH3_IikvvsBrvYf-4vn5xNIoKzX_nlRy2VbKlWddXkDnuS1RWOdowGinn1nIqJCQGLmPo5HsDG/s1600/VMECloud_June2015_blog04_opt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Left : Ricardo,
Aslam, Khalid, Nestor, Prakash, Wenny, Reme, Cristy, Arnel</span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableLightGridAccent1" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: .1in; margin-right: .1in; mso-border-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-left: left; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: 12.2pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 624px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.55pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: -1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 2.25pt; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">NAME</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">JOB TITLE</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 2.25pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 12.55pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">YEARS OF SERVICE</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 6.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 6.7pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Chakkungal Prabhakaran Prakash</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 6.7pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Finance Manager<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 6.7pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">14.4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 7.95pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 7.95pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Nestor Sorita Deloso</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 7.95pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Production Supervisor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 7.95pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">14.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 8.4pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 8.4pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Ricardo Barroza Lizardo</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 8.4pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Maintenance Incharge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 8.4pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">14.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 10.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 10.65pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Cristy Monteiro</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.65pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Driver/Admin. Helper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 10.65pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">13.5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 7.95pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 7.95pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Muhammad Aslam Konimmal</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 7.95pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Hr Coordination<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 7.95pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">13.5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 6.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 6.15pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Wenny Cantoria Bartolay</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 6.15pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Inventory Control Aministrator<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 6.15pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 85.5pt;" valign="top" width="143"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">13.3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 9.3pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-top: none; border: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; height: 9.3pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 153.0pt;" valign="top" width="255"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Maemoun Sabet Alani</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D3DFEE; border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 9.3pt; mso-background-themecolor: accent1; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 135.9pt;" valign="top" width="227"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tsm <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">13.0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Mirza Khalid</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Service And Installation Supervisor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">12.8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Tom D'cruz Norban D'cruz</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Service Technician<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">11.6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Remegious Praveen Pinto</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Warehouse Keeper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">11.6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Arnel Marcelo Gutierrez</span><b><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Senior Welder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">11.0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td valign="top"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtnttaa-OUV-hTPMpnXRMN7eu6TiKecQvGatTvXP1jVjdkluSgjEKFor7iKZgH2sXG8cdKZsdm8iXgiqwbweR0TQT0zb6WaxiOewPmaTbCXoDLi7fR2b_zdXj5jCHG6cD4OhUVafKKJKK/s1600/AdrianCliffe.jpg" width="200" /></td>
<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Adrian Cliffe</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Territory Sales Manager for Egypt, Turkey, Oman, and UAE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Adrian has been working for Valmont</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sub>®</sub></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Irrigation for more than 3 years. He is an agricultural engineer and has worked for the largest suppliers of machinery in Ireland. He enjoys designing and manufacturing farm machinery. Adrian was a member of the Middle East hurling team that won the international championship last year. He also plays soccer and likes going to the movies and relaxing at the pool. </span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-72147991857073459192015-06-18T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-18T11:00:00.158-05:00Getting to Know the New Valley Mobile Website | by Kelly Cox<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These days, the Valley<sub>®</sub> brand is more than ever incorporating technology into its core. Of course, it’s not going to forget its roots in steel and gearboxes, but evolving is part of the game. Part of this evolution resides with how we market the Valley brand. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopmADGRaUGFFCtxJNqkpBXBEK4SVwK4SoPNloakjbsJ-041bcHoqrVh_Pvdcui1AD-NLIwMeJDrGnXaiEVs7CIjfiwNhtX9vfonnQXgoyXE92FVk0GgAJEnbN6LJZdbUfEZhmaXhOSpSD/s1600/MobilesitePhone_June-2015_blog1_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopmADGRaUGFFCtxJNqkpBXBEK4SVwK4SoPNloakjbsJ-041bcHoqrVh_Pvdcui1AD-NLIwMeJDrGnXaiEVs7CIjfiwNhtX9vfonnQXgoyXE92FVk0GgAJEnbN6LJZdbUfEZhmaXhOSpSD/s400/MobilesitePhone_June-2015_blog1_opt.jpg" width="217" /></a><br />We’d all have to be living under a box to not notice how much time people spend on their mobile phones. I was walking through a baby store recently, and a woman was pushing a stroller, holding a toddler’s hand, AND updating her Facebook status. I’m still trying to figure out how she was doing all of this with just two hands, but the point is she was on her phone while trying to parent her kids. People are on their phones ALL. THE. TIME. (Even if we don’t necessarily agree with the timing.) So, why shouldn’t brands and companies take advantage of this?<br /><br />We first launched the Valley mobile website a few years ago when we started to notice people using their phones for more than just calling other people. Since then, online search via mobile phone and tablet has literally skyrocketed, and so we thought it was time to update our mobile site to provide people with what they want, regardless of their computer preference. Thus, we recently launched the new, improved Valley mobile website.<br /><br />You will find the exact same information and content on the mobile site as you do on the desktop site. Looking for a video? We’ve got videos! Looking for a brochure? We’ve got brochures! Looking for information on why you should buy Valley over the other guys? We’ve got that, too! You can find everything you might need at the tip of your fingers.<br /><br />Have I intrigued you? I hope so! Before you do anything else, visit the new Valley mobile website from your mobile phone or tablet at <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/">www.valleyirrigation.com</a> or <a href="http://m.valleyirrigation.com/">m.valleyirrigation.com</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl7_Qz3a1RxI1fbTrP3W-Y99vUURTXLwU0FjSa1RVAqoVGFh-IMFn6Rtp9WQxrJye79LiFi9WDxbghOZk5vgqUg9z8Rih-u_A9tKOrwt3VNsmyBm5n9YyBe9FKNw0b7vJLFEswb6uIkrm/s1600/MobilesiteTablet_June-2015_blog2_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl7_Qz3a1RxI1fbTrP3W-Y99vUURTXLwU0FjSa1RVAqoVGFh-IMFn6Rtp9WQxrJye79LiFi9WDxbghOZk5vgqUg9z8Rih-u_A9tKOrwt3VNsmyBm5n9YyBe9FKNw0b7vJLFEswb6uIkrm/s640/MobilesiteTablet_June-2015_blog2_opt.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kelly Cox</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global Digital Marketing Manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kelly is a native of Omaha, Neb., and has degrees in English and web development. She joined the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Department in 2008 where she shares her love of web and all things digital marketing with her colleagues and the Valley dealer network. Outside of her life at Valley, Kelly enjoys reading, singing and spending time with her family.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-82709699418428833462015-06-15T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-15T11:00:04.301-05:00Feeding the World and Increasing Yield 60 Percent<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Irrigation: A Key Role in Feeding the World</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today’s farmers are charged with the immense undertaking of providing food for an ever-growing world population. And many have to perform under the pressure of restrictions to conserve land and water.<br /><br />It’s a substantial responsibility, and one that people outside the agricultural community don’t often consider.<br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ijN7VaFsMdBeOIGSJLJDAiBv3YwMwr1bwygAVrM5zhyphenhyphenTOv24JbSXp2IDbUy4MC3NucsdPe-uTuDf3-oVp4YKhNphekZuXv4WtM5EeRwmkVxgkg3gffsnR9DDkoNDCon6LgcdwXJsgB9j/s1600/Saving_the_World_web_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ijN7VaFsMdBeOIGSJLJDAiBv3YwMwr1bwygAVrM5zhyphenhyphenTOv24JbSXp2IDbUy4MC3NucsdPe-uTuDf3-oVp4YKhNphekZuXv4WtM5EeRwmkVxgkg3gffsnR9DDkoNDCon6LgcdwXJsgB9j/s640/Saving_the_World_web_blog.jpg" width="640" /></a> With forecast stats like these, irrigation is clearly part of the solution. Without it, growing the volume of food the world needs will prove challenging. Just ask John Schuerman.<br /><br /><b>Schuerman has been working on his family farm near Seymour, Ind., since he was 14 years old. He’s not new to farming, but he is new to center pivot irrigation. In fact, he is one of the first in the area to implement it.