Seven Center Pivot Myths Debunked | by Senninger Irrigation

This piece was written for and published by Senninger Irrigation, and reprinted with permission.

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.

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.

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.

Despite these improvements, there are still many farmers across the world that have never considered center pivots efficient irrigation machines.

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!

Myth #1 - Pivots can’t irrigate corners without water wasting end guns.

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.

Myth #2 - Pivot sprinklers waste water through runoff and surface soil evaporation.

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.

Myth #3 - Pivots can’t be used with crops prone to foliar disease, like tomatoes.

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.

Myth #4 - Pivots can only irrigate a limited number of crops like corn or cotton.

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.

Myth #5 - Pivots are way more expensive than other systems.

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.

Myth #6 - Pivot technology is always changing so there’s no point in buying something that will soon be outdated.

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.

Myth #7 - Sprinklers use too much water and energy.
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.

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Senninger® Irrigation A Valley® Irrigation Authorized Provider 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.  This post was written by Nicole Alvarez, the technical writer for Senninger.

LDN Bubblers Maximize Irrigation Efficiency on the High Plains | by Senninger Irrigation

Here at Senninger^® Irrigation, we know growers in the High Plains region are concerned about water availability.

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.

That is why many growers across the region are replacing their sprinklers with our Low Drift Nozzle (LDN) Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) Bubblers.

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.

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.

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.¹

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.

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.

“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.”

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.

¹ LEPA Conversion and Management by Dr. Guy Fipps and Leon New

Reprinted from Valley PivotPoint magazine, Spring 2015