Big Week of Farm Shows | by Shannon Peterson

This is a huge week in agriculture, and not because it’s Valentine’s Day week. Growers and ag business reps are heading to two giant farm shows – National Farm Machinery Show and World Ag Expo.

The largest indoor show in America, National Farm Machinery Show is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 11-14. It features more than 850 exhibitors, including Valley_® Irrigation, and attracts 300,000 attendees from around the world. 

If you’re attending NFMS, download the mobile app to help you navigate the exhibit hall and show activities. 

And, be sure to stop by the Valley booth, No. 82-83, to learn more about BaseStation3™ and the launch of Valley Irrigation Exchange™, our exclusive data-sharing technology. Irrigation Exchange shares irrigation data over the Internet and integrates it with other precision ag data, so growers can make informed, data-driven decisions on water application, nutrient management and other critical farm operations. 

Irrigation Exchange does much, much more. Check back Thursday to read a blog post introducing this innovative technology.

Heading west instead? World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., Feb. 10-12, is the world’s largest annual agricultural exposition. More than 1,400 exhibitors are on hand sharing the latest farm equipment and technology. 

Valley will be at WAE too in booth No. NS 20-24. Stop by to learn more about our products, including center pivots and linears, Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI), pumping solutions and innovative technology.

There’s a mobile app for this show too, or take a look around with the live feed cameras. 

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Shannon Peterson Marketing Content Editor 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.

Welcome to California | by Ben Hirschfeld

The Valley booth at World Ag Expo.

I have spent most of my life in Nebraska. I grew up on a row crop farm with not much in my world besides corn and soybean farming. All or most of the sections of land were in squares of 160 acres or rectangles of 80. Year in and year out, everything pretty much stayed the same.

California farming is a TOTALLY different story. I see sections of land that are in triangles, squares, and other odd shapes around bodies of water, cities, mountains, etc. I am seeing so many different crops. There are trees in the fields! That is crazy to a small town, pretty sheltered, Nebraska kid.

However, I also see quite a few similarities between the two states. Being at the World Ag Expo and speaking to so many people helped me realize this.

Whether a farmer is from Nebraska, California, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, Mexico, or ANY other place, there is one constant. Every one of them is striving to improve his (or her) operation. Some are trying to improve yield. Some are trying to improve management practices. Some are striving to conserve water.

Just like every other business in the world, the business of farming is constantly changing. Sometimes, farmers are changing on their own because they want to. Much of the time, they are changing because they HAVE to. The ones that carry on from generation to generation are the ones that are constantly striving to improve.

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Ben Hirschfeld Advanced Technology Order Manager Ben has been with Valley Irrigation since 2008. He grew up on a row crop farm in Nebraska, and has been involved in agriculture ever since. Ben, a die-hard Cornhusker fan, lives in Omaha with his wife, Carolyn, and his children Abe and Mia, and enjoys chasing his kids around to all their different events.

Meet Us at a Trade Show

Valley Irrigation team members will be spreading out across the country to attend trade shows in February.

2013 National Farm Machinery Show

These shows allow us to highlight our innovations and technology, and showcase new products that increase farm efficiency and yields. 

More importantly, the shows give us an opportunity to discuss irrigation solutions with our key customers, as well as build relationships with potential customers.

Next up on our trade show schedule:

•         World Ag Expo, Feb. 11-13, Tulare, CA
•         National Farm Machinery Show, Feb. 12-15, Louisville, KY,
•         Commodity Classic, Feb. 27-March 1, San Antonio, TX
•         Mid-South Farm and Gin, Feb. 28-March 1, Memphis, TN

If you find yourself at one of these shows, be sure to stop by the Valley booth and say hello. You can meet us, meet our dedicated Valley dealers, and see our products up close.  See you at the shows!

Who Wants to Stop Checking Pivot Tires? | by Shannon Peterson

A farmers’ work is never done. Smart growers know the off-season is the time to find and fix problems, to prevent in-season shut downs. They also know it is cheaper to maintain equipment than it is to fix it after a breakdown.

One of the likely tasks on your off-season list is checking the tires on your center pivots. Of course, you’ll be checking those tires again before the planting season, and during the growing season, and again during the season, and again, and again.

Checking tires takes time you really don’t have, especially during the irrigation season. As a testament to that, most flat tires aren’t noticed until the irrigation equipment stops, ruining the tire, gearbox, and sometimes the rim. And a flat tire means repairs that can cost $1,000 to $1,500 and downtime during the peak irrigation season when water is critical to maximizing yields.

So, while you’re thinking about taxes, budgets, planning, and off-season improvements, think too about a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). Recipient of a 2012 World Ag Expo Top-10 New Products award, Valley_® TPMS alerts you when there is a low-pressure situation and pinpoints the exact location of the tire.

The technology is widely used in the automotive and over-the-road trucking industries. A sensor on the tire’s valve stem measures tire pressure and transmits the information to your Pro2 control panel. You can see the information at the pivot point or remotely on your BaseStation™.

Identifying a slow leak before you get a flat tire lets you schedule preemptive maintenance at a time and location that is convenient for you, rather than fixing a flat in the middle of your field.

Investing in TPMS means you won’t waste time manually checking tires, which not only increases your productivity, it frees up some time for you. Although I suspect you’ll find other work that needs to be done.

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Shannon Peterson Marketing Content Editor Shannon joined Valley Irrigation in 2013. She enjoys traveling with her family, particularly to national parks, and she occasionally writes about her travels for Home & Away magazine. Shannon also likes reading, trying new restaurants, seeing movies, and watching Husker football and Creighton basketball. However, she and her husband spend most of their free time chauffeuring their teenage son to activities and chasing their baby daughter.