</b><br /><br />He worked with Andy Wolka of B&W Agri Products in Seymour to install his first two Valley<sub>®</sub> center pivots last spring and installed two more in the fall.<br /><br />Wolka says he’s encouraging new irrigators to start watering conservatively.<br /><br />“We know water will be at a premium, even in places that have plenty now, so we want to do this right and start out with conservation in mind,” he explains.<br /><br />Schuerman didn’t get his pivots in until after the growing season started, and there were three weeks of dry weather before the pivots were up and running.<br /><br /><b>“On my irrigated land, I brought in 200 bushels of corn per acre,” says Schuerman. “On the land I didn’t irrigate, I had 120 to 125 bushels. Even starting late, I saw a tremendous gain with my difference in yield. I can’t wait to see what happens when I’m able to irrigate for a full growing season.”</b><br /><br /><i>That’s a yield increase of more than 60 percent.</i> Results like Schuerman’s will be crucial in the future, since the latest projections indicate that agricultural production must grow by 70 percent by 2050 in order to feed an additional 2.3 billion people.<sup>1</sup><br /><br />“It’s a whole lot better than crop insurance, I can tell you that,” Schuerman says. “If bad times hit, irrigation can help a lot. <br /><br />“I can see more and more people advancing to pivot irrigation because we need to produce more crops on the same amount of land. Irrigation is one of the only means to do just that.”<br /><br />While organizations, corporations and government entities are researching ways to increase food production, in the end, it will be up to growers to make it happen. Examples like this further prove that irrigating is more productive than dryland farming, and that irrigation could make all the difference in feeding the growing population.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UN FAO)<sup>2</sup>:</b><br /><br />• The world population is projected to increase 40 percent by 2050<br /><br />• Only 20 percent of the world’s croplands are irrigated and that cropland yields 40 percent of the global harvest<br /><br />• Irrigated farms can produce 100 to 400 percent higher yields for most crops<br /><br />• Center pivot and linear irrigation are consistently at the top of efficient methods<br />of delivering water, reaching 95 percent efficiency or greater, depending on sprinkler package design, irrigation scheduling and agronomic practices</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup> 2050: Increased investment in agricultural research essential. www.fao.com</span></i>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><sup>2</sup> Food for all – World food summit – Agricultural machinery worldwide. www.fao.org</i></span>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from Valley PivotPoint magazine, Spring 2015</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-22905549326986166932015-06-11T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-11T11:00:09.991-05:00Behind the Scenes with Ben Soliev<table align="right" style="width: 30%px;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Behzod “Ben” Soliev, a native of Uzbekistan, joined Valley<sub>®</sub> Irrigation in 2011 as an international project manager, working to build Valley site capabilities and optimize global supplies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He manages projects for international irrigation, mainly operation- and business-development projects such as locating future plant sites, start-ups, developing new standards for our international sites and knowledge sharing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben also supports the supply chain for our international locations.<br /><br />“I like that Valmont<sub>®</sub>, and Valley in particular, is a multinational company with offices and plants around the world,” Ben says. “It makes me proud to work with the great people of Valmont. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I also enjoy meeting new people outside of company and being able to develop and implement new business opportunities, while – at the same time – being able to improve my international business expertise.” <br /><br />Ben is a co-founder and the first president of the newly created Valmont Professional Network that focuses on attracting and developing top talent through professional development, community involvement and networking. <br /><br />In his free time, Ben likes traveling and exploring new places, talking over Skype with his family in Uzbekistan, hanging out with friends, watching movies and documentaries, and reading books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Read previous Behind the Scenes profiles:</i></span><br />
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<li><a href="http://www.growingtheconversation.blogspot.com/2015/04/behind-scenes-with-shirley-simons.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Shirley Simons</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.growingtheconversation.blogspot.com/2015/03/behind-scenes-with-mike-husen.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Mike Husen</a></li>
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-21775855181395393882015-06-08T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-08T11:00:00.734-05:00Cotton Growers Earn Prestigious Australian Award | by Shannon Peterson <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Australian cotton growers, who happen to be Valley<sub>®</sub> customers, recently won the 2014 Brownhill Cup – one of <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2014/watson-family-awarded-2014-brownhill-cup.htm" target="_blank">Australia’s most prestigious agricultural awards</a>. Andrew and Heike Watson were honored for reducing their water usage while increasing their yield at Kilmarnock – their family farm in Boggabri, New South Whales.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>From left, Geoff Wearne and Tim Harvey of Agribusiness Banking </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Commonwealth Bank and award-winner Andrew Watson. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Photo credit: Paul Matthews.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Brownhill Cup recognizes farming practices that improve innovation and sustainability. Founder David Brownhill praised the Watsons for their continual improvement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />“Andrew and his team have made a considerable contribution to agriculture, and especially to the cotton sector,” Brownhill said. “Their field trials and on-farm research have contributed to the industry’s understanding of best practice, and they have set the bar high for innovative and sustainable farming practices.”<br /><br />Andrew was prompted by the millennium drought to closely examine water efficiency measures. In fact, he received a prestigious <a href="http://www.nuffieldscholar.org/" target="_blank">Nuffield Farming Scholarship</a> in 2006 that he used to focus on water use efficiency in irrigation.<br /><br />“I began to investigate how we could most efficiently irrigate with the water we had,” Andrew said. “I did my scholarship research along those lines, so we decided we would invest in overhead irrigators.”<br /><br />A visit to Valley Irrigation during his research led him to purchase a Valley Rainger™ Swing-Around linear and Valley BaseStation for remote monitoring and control. He has added two more linears, and his farm plan calls for investing in more linears and a center pivot over time. <br /><br />Andrew said learning to use irrigation has really made a difference. He believes mechanized irrigation is a more efficient use of the farm’s resources, both water and land.<br /><br /><b>“Our water usage has reduced by about 20 percent over the past 11 years, while our yield is up by about 30 percent,” he said when receiving the award.</b><br /><br />Andrew was named New South Wales Farmer’s ‘Young Farmer of the Year’ in 2004 and won the ‘Australian Cotton Grower of the Year Award’ in 2008. He also served as the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cotton Australia board chairman</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Read more about the Watson farm and the award <a href="http://www.pivotirrigation.com.au/press-releases-80.cfm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Shannon Peterson</b></span><br />
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Shannon joined Valley Irrigation in 2013. She writes and edits materials about irrigation equipment. Shannon enjoys traveling with her family, particularly to national parks, and she occasionally writes about her travels for tourism magazines. She also likes trying new restaurants, seeing movies, and watching Husker football and Creighton basketball. </span><br />
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<br />Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-72417901780380181952015-06-04T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-04T11:11:03.986-05:00South Africa’s Popcorn Industry | by Jacqueline Lourens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">South Africa grows more than 2 million hectares of corn per year and for this reason corn is a staple food in South Africa. We have a corn culture with many corn-derived products. Popcorn fits perfectly into that culture as an inexpensive snack.<br /><br />The popcorn industry took off during 1966 in South Africa and has enjoyed steady growth over the years. In South Africa, popcorn production is estimated at 55,000 metric tons per year. Popcorn is produced mostly by irrigation farmers in the Free State and Northern Cape. About 40 percent of the total popcorn production is exported to Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Egypt and the Ivory Coast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least 95 percent of the seed planted in South Africa is of U.S. origin. There is currently one popcorn seed breeding company in South Africa that is developing local popcorn hybrids. It produces no more than 20 metric tons of popcorn seed per year. An interesting fact: all popcorn sold in South Africa has been certified as non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) by international laboratories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Popcorn is unique among corn varieties because its starchy endosperm expands and pops when heated. The “butterfly” popcorn kernel is usually large, light and fluffy. The “mushroom” type of kernel is more dense and compact like a ball and mainly used for candy coating and caramelizing.<br /><br />Producing popcorn is a highly specialized industry that differs from conventional maize production. Popcorn plants grow best in full sun after soil warms up to 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 degrees Fahrenheit). <br /><br />Popcorn requires deep watering techniques, and this is where the Valley<sub>®</sub> 8120 pivot comes in handy. Valmont<sub>®</sub> Irrigation also recently added AquaDock™ drop hose docking stations to the Valley sprinkler product line. This series of drop components allow for two sprinkler ground clearance positions thereby maximizing sprinkler package uniformity to match the height of the popcorn plants. This eliminates dry rings and ensures even application of water and fertilizer to produce undeviating crop growth and yield in the popcorn fields. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Planting season starts as early as August in the northern part of South Africa, but the bulk of the crop is planted from October to December. The first of the new crop is harvested in late December, and the bulk of the crop from March to June.<br /><br />One thing is for certain: South Africa’s popcorn industry is a growing market and it is here to stay. If you haven’t tried South African popcorn, you are definitely missing out!</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jacqueline Lourens</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personal Assistant</span><br />
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Jacqueline has been with Valley Irrigation of Southern Africa since 2011. Jacqui loves being part of the marketing team where she spends most of her time tending to the needs of two sales managers in an extremely challenging and fast-paced environment. In her spare time, Jacqui cranks up the volume and listens to music of all genres. She enjoys reading horror and suspense novels and her favourite author is Stephen King. Jacqui has an immense passion for animals and nature, and enjoys camping and hiking. She believes that life doesn’t provide any guarantees… it only provides possibilities and opportunities for those who dare to make best use of it.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-60650341340770783842015-06-01T11:00:00.000-05:002015-06-01T11:00:00.040-05:00AgSense Live Chat Expands to Support Growers During Busy Season | by Trisha Nelson<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LiveChat is working.<br /><br />As growing season progresses into the summer, we’re already seeing a shift from sales to tech-support related chat sessions.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLdwhCQhv-jz26WVWMC4TeGJkRmuofBe_ijjca9LHkGrJ0XRtTaeJiRByk9jhOMWMtJEedN0g9r_33Y0e2Y11-_9_TSsSp4WmQYUbx6WkaHxXYNmmzHg5Ijdj0X9Vs4RRf7RFEdSQCfJr/s1600/AgSense_LiveChat_web_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLdwhCQhv-jz26WVWMC4TeGJkRmuofBe_ijjca9LHkGrJ0XRtTaeJiRByk9jhOMWMtJEedN0g9r_33Y0e2Y11-_9_TSsSp4WmQYUbx6WkaHxXYNmmzHg5Ijdj0X9Vs4RRf7RFEdSQCfJr/s320/AgSense_LiveChat_web_opt.jpg" width="284" /></a><br />In April, AgSense<sup>®</sup> was the first company in the irrigation industry to offer LiveChat for sales and technical support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our LiveChat feature, now available on </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fagsense.net%2F&h=OAQHU1xyj&s=1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></a><a href="http://agsense.net/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AgSense.net</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wagnet.net%2F&h=ZAQF64oMT&s=1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></a><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FWagNet.net%2F&h=QAQGWY2Y2&s=1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WagNet.net</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and even </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/agsensellc?business_id=10153320044572206&ref=bookmarks&_rdr" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has already received a lot of positive feedback and helped us tackle these support requests in a much more direct way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the most significant progress over these past weeks has been the ability to provide the LiveChat service to the growing AgSense international client base. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we expand our international network, we anticipate leveraging LiveChat exponentially to accommodate sales and technical support like we do here in the States. Just this week we were answering sales and support chats in Germany, Argentina and Turkey.<br /><br />A ticketing system has also been introduced to <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fagsense.net%2F&h=MAQEgirji&s=1"></a><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FAgSense.net%2F&h=sAQH6eHKX&s=1">AgSense.net</a> and the AgSense Facebook page, allowing grower-customers to leave a ticket after-hours if the Chat Team is unavailable.<br /><br />In addition to chatting with various members of the sales and support team, customers are still able to reach the offices by calling 605-253-8350 or reach out via the contact form on the website.</span>
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Trisha Nelson</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside Sales Manager</span><br />
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Trisha Nelson has been with AgSense for three years. Her primary roles are to coordinate order processing and facilitate interoffice and client communications. She also assists in technical support during the growing season. Trisha likes Starburst-favored jelly beans, riding motorcycles with her fiancé, and whenever she needs a good cry she watches her favorite movie, Steel Magnolias. </span><br />
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<br />Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-86674487670213314292015-05-28T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-28T12:51:59.612-05:00Technology and Surface Water Applications | by Tyler Fields<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are places in the country where it is not feasible to drill wells for irrigation, yet these areas have plenty of surface water to use, coincidence? I think not. <br /><br />The problem with surface water is that it comes in late fall through early spring, while the crop needs water in the summer. Want to solve that problem? Build a reservoir, pump into the reservoir when the water is flowing, and then pump out of the reservoir to a majestic Valley<sub>®</sub> center pivot! <br /><br />Valley Water Management (VWM) specializes in working with farmers to collect surface water runoff from their farms, pumping it into a reservoir and then using it for the irrigation season.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe you’ve thought about building a reservoir and lost interest because there is so much involved in that type of project. VWM can take on that burden for you. We can design the entire project, work with your local dealer, and even provide construction management and inspections. You can move onto other projects around the farm and leave the managing to us. <br /><br />Building a reservoir is an added cost, but it allows irrigation to be installed in a place that hasn’t had irrigation before. And, pumping surface water reduces the demand on your pumps. Less horsepower is required because the pumps aren’t pumping from hundreds of feet below ground. Less horsepower means less energy cost, which equals to cash savings at the end of the year. <br /><br />Those savings correlate to what we strive to accomplish on every project, do more with less. <br /><br />Another great feature of surface water to reservoir pumping is that it can be automated based on creek or river level to pump as much water as possible without drastically dropping the water level. The automation is user configurable for different set points to ensure the water level will be sustained, while still pumping as much water as possible to fill the reservoir. <br /><br />The automation allows you to live your life, whether you’re coaching your kid’s T-ball game or taking a Sunday afternoon nap, and not worry about turning pumps on or off. This option has proven to be cost-effective and optimal where ground water is not available or is too expensive. <br /><br />Not all areas are ideal for surface water application, but VWM can evaluate your farm and the feasibility of building such a project. Contact your local Valley dealer and ask for VWM’s expert advice to see if the project is a fit for you!</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>R. Tyler Fields</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agricultural Engineer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Tyler, an agricultural engineer specializing in land and water resources, joined Valley Water Management in April 2013. He had worked in the Valley network for many years, enabling him to work closely with the agricultural irrigation community in assessing the needs of the farm and other Ag industries. Tyler grew up on a dairy farm in south Florida and also has been involved in the daily operations of ranches and row crop farms. Working for VWM allows him to pair his education and his love for agriculture.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-26878481484171449072015-05-25T11:00:00.001-05:002015-05-25T11:00:00.785-05:00Training Time for Middle East Valley Dealers | by Adrian Cliffe<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, Valmont<sub>®</sub> Middle East hosted its annual dealership sales and training meeting in Jebel Ali Dubai. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Representatives from dealerships across the Middle East, including India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkey, gathered for five days of in-depth training. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Participants completed software training, honed their sales skills and learned about Valley<sub>®</sub> Authorized Providers Senninger and Nelson. New products such as BaseStation3™, AgSense<sup>®</sup>, AquaDock™ and Pump Connect<sup>®</sup> were introduced and demonstrated.<br /><br />The feedback we got from the dealerships was great, and they reported gaining great knowledge from the training.<br /><br />With five days packed with detailed instruction, the group took time to enjoy a Dhow dinner cruise to relax a bit and enjoy Dubai.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Adrian Cliffe</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Territory Sales Manager for Egypt, Turkey, Oman, and UAE</span><br />
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Adrian has been working for Valmont</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sub>®</sub></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Irrigation for more than 3 years. He is an agricultural engineer and has worked for the largest suppliers of machinery in Ireland. He enjoys designing and manufacturing farm machinery. Adrian was a member of the Middle East hurling team that won the international championship last year. He also plays soccer and likes going to the movies and relaxing at the pool. </span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-27379779502162252442015-05-21T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-21T11:00:01.564-05:00Remembering Andy Smith <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Valley<sub>®</sub> family and people all across the irrigation industry are mourning the recent death of Andy Smith. Andy was taken from us far too early by an aggressive cancer that struck quickly. He passed on Thursday, May 14, in Ann Arbor, Mich. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho49pKxTphE-wGV8dZVq6WNu7C22xIxrjhmSxQhfeplTQ5Op1WF3QySvkkLdKnL28Ztxb4GJ_fFjcDqAzidnvyTl4adEl9OQMocN_QRjnOiv0lBnBiFIUmXKfmCF_mdFaiULQZ0gMr6G21/s1600/AndySmithTribute_blog01_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho49pKxTphE-wGV8dZVq6WNu7C22xIxrjhmSxQhfeplTQ5Op1WF3QySvkkLdKnL28Ztxb4GJ_fFjcDqAzidnvyTl4adEl9OQMocN_QRjnOiv0lBnBiFIUmXKfmCF_mdFaiULQZ0gMr6G21/s400/AndySmithTribute_blog01_web.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy joined Valley Irrigation in July 2013, but those of us who worked with him felt we had known him much longer. Andy had a way of touching people, turning colleagues into instant friends. His bright smile, infectious laugh and extreme intelligence made every encounter memorable. <br /><br />Andy had great passion for agriculture, irrigation and any project he became involved in. He worked as our director of technology adoption and was instrumental in the launch of Valley Irrigation Exchange™, the first product connecting precision irrigation data to the other farm management software systems. He worked tirelessly with potential OEM partners to build relationships and create software integration. He developed keen insight on data sharing and data security, and their impact on growers. <br /><br />Prior to joining Valley, Andy had more than 28 years of experience in the irrigation industry. A gifted orator, he made hundreds of public appearances across the country promoting the merits of mechanized irrigation. He owned a small irrigation business before becoming a lobbyist for the Irrigation Association and also worked for Reinke Irrigation. He was involved with the American Society of Irrigation Consultants, the American Farm Bureau, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and many other organizations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Valley family didn't have much time to get to know Andy - just a couple of years - yet his impact was profound:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will miss Andy’s friendship and counsel. His fun attitude and laser beam focus on the goals we set were what endeared him to me. I’ll miss the late night text messages with a funny picture or joke. Andy’s love of irrigation was only outmatched by his profound love of his wife, Kim, and his daughter, Madison. I will miss my friend. <b>-</b> <b><i>Matt Ondrejko, Vice President of Global Marketing</i></b><br /><br />It seemed like Andy knew everyone in the irrigation industry or was at least connected to them in some way. All the people I ever met that knew him seemed to consider him a close friend and not just a business acquaintance. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Andy Carritt, Director of Information Technology</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />In the very short time that I had the honor of working with Andy he became that rare combination of trusted ally, fount of knowledge and close, dear friend.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>John Campbell, Advanced Technology Product Manager</i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy was an amazing man. I worked closely with Andy and I admired his ability to make friends with everyone he met. Andy brightened a room when he entered and people opened up to him almost instantly. He will be greatly missed by many, and I will definitely miss him. I will remember him always, as will everyone who was lucky enough to meet him. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Brett Sears, Project Manager</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I had the privilege of meeting Andy eight years ago. We were working together on a California project. He was a competitor and yet I found him to be warm and open and full of ideas. He was one of those people that never had a bad day, never complained or ran down the other guy. He was a team player every time we met. His great smile, good words and pleasant way will be missed by many. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ray Batten, Large Grower Relations</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />What I will always remember about Andy was his astounding intellect and passion for the agriculture industry. He was such a joy to work with, always willing to go the extra mile with a smile on his face. Andy was a great man. I was lucky to know him and I will never forget him. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jill Zwiener, Brand Manager</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Andy was a guy that was not just friend or coworker, but an incredible asset to the irrigation industry on a national level. Not only was he awesome at that, he was also a father. I recall one time we were on conference call together and his daughter, Maddie, was on the call with us as well. He texted me during the call and said that he worked a lot, but being a father came first. I admired him for that. He will be greatly missed in the irrigation industry and greatly missed as a friend. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Tyler Fields, Project Sales Manager, Valley Water Management</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy was a person who enriched the lives of those around him. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt as though I had known him for years. Being around him was comfortable and fun. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will miss his wisdom, his compassion and his presence</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Shannon Peterson, Marketing Content Editor</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The online tributes to Andy during his brief illness are testaments to his character and life:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy was such a dynamic, amazing, hilarious and passionate guy...it's really tough to accept that he is gone. A bright light, turned off.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- He was a great guy and a pillar of the irrigation industry … He will be missed.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy and I only worked a few years together in different associations but I always relied on him for information and thoughtful advice. He always put in 110 percent in everything he did and stuck to his convictions. I enjoyed his humor and stories. I know the industry will miss him as a professional and a person.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- The measure of a man is his impact on so many people and the love of his family, friends and fellow man. Great is his influence on so many. No one can doubt his commitment, sacrifice and passion for his God, wife and daughter, friends, and the industry of irrigation. His strength, tenacity and superior intellect have inspired so many and frustrated the foolish. His wit and humor mixed with optimism persisted, whether it was storming or a moment of paradise. Never afraid, always loyal, stubborn for justices, always available, never meeting a stranger and always remembered the names of the people that crossed his path in life. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- He was a great man and will be missed greatly by everyone who was fortunate enough to know him. I'll always remember him for his huge heart and a smile to match.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy's passion for his beliefs have been a model for many. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy, you have always been one of my favorite people in my life. Your smile and sense of humor is infectious. Your easy-going, aw-shucks attitude is very Midwestern. Your tenacity on irrigation issues have changed, for the better, a lot of minds. Your influence will always be felt and your legacy will never be forgotten. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy you are a wonderful person, inside and out. I've know you for several years and the first time we came face to face, I got the biggest bear hug in my life.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- Andy has always been a bright light that everyone gravitated toward. Although I haven't seen him in many years, I've interacted with him on Facebook, and it is so very refreshing to see that he kept that same lighthearted personality even as an adult. He is truly one of the good guys.</i></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- I've known Andy for over 30 years. We we're co-workers and friends. He was always a person that would stand up for what is right and help the other guy before himself. During a tough day he could always find some humor in it, getting a laugh out of everyone. </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rest in peace, Andy. You will be missed by all who crossed your path.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In lieu of flowers and memorial donations, a college fund has been established for Andy's daughter, Madison, at Fifth Third Bank, 102 S. Lake Street, Boyne City, Michigan 49712. Account number 7975077475. <br /><br />To read Andy’s obituary and see more photos, visit <a href="http://www.stonefuneralhomeinc.com/notices/Andrew-Smith">http://www.stonefuneralhomeinc.com/notices/Andrew-Smith</a>. </span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-65445488442970076702015-05-18T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-18T11:00:00.847-05:00LDN Bubblers Maximize Irrigation Efficiency on the High Plains | by Senninger Irrigation<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBQFM7zr7zyj6G3_cWWsuTRgYxziDmnuWf4NiuHO7kh931afZ98DQgLEn3D06I2_usRSR3MvWVvWJTuFa1pyugdkKiwf7kXextK-fnR-rg3PBIQ2LhuMv-hEZ3kUQ_FuuyeOIJbPiETMZ/s1600/SenningerCloseSpacing_blog_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here at Senninger<sup>®</sup> Irrigation, we know growers in the High Plains region are concerned about water availability.<br /><br />Persistent drought conditions in the area are forcing many growers to pump more water from the Ogallala Aquifer, with some depending almost solely on the aquifer to maintain soil-moisture levels. Growers in this windy and semi-arid region also face a greater likelihood of water loss due to evaporation and wind-drift. Our Senninger team knows these conditions make it even more difficult to meet high yield demands and maintain crop quality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is why many growers across the region are replacing their sprinklers with our Low Drift Nozzle (LDN) Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) Bubblers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Growers already know that not all of the water they pump reaches crop roots. Water is prone to evaporating before it reaches the soil. It can even evaporate directly from the soil surface. Soil is also likely to overheat, crack and lose its ability to effectively channel water down to the crop’s root zone.<br /><br />LEPA Bubblers help growers get around these issues by applying water around 8 to 18 inches above the soil surface and directly into crop furrows. Keeping water so close to the ground helps avoid wetting crop leaves and reduces the amount of water lost to wind-drift and evaporation. That means nearly all the water pumped is absorbed by the soil.<br /><br />Research by Leon New and Guy Fipps of Texas A&M shows that spray heads can experience a 17 percent water loss at wind speeds of 15 mph. With LEPA sprinklers, at least 20 percent more water will reach the soil surface compared to conventional spray nozzles. Conventional sprinklers are very susceptible to high wind speed, low relative humidity, temperature and evaporation losses.<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></sup><br /><br />Growers are also discovering that installing LEPA Bubblers on fields where they use strip-till or no-till increases soil moisture and reduces runoff and soil sealing. Crop residue protects the water from evaporation while simultaneously protecting the soil from drying out and overheating.<br /><br />Others are taking LEPA irrigation a step further and doubling their drops from traditional 60-inch increments to tighter 30-inch spacing between heads to more uniformly soak the soil. The benefits of this closer spacing include less water usage, more uniform root zone coverage during pre-watering, reduced dry spots and high yields despite restricted water supplies.<br /><br />“Using 30-inch spacing with Bubblers gets the job done with less energy, and nearly all of the water pumped is absorbed by the soil,” says Edwin Smith, High Plains regional sales manager for Senninger Irrigation. “There are certain aspects growers need to be aware of before making a switch to this method, but with the right conditions growers could potentially increase their yields and reduce their costs.”<br /><br />These ideal conditions include relatively flat land, circle planting and crop residue. The maximum recommended slope for growers considering LEPA or close spacing installations is 1 percent. Planting in circle rows is necessary to increase uniform water disbursement and reduce runoff, while crop residue is needed to increase surface storage capacity and prevent soil redistribution. While just about any type of soil will benefit from close spacing, it is important to consider each soil’s water-holding capacity when setting up close spaced Bubblers. Some soils, like porous sandy soils, can handle much higher application rates than others.</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from Valley PivotPoint magazine, Spring 2015</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></i>Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-91866742539220340172015-05-14T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-14T11:00:14.880-05:00The Valley Gearbox. Built Strong. Built to Last. | by John Kastl<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m sometimes asked why Valley<sub>®</sub> builds its own gearbox. Often the question is “wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper to buy a gearbox from China like others do?” Well, yes, it would be easier and cheaper to buy a Chinese-built gearbox, but it wouldn’t provide the quality and durability growers need and expect from Valley. <br /><br />That’s why, since 1974, Valley has manufactured its own gearbox at our facility here in Valley. More recently, we’ve increased our commitment to ensuring a reliable supply of Valley gearboxes with our new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Waverly, Neb.<br /><br />So, why does Valley go through the effort and expense to manufacture a gearbox itself?</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because building our own gearbox allows us to customize the design to meet the unique needs of an irrigation machine. For example, unlike other manufacturer’s steel worm gearboxes, Valley uses a ductile iron worm gear. Ductile iron has significantly higher wear capabilities because the surface of the gear has micro-pores that can hold lubricating oil. Also, the imbedded graphite in the gear itself provides some lubrication under extreme loads. That’s why the American Gear Manufacturer’s Association (AGMA) design standards allow 60 percent higher loads to be carried with ductile iron worms as compared to steel worms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Valley also uses a 25 degree tooth angle in our gearbox. According to the AGMA, a 25 degree tooth angle provides 40 percent more strength at the root than the 14.5 degree pressure angle used by others. While a 14.5 degree tooth angle is wider at the top, don’t be fooled. A 25 degree tooth angle is wider at the root, where the strength is needed. Tooling for a 25 degree tooth angle is more costly because it’s not standard, but it’s worth it because it helps the Valley gearbox last longer. <br /><br />The Valley gearbox also has a 52:1 gear ratio. This means the gearbox uses 4 percent less energy to move the machine through the field, but, more importantly, the design has a fully recessed tooth action. With a fully recessed design, the gears keep lubrication oil between the gears longer, reducing friction for increased load capacity and longer life. <br /><br />Valley also uses U.S.-made, case-hardened bearings made from ultra-pure steel instead of through-hardened Chinese bearings used by others. Case-hardening provides superior wear characteristics while maintaining the inner toughness of the core material. As a result, Valley bearings have a 40 percent greater load rating. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, even the best gear design and materials won’t help if the gearbox isn’t sealed from the elements. That’s why Valley uses a patented six-barrier input and nine-barrier output seal to keep oil in and problems out. Valley also uses a 2 inch longer output shaft to ensure mud and crop residue don’t damage the seal as the machine moves through the field. To compensate for this longer shaft, special wheels are used that actually move the center of the tire closer to the gearbox output bearing than the industry standard, reducing the load on the gearbox. <br /><br />Finally, we also control the quality of each component and each step in the manufacturing process. A dedicated team of buyers, engineers, quality inspectors and machine operators works day and night to ensure each component meets the stringent Valley quality requirements. Because our suppliers are located in the United States, we can easily perform random inspections of their facilities to ensure they are meeting our quality standards. All major components are also machined by Valley, providing a second level of quality control. A final inspection is performed by testing each gearbox before it is shipped. And, to further ensure Valley quality, randomly selected gearboxes are life-tested in our gearbox testing laboratory. <br /><br />All this adds up to a gearbox that is 24 percent stronger and lasts two-and-a-half times longer, ensuring you can apply the correct amount of water when and where you need it. <br /><br />Our philosophy at Valley always has been to provide the most durable gearbox in the irrigation industry – even if it costs more. And this still holds true today. In fact, many folks around Valley consider the Valley Gearbox the “heart and soul” of the Valley machine. </span>
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<td border="0" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLts8l6kekyPOAnuNJc_JOTf571GYLWRwI_S2Ve7k-ZmHsNT3lfDV1fVXyA9kmLbTKa4dhKOTiR6b1y43uD0aTgY9S3BwEqXTVE-zND7DxT-sDFubaAjn7azux_K63jKNGD_F9vbDpsGw/s320/John-Kastl_web.jpg" width="200" /></span></td>
<td border="0" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>John Kastl</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Product Manager - Equipment</span><br />
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John joined the Valley Irrigation Engineering Department in 2000 after having spent 11 years at General Electric Aircraft Engines. Today, he manages the equipment products for Valley (center pivots, corners, and gearboxes, to name a few), helping to develop the next generation of Valley Irrigation machines. John enjoys photography, home renovation and travel. On his third birthday, John watched the first moon landing!</span></td></tr>
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</span>Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-50744927050593809582015-05-11T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-11T12:38:39.148-05:00Why Work for Valley? | by Lisa Dvorak<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started my career after college in the Valmont<sub>®</sub> Structures division marketing department, knowing this was just a “starter job” at a manufacturing plant in the middle of nowhere. I just needed to get a few years under my belt to unlock more opportunities elsewhere and move up the ladder. Besides, how much fun could it be to do marketing for lighting and traffic poles? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, as it turned out, a lot of fun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a great boss and mentor who helped guide my career into what I wanted it to be, and I gained experience, knowledge and friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />After six years of marketing, my job changed to include more sales activities. As I learned how the sales process worked in Structures, I was able to bridge the gap between sales and marketing and improve our marketing efforts. After a few years, I knew I was ready for more, although I wasn’t sure what “more” was. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew the Valley<sub>®</sub> marketing team from company-wide projects and bouncing ideas back and forth. It was a team I wanted to be a part of, so when the opportunity came up to join the group, I leaped at the chance. A chance to get back to doing what I loved – marketing communications. <br /><br />I’ve been at Valmont long enough to know that Valley makes the highest quality pivots. I’m also a city girl who married a country boy. My country boy worked for the local Valley dealer our first eight years of marriage, so my loyalty to Valley comes not only through my job at Valmont, but because it’s the only way to be. Blue is best. I learned a great deal from my husband about pivots and the ag world, which really helped me when I started this job. <br /><br />There are so many great aspects of this new job: working with our dealers on their efforts to grow their business, the uncomplicated sales structure allowing me to have some contact with growers, and especially being a part of the passion that the Valley team has for the products we produce. <br /><br />Yes, I’m drinking the blue Kool-Aid<sup>®</sup>, but only because it’s the best there is. </span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lisa Dvorak</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marketing Project Manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Lisa joined the Valley Irrigation team at the start of 2015. She was previously in the Valmont Structures division for 10 years. She enjoys Husker football, reading and traveling, but her biggest passion is camping (camper, not tent!) with her family and making memories that will last a lifetime. . </span><br />
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<br />Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-75280860392849318322015-05-07T11:00:00.000-05:002015-05-07T11:00:00.543-05:00Precision Agriculture Is the Future of Farming | by John Campbell<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently read an article on Forbes.com that proclaimed “</span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2015/02/18/the-future-of-agriculture-smart-farming/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Future of Agriculture? Smart Farming</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.” That statement seemed obvious and the article cited some well-known facts; the world’s population is growing, those people are going to eat more and there’s a finite amount of land and water to produce that food.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The article suggested that one way to meet the world’s food needs is through “precision agriculture.” </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Precision is defined as <i>the degree of refinement with which an operation is performed</i>. Precision is what Valley<sub>®</sub> Irrigation was founded on. Valley started an entire industry based on giving farmers the equipment they need to be paradoxically more efficient <u>and</u> more productive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Precision irrigation tools can benefit an operation in many ways. For example, center pivots irrigate in circles, but, unfortunately, many fields aren’t round. Adding corner arms to pivots can extend irrigation into the corners of the field, substantially expanding irrigated acres. More acres mean more crops. <br /><br />Corner machines operate with great precision, relying on GPS Guidance for track-on-track accuracy. Did you know that Valley offers two excellent <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/irrigation-products/corners-benders-dropspan" target="_blank">corner machines</a> to extend your acres? The VFlex™ Corner is designed for growers who want options – with more customizable features than any other corner on the market today. Meanwhile, the Precision Corner<sup>®</sup> offers the most sophisticated, high-tech options. <br /><br />Today’s computerized control panels give growers unprecedented control over their irrigation machines. With advanced control panels, <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/control-technology/control-panels" target="_blank">such as the Pro2 and Select2</a>, growers can determine how their pivot irrigates, when it irrigates, how often it irrigates and even where it irrigates. <br /><br />The latest advances in precision agriculture are coming in the form of remote monitoring and control. The ability to control pivots from a smartphone, table or computer can virtually eliminate trips to the field. This technology not only saves time, fuel and water, it is a game changer in quality of life, allowing growers to spend time with family rather than driving to fields to check on pivots. Valley BaseStation3™ is the most innovative irrigation management solution available. Did you know that you can take the BaseStation3 native iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android apps for a test drive with the new “Demo” mode? Just download the <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/control-technology/basestation3" target="_blank">free BaseStation3 app and click on the Demo button</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the ultimate in precision irrigation comes in the form of Variable Rate Irrigation. This technology lets farmers control water application rates in field sectors, or even zones (more than 5,000 zones with <a href="http://www.valleyirrigation.com/valley-irrigation/us/control-technology/variable-rate-irrigation-(vri)" target="_blank">Valley VRI Zone Control</a>). VRI provides the ability to apply just the right amount of water exactly where it’s needed.</span><br />
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There’s no question that these kinds of advances are the future of agriculture. Tech-savvy growers are adopting these practices at accelerating rates and see the benefits in their yields and bottom line. <br />
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Valley Irrigation is proud to have started the industry and to continue leading the way today. We are The Leader in Precision Irrigation<sub>®</sub>. Period. </span>
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>John Campbell</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Advanced Technology Product Manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />John Campbell coordinates all of the Valley remote control and monitoring technology products, including BaseStation3. John lives in north Omaha, where he pursues his many hobbies, including classic cars and running.</span><br />
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</span></span>Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-4941285849980479712015-05-04T11:00:00.002-05:002015-05-04T11:00:00.512-05:00Outback Crop Circles | by Alex Mills<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a stretch of highway between Port Hedland to Broome in northern Western Australia, three big green circles stand out against the plains of red dirt, the latest project of my 23-year-strong cattle breeding family company. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCL2Tv9qVqjGv7nD3y5Vek448p3BLD9LGjjTCDVnaNd1h9eWtxOzrjf-jih5_283928y80W3l8vH4db4BJwAYpL9H3e4CjnphpoRtktRO2xExHg00BO_SOylrrJ3OguCnONKjeJxW7fK7/s1600/Outback_PivotExternal_blog1_web_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCL2Tv9qVqjGv7nD3y5Vek448p3BLD9LGjjTCDVnaNd1h9eWtxOzrjf-jih5_283928y80W3l8vH4db4BJwAYpL9H3e4CjnphpoRtktRO2xExHg00BO_SOylrrJ3OguCnONKjeJxW7fK7/s1600/Outback_PivotExternal_blog1_web_.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first pivot crop.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we acquired the Kimberly coast property in late 2013, it came with an artesian bore with enough water pressure to supply three 47-hectare (116-acre) pivots without additional pumping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being cattlemen and not farmers, we stepped lightly into the world of center pivots and after much research and many discussions with other pivot farmers and experts, decided on the Valley</span><sub style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">®</sub><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> brand. In early 2014, three pre-owned Valley pivots arrived at the property ready to be assembled under the supervision of new Pivot Manager Simon Scott. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal of the project was to effectively drought proof the two properties, which hold 30,000 cattle collectively. Two pivots grow sorghum which is cut, baled and silage wrapped approximately every 30 days, while the third is reserved for 'stand and graze,’ where cattle are cell grazed to eat directly off the pivot before sale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pivot site is over 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the homestead, so it quickly became clear that we would need remote control and monitoring of the pivots. The age of the pivots meant that we were unable to use the new Valley BaseStation3™. After researching some possible alternatives, the task was handed to me. I quit my job at the end of 2014 to start working on </span><a href="https://agconnect.io/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">AgConnect</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The existing Valley control panel already contains 99 percent of the electronics required, so I selected a Siemens programmable logic controller, which, combined with a series of relays, enabled me to control the pivot over a Wi-Fi network. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learned to program the controller in two days and had the full pivot program ready by the end of the week. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new digital resolver installed in each pivot provides accurate position information to the controller. I installed a fully redundant server in the shed office that connects the three pivots, weather station and soil probes to the AgConnect web app.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mdzJ4jZnckOLkyOj7wtZ1bXzwc2D1KlPYh7VKxjBrCGNTvBLXNbwGuMLlg_B8nzbNioos6gGT728k5ynXVsFght4Y3b0BqsPz23wZfggGk50vZx6UFnGV6SEkWRZLTHVd2NsiAeyF3Lr/s1600/Outback_iPhone6_blog3_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mdzJ4jZnckOLkyOj7wtZ1bXzwc2D1KlPYh7VKxjBrCGNTvBLXNbwGuMLlg_B8nzbNioos6gGT728k5ynXVsFght4Y3b0BqsPz23wZfggGk50vZx6UFnGV6SEkWRZLTHVd2NsiAeyF3Lr/s1600/Outback_iPhone6_blog3_web.jpg" height="320" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AgConnect running on an iPhone.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I built the AgConnect app to constantly monitor the network, pivot state, weather station and soil probes, alerting the user with a notification if a system issue or alert occurs. The latest sensor readings are displayed visually for the user and sent periodically to our Agronomist for accurate fertilizer recipes. Data is sent to and from the pivot in real time so the user always knows exactly what is happening and can make machine changes right from the app.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For safety and security reasons, all 'safety-override' movements must be made on-site using the Valley control panel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the future, the user will be able to create schedules and sub-divide the pivots into sections for more detailed control over the irrigation. The next step is to connect the chemigation and solar power systems for complete control and monitoring over the entire site. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />This has been a considerable undertaking for Warrawagine Cattle Co., and I'm proud of what we have been able to achieve so far. It's exciting to be able to help shape the future of the growing pivot irrigation industry here in Australia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Apple<sup>®</sup> and iPhone<sup>®</sup> are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Alex Mills</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Software Developer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Alex is a guest writer for the Growing the Conversation blog by Valley. He is a self-taught software developer and designer with a passion for electronics and solving technical challenges. Raised on an outback cattle ranch, Alex has always been fascinated by technology in the bush and its future applications in agriculture.</span><br />
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</span></span>Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-87914853038434333862015-04-30T11:00:00.000-05:002015-04-30T11:00:14.912-05:00Behind the Scenes with Shirley Simons<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Behind the Scenes at Valley<sub>®</sub> is a series </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>showcasing the people behind the pivots.</i> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4KwQz-h53SaNHX6rsAP7D0cnhqf_amiyXqvKNPfC-BkV12AaVz1bJTM3VFToUPyLqbIHWZ-v67D3R0AdXuuSHKVYWRc8GWkZiRMGWohrWm508Kn6MmfWipuFAmMjDZ7_j8uWvaf5pyac/s1600/ShirleySimons1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4KwQz-h53SaNHX6rsAP7D0cnhqf_amiyXqvKNPfC-BkV12AaVz1bJTM3VFToUPyLqbIHWZ-v67D3R0AdXuuSHKVYWRc8GWkZiRMGWohrWm508Kn6MmfWipuFAmMjDZ7_j8uWvaf5pyac/s1600/ShirleySimons1.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I came to Valmont</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sub>®</sub></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> through a friend who had an opening on the credit team, where I helped for six weeks,” says Shirley Simons, Valley Irrigation Purchasing Manager and Procedure Specialist. “After some organizational changes, I was recruited to purchasing. I was encouraged to get my degree and CPM certification (Certified Purchasing Manager), and I did it all in one year!” </span><br />
<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was 30 years ago, and Shirley is still with Valley, although she has held multiple positions since then. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0">In her current job, she manages eight buyers and ensures all the parts needed to make an irrigation machine are available. She negotiates pricing continually, builds contracts, deals with national accounts across the world and constantly manages inventory levels. <br /><br />“I have a great team under me, but purchasing is challenging,” she says. “There is a lot to juggle and you have to have a tough skin and think of the customer first – both internal and external.”</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTWCAhm9A_fIue9x1-XcQBo5ruJkKLbiau9fWgEsaeGwFuuRAceAWIMsxhj5MSDA4Y-iV_tQPff8KbZj72qYfDebh5ImnI_m_XGcmlBF3rRN0j-iFM2uqDxCJFcgxOQT4ee5qXlkAZzXp/s1600/ShirleySimons2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTWCAhm9A_fIue9x1-XcQBo5ruJkKLbiau9fWgEsaeGwFuuRAceAWIMsxhj5MSDA4Y-iV_tQPff8KbZj72qYfDebh5ImnI_m_XGcmlBF3rRN0j-iFM2uqDxCJFcgxOQT4ee5qXlkAZzXp/s1600/ShirleySimons2.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="fbPhotoTagList"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Shirley is thankful for all that Valley has done for her – for all the training and opportunities the company has provided her through the years. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotoTagList"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span class="fbPhotoTagList"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">“I’m proud to be part of Valley," she says. "I give 110 percent all the time. The support from upper management is essential to the purchasing department, and we employees and the vendors appreciate it.”<br /><br />Outside work, Shirley spends time with her five grandchildren. She and her husband also “do antiques” – weathering, waxing, and selling them.</span></span></span></span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-38947255595120919822015-04-27T11:00:00.000-05:002015-04-28T14:41:33.494-05:00Reach Out to the Next Generation | by Matt Ondrejko<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On March 30, I had the pleasure of speaking to an International Marketing class at the University of Nebraska Omaha. I was invited to share my global marketing experiences and career path with a class of about 50 students. <br /><br />It was exciting for me to provide some insight to these juniors and seniors as they are getting close to starting a career and putting their knowledge to work in the real world. I thought back to my own experiences in college and remembered how important it was to have access to and interaction with people who had real jobs, while learning about the paths they followed.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Matt Ondrejko speaking at the University of Nebraska Omaha.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I told the students about my personal journey and pursuit from a young age to find a job that would allow me to travel the world and experience different cultures and people. I explained that I was one of only a few people that I knew who walked into college knowing what degree I wanted and actually stuck with my plan through the whole course of my education. <br /><br />Once I graduated though, I knew what I wanted to do and had a piece of paper that said I had skills, but I didn’t know what path to start down to get me there. This is where many of the students I met are today.<br /><br />I feel it is very important to present options and clarity to students about what is out there in the real world. What does it mean to be in marketing, finance, sales or engineering? <br /><br />The amazing thing about our diverse world is that we likely wear all these hats at some point in our positions or careers (regardless of the piece of paper you received from a university). By exposing these students to what international marketing means to me and to the different positions within the Valley marketing department, I am helping them understand how one company – our company – operates and drives business.<br /><br />I encourage you all to connect with students you may know, or volunteer to help them understand the different paths that exist and open their eyes to different possibilities.</span>
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<td border="0" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Matt Ondrejko</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VP Global Marketing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The one word that can sum up Matt is "enthusiasm!" He likes to be on-the-go and have fun along the way. Matt loves music and the 1980s era. He is a child of the MTV generation and has a deep appreciation of all music genres (specifically, he is a huge Dave Matthews Band groupie). Matt has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world and enjoys learning about different cultures and people. He spent three years living with his family in Leuven, Belgium, trying to enjoy as many of the 700+ beers they brew there.</span></td>
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</span>Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-50971797132541716312015-04-23T11:00:00.000-05:002015-04-23T11:00:00.893-05:00The Right Sprinklers Help Farms Grow<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a savvy, successful farming operation requests a specific sprinkler, people tend to take notice. So when Jeremy Walther of Walther Farms called Guess Irrigation and requested Nelson Orbitors, the dealer listened.<br /><br />The Walther family has been farming for three generations and irrigating since the 1970s, working land in areas from Michigan to Florida. Walther Farms primarily grows potatoes and employs more than 150 people in 14 communities.<br /><br />Jeremy Walther – along with three brothers and five cousins – is one of the owners of Walther Farms. He is the field manager and operations manager for Indiana, Georgia, Florida, and the Wiley Fork farm outside of Aiken, SC.<br /><br />Irrigation management is crucial to growing a good potato crop, and Walther says his family has found that Orbitors work well under just about any condition.<br /><br />Walther says they use Orbitor nozzles on pivots all over the country.<br /><br />“Even on land we lease, we change out the nozzles to Orbitors, so installing them on the Wiley Fork farm in South Carolina was a given,” he says.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.7999992370605px; text-align: left;">R55 End of Pivot Sprinklers |</span><span style="color: #215670; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.7999992370605px; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">© </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Nelson Irrigation</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The irrigation design at the Wiley Fork farm was a combined effort of Walther Farms and Guess Irrigation.<br /><br />Nelson Irrigation Eastern Regional Manager Scott Harn says, “The Walthers installed low pressure O3000 Orbitors with Uni-flow regulators that provide high uniformity and a clean water pattern as a result of its revolutionary bracketless design. It was an outstanding choice for them.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shay Hane of Guess Irrigation agrees, “They’re some of the most knowledgeable customers I’ve ever encountered, and we had a couple of ‘firsts’ with this project because of that. Orbitors are not common in South Carolina. These were the first ones we’ve installed, and they’re a very good sprinkler.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We also installed R55 End of Pivot Sprinklers for the first time. They’ve worked well for adding irrigated acres.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />According to Harn, Nelson Irrigation tested the R55 End of Pivot Sprinklers, which use proven Rotator technology, for several years before putting them on the market at the end of 2013.<br /><br />“It’s a low pressure, secondary sprinkler to the SR100,” Harn explains. “It’s used to help fill in under the end gun and/or pick up additional acreage after the end gun is shut off. The 800 series valve is used to precisely turn the SR100 and R55 on or off in order to maximize irrigated acres. It depends on the application.”<br /><br />Walther says it’s working well in his situation, and he’s impressed with the advances in irrigation technology in the 16 years he’s been farming.<br /><br />“We need to do everything possible to conserve water and focus on sustainability, while we provide our potato crops with the proper irrigation,” he says. “These sprinklers help us do all of that effectively.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Reprinted from Valley PivotPoint magazine, Winter 2014</i></span></div>
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-27073904391271066772015-04-20T11:00:00.001-05:002015-04-20T11:00:01.771-05:00Five Years Equals a Lifetime in Remote Farm Management | by Steve Sveum<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, we at AgSense<sup>®</sup> were very excited to release our <a href="http://www.agsense.net/news/agsense-releases-ultimate-precision-irrigation-package#.VS7YkEaBHq4" target="_blank">Field Commander<sup>®</sup> Ultimate remote precision irrigation package</a>. The package combines various AgSense technologies into one kit that allows for total control and monitoring of an entire irrigation system from the Web or a smartphone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is our latest (and certainly not our last) in a series of new product introductions. As I approach my five year anniversary with AgSense, it is interesting for me to reflect on how far our technology, both hardware and software, has come during that time. Five years represents about 10 percent of my lifetime (give or take), but several generations in the life of our remote irrigation technology and software.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2010, we had just started selling our Field Commander product for pivot monitor and control. That replaced our Pivot Point product, which simply monitored and allowed for remote stop of a pivot, similar to what our Field Commander Lite does today. Field Commander added single end gun, remote speed programming and remote start capabilities for most pivots and panels. It now includes two end guns or pump control, wire theft monitoring, and the ability to read and report precipitation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also since 2010, we expanded our hardware and software capabilities to include SDI (drip irrigation), soil moisture monitoring, the Precision Link digital interface into the T-L Precision Point III Panel, and a whole host of weather and agronomic condition sensors, putting all that critical data and control literally at growers’ fingertips via our smartphone apps and Web interface.<br /><br />Speaking of the WagNet<sup>®</sup> app, it was released in 2013. It has been wildly popular, and our statistics show that today 70 percent of the commands sent to and through AgSense devices are sent from growers’ smartphones or tablets.<br /><br />We are proud to be one of the pioneers in remote precision irrigation programming and control. WagNet software is compatible with several major suppliers of irrigation prescription and scheduling software, allowing for very quick and easy uploading of prescriptions into pivots. Again, most of this capability has been developed since 2010 and is available for any electric pivot, regardless of brand, age or panel type.<br /><br />As the technology has grown and evolved, so has the business itself. Our biggest month of shipping in 2015 will be represent more units than we shipped all year my first year. My office near Minneapolis was the first AgSense location outside of the home office in South Dakota. We now have four remote offices around the country (Minnesota, Kentucky, Nebraska and Idaho) where our regional managers work from. <br /><br />Our international business has also grown significantly, thanks in large part to our OEM agreements with pivot manufacturers such as Valley, which purchased part of AgSense in 2014. We currently have active devices in more than 20 countries around the world. <br /><br />The way things are going, it looks like the next five years may be even more exciting than the last! Stay tuned and THANK YOU to all the growers, dealers and industry partners that have helped us get here! Many of you have been with us since nearly the beginning.</span><br />
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<td border="0" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Steve Sveum</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vice President – Sales and Marketing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AgSense, LLC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Steve has been involved in agriculture most of his life. He was raised near Omaha in eastern Nebraska, and spent most of his summers working for farmers in that area, as well as in northeast South Dakota near his family’s homestead farm. Steve developed a passion for agriculture during those years and went on to receive an agricultural business degree from South Dakota State University. His 25-year career in the ag industry has been spent in leadership roles, primarily in the application and precision ag segments. Steve particularly enjoys projects developing new businesses and markets. He now makes his home in Centerville, Minn., with his wife and two children.</span> <br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-30883645272012912352015-04-16T11:00:00.001-05:002015-04-16T11:00:14.561-05:00 New Beginnings With Spring | by Patrick Scates<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did anyone else think this past winter would never end? The winter season always seems to overstay its welcome and it definitely did this year. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhQ5G4a9Zv8xfhtaKkv0MU-cucOQo7VgStlEgU_bsG5AOj3ZyBVVkK2ujLUWnGItSGBI5_zcy535JHU49vA_tLcpuQV4C412G93gdbIQg1xPyNXZAXc8tpB_s7i5XNhBHn6QSr6V_pq7c/s1600/smallcrop_Lo_aprilblog_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhQ5G4a9Zv8xfhtaKkv0MU-cucOQo7VgStlEgU_bsG5AOj3ZyBVVkK2ujLUWnGItSGBI5_zcy535JHU49vA_tLcpuQV4C412G93gdbIQg1xPyNXZAXc8tpB_s7i5XNhBHn6QSr6V_pq7c/s1600/smallcrop_Lo_aprilblog_web.jpg" height="640" width="416" /></a>Each year around the dealership, we all talk about how we are ready for spring to arrive. It might be as simple as being tired of working in the cold, wet conditions or maybe it’s the mundane shop and office work that has everyone looking forward to the spring months. <br /><br />When spring arrives, gone are the days of scraping the frost off your window each morning. Gone are the days of drilling a water well and getting sprayed with a leaking hose when its 20 degrees out. BRRRRRR!!! Gone are the days of layering up so much you feel like the little brother in the movie “A Christmas Story.” Gone are the early sunsets that have you leaving the office in the dark. <br /><br />Even though the New Year starts in January, I feel the New Year actually begins with spring. Spring is a time of new beginning for everything. A time when things spring to life. The growers are out checking their fields to see when and where they might be able to turn that first soil of year and put that first seed in the ground. As a farm kid, the smell of freshly turned soil was one of my favorites and it still is to this day. <br /><br />It is much easier to get things moving on spring mornings than it was just a couple of months ago. Everyone is eager to get out of the yard and out to the job site because – let’s be honest – working outside beats any job in the office or shop. Those first really warm, sunny days are the beginning of that unavoidable “farmer’s tan,” which makes you appear to be wearing a white T-shirt at the pool. <br /><br />It doesn’t matter if you are drilling a well, building a pivot, trenching wire or installing a pump, it only matters that you are beginning to make progress in getting the pivots up and running for the growers. <br /><br />For me, spring is always a reminder of why we do what we do in the agriculture community! The joy of beginning a new business relationship with a grower who needs your help is one of my favorite things. Teaching a grower how to operate his new pivot or working with him on how to properly irrigate a crop. After some time passes, that new business relationship usually turns into the beginning of a new friendship, which is what being a part of the agriculture community is all about. You know that business relationship has turned to a friendship when the grower is texting you pictures of his pivot up and running and updates on the crop under the pivot. <br /><br />As spring gets into full swing, it is fun to drive around and see all the old and new Valley<sub>®</sub> pivots up and running, watering the freshly sprouted corn and soybeans. It’s so great to know we have been part of changing the agriculture landscape and that we helped so many area growers make their farms more profitable. <br /><br />The only drawback to spring is that once you get into the latter part of spring you realize it is coming to an end and summer is beginning. The summer heat and humidity is only a few weeks away and that shirt will no longer be wet from a spring shower, but more likely from sweating while working on a pivot in standing corn while its 95 degrees (I know you know what that feels like). And that will have you wishing for fall and winter to roll around, which starts the cycle all over again.</span>
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<td border="0" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Patrick Scates</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">General Manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scates Valley Inc. in Carmi, IL</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Patrick enjoys anything to do with agriculture and politics. When he isn't at work he loves spending time with his four children, Zoey, Maggie, and twin boys, Thomas and Henry. Any free time is enjoyed playing golf or spending time with the family at a cabin on a small lake in southern Illinois. </span></td></tr>
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-81369236131861045992015-04-13T11:00:00.000-05:002015-04-13T13:23:57.534-05:00California Water in the News, Again. What's the Real Story? | by Ray Batten<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the last few years, the California water issue has been on the front page almost every day. Drought, endangered fish and big ag have been named the perpetrators of the gloom and doom. The real story may be not only more interesting, but even more serious.<br /><br />The gems of California agriculture are the San Joaquin Valley and the Imperial Valley. Both are deserts with water. The San Joaquin Valley includes approximately 8.5 million irrigated acres and is almost completely irrigated with water from the Sierra snowpack, while the Imperial Valley draws water from the Colorado River for its 500,000 acres.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The San Joaquin Valley </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the early 1900s, visionary folks drew up a plan to make the Golden State a reality. Taking snow pack and turning it into water, storing it in mountain reservoirs behind a network of dams, and building a very advanced system of ditches to deliver the precious water to the dry – yet fertile – farm ground and the city folks below. City and rural water districts were organized, land was cleared, fields were leveled and drain ditches built.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The design and subsequent finished product was built around the premise that someday there would be 15 million people in the cities to drink, play and use the water, plus maybe 4 million acres of farm ground to nourish.<br /><br />California flourished and grew. People came from all over to experience the dream. Jobs abounded, fortunes were made and California became the place where dreams come true. Remember Walt Disney?<br /><br />Enter a typical drought cycle in the early 2000s with 35 million citizens and nearly 9 million acres now feasting on the California water system. Add to that the endangered spices acts, powerful environmental groups and outdoors fans now all vying for a piece of the pie. Thousands of acre feet are used to flush the non-indigenous Delta Smelt into the San Francisco Bay, and the building of additional storage becomes a matter of litigation and not construction, so nothing gets done.<br /><br />This amazing state still produces a high percentage of all vegetables, nuts, milk and protein for the American people and the world.<br /><br />The story continues to shed light on the California farmer who has adopted every available technology and methodology to become efficient and sustain the viability of the industry.<br /><br />They are great "Stewards of the Land" and have tirelessly worked to do more and more with less and less.<br /><br />In many ways, the current focus on California water has frozen a large number of water users in the agriculture sector who could improve their water to crop delivery systems because they fear possible state and federal regulation actions that might negatively impact their land value.<br /><br />In more direct words, the water may be worth as much or more than the land, so if they reduce the amount they use the old term of "use it or lose it" looms heavy.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ray Batten</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Large Grower Relations</span><br />
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Ray received a degree in civil engineering in Washington State and has more than 30 years of experience in the agricultural irrigation industry as a service tech, designer, salesman, contractor and dealership owner. Ray has spent the last 15 years at Valmont<sub>®</sub> Industries in territory management and as the large grower relations manager for North America. He has been active in the Idaho Irrigation Equipment Association, the California Agricultural Irrigation Association and the Irrigation Association. Ray lives south of Dallas on Cedar Creek Lake with his wife and best friend, Cindy, and enjoys his children, grandchildren and lake living.</span><br />
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Valley Irrigationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15223895038623787528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7421454811736887585.post-68964824206469984552015-04-09T11:00:00.000-05:002015-04-09T11:00:06.424-05:00Valley U Bringing Passion and Education to Valley Dealers | by Kelly Schultze<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continuous improvement is one of the Valmont<sub>®</sub> cornerstone values, and it is something we at Valley<sub>®</sub> University strive for every day. Valley University is Valley Irrigation’s go-to resource for dealership training and development.<br /><br />We are constantly looking for ways to improve our courses and make them more engaging. Each team member has a passion for learning and teaching new things, and it is our goal to bring that passion to each person who uses our Valley University site. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These days it seems like every week brings a new gadget or feature that affects our daily lives, regardless of what industry we work in or where we live. In an environment that is constantly changing, it is important to stay up-to-date not only for our personal development, but also our professional development. <br /><br />Technology is making it easier than ever to improve business through more efficient operation. From our end, being able to share information with every Valley dealership employee at the same time is incredible. <br /><br />We have some really great developments coming soon that will benefit our dealerships. One of these developments is the creation of more service courses. From programming panels to proper wiring techniques, we will be improving our support for the service technicians at each dealership.<br /><br />Recently we’ve been adding gamification to our courses. We’ve created quiz games such as Don’t Break the Pivot, Pivot Racing and Bird’s Eye View. We have more coming soon, as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’ve taken our courses and enjoyed the games, or if you have ideas for courses or games you’d like to see, we would love to hear about it! You can contact us at <a href="mailto:valleyuniversity@valmont.com">valleyuniversity@valmont.com </a>or (402) 359-6500.</span><br />
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<td valign="top"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kelly Schultze</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">E-Learning Instructional Designer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Kelly joined Valley Irrigation in early 2014 as an E-Learning Instructional Designer. When she isn’t at work, she is typically creating replica costumes and props from films, comics, and television shows. Kelly also enjoys learning languages and is conversational in French and Korean. She loves to travel, and has lived abroad while studying in South Africa and South Korea.</span><br />
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