Additional Gearbox Facility Provides Redundancy & Sustainability

New gearbox facility in Waverly, NE

Valley_® is the only company in the irrigation industry that designs and builds its gearboxes right here in the United States. The quality is second to none, and it’s a source of pride for them.

To keep up with the growing demand and create sustainability, Valley is increasing their commitment to their customers by building a new gearbox facility in Waverly, NE. Stephen LeGrand, Vice President of Global Operations, Valley Irrigation, says the new facility will also provide necessary redundancy.

“If we ever had a disaster at our current gearbox facility in Valley, we’d be out of luck,” he explains. “This Waverly facility is about a 45-minute drive away from Valley – close enough to take advantage of the knowledge and core competency from our original facility, but far enough away for true redundancy.”

LeGrand says that having a second facility in the U.S. not only keeps the quality high, but it also provides customers with the fast turnaround they expect. “We have a very short supply chain, so we can ramp up or down as farmers’ needs change. We also provide competitive pricing against imported products, but Valley products are better built, with faster turnaround.”

Valley is building the gearbox facility at an unused site that they already owned. They are rejuvenating the site, which also helps revitalize the city of Waverly.

“It’s a win-win for Waverly and for Valley,” says LeGrand. “We have our facility at a site that’s right for us, and Waverly benefits from the employment that a new business brings to town. We’ll be hiring highly skilled workers, eventually employing 30 to 40 people."

LeGrand explains that this facility represents a significant investment in their overall business. “It’s important that our customers know we’ll be here for them in the long run, providing the best possible products and service for them.”

He says that, just like growers must invest in their farms to ensure the best possible outcome, Valmont is investing in their business, explaining, “Investments like this one will ensure that we can meet the needs of farmers today and in the future.”

Valley Irrigation Field Days | by Shannon Peterson

Waste water center pivot discussion

August 26 Field Day at Fair Oaks Farms

Valley_® Irrigation just hosted the second of this summer’s three Field Days welcoming international visitors. 

Each year, Valley hosts hundreds of international visitors who travel to the United States to learn about this country’s farm practices. The guests are interested in touring farms, Valley dealerships, and the Valley Irrigation factory. This year we decided to step up our efforts and turn these events into world-class educational events. 

Each Field Day includes industry leading representatives from Valley, local universities, Nelson^® Irrigation, and Senninger^®. 

The first Field Day, in late July at Taylor Farms in Ames, NE, focused on corn and soybeans. The most recent Field Day – Monday at Fair Oaks Dairy in Fair Oaks, IN – had a slightly different twist: waste water management.

In addition to learning about center pivot irrigation equipment, irrigation technology, water application technology, and crop management, our recent guests—from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, and other countries—witnessed first-hand how an Indiana dairy recycles the manure of 15,000 cows. 

Simply put: the cows’ waste is used to grow the crops the cows eat. 

The manure is broken down, mixed with water and applied via Valley center pivots onto the crops used to feed the cows. No other fertilizer is needed because of the abundance of nutrients in the manure. It’s a complete, efficient sustainable system.

Naturally, the process is far more complex than outlined here. But as we approached a center pivot and saw brown water emitting from the sprinklers and end gun, the simplicity and, dare I say, “beauty” of the system generated exclamations in multiple languages.

The brown water also had us exchanging looks that crossed any language barriers. Wide-eyed looks that said, “What is this going to smell like?”

Our final Field Day, on September 9 in Grand Island, will offer insight on potatoes grown in Nebraska and sold to national potato chip makers. That should make for entirely different experience, and smell.

For more information on our final Field Day, and to register, visit www.valleyirrigation.com/FD2013.

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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.

Happy Arbor Day from Valley Irrigation!

Tomorrow, we celebrate Arbor Day, the holiday about planting trees! Arbor Day was first observed in Nebraska in the 1880s. For more history and fun facts about Arbor Day, visit www.ArborDay.org.

We're celebrating Arbor Day by sharing with YOU our most cherished "tree" memories!

	My first year of being married, my wife insisted we cut down our own Christmas tree. I had never done this as a kid, as we always bought one pre-cut at the lot. So we cut down this tree, bring it home, and put it up. It is the shortest, fattest tree ever – a total disaster (maybe a miscalculation on my part). In addition to that, for one month straight, it made this weird "clicking" sound at night and freaked us out. We kept thinking something was alive in it. So, next year, I bought an artificial tree and let the real ones continue to grow in the wild! - Matt Ondrejko, VP Global Marketing
	As I find myself more and more becoming that grouchy old man who yells at the neighborhood kids to “Keep off my lawn, dagnabbit!”, I occasionally find my memory taking me back in time to when I was in their shoes. I hope all of you have many happy memories from childhood; it isn’t that they get you through life, but they can be little “sweet spots” during the day when they come to mind. This Arbor Day, perhaps you, too, remember a favorite tree or woodland. For me, two trees come to mind. One is the white birch tree at my grandparents’ farm. We climbed it often, and the curling white bark was kind of wondrous to me. I still associate that tree with many fond memories of that place and those times. The other was a large pin oak growing in a vacant lot near my house in my home town. It, too, was a “climber”; not just for me but for the entire neighborhood. It naturally became a competition to see who could (and would) climb to the highest spot before your nerve failed. For an eight-year-old kid, it seemed that you could see clear into the neighboring state from up there. Of course, it also taught the importance of keeping a grip—sometimes, the “hard way”! - Kelly Downing, Global Irrigation Specialist
	I personally would not call myself a green thumb, but I do very much like my plants, and of course, my trees. Having only recently moved into a home that actually has its own yard (but no trees), my husband and I have proceeded to invest in some trees to spruce up the lot. Since we really, really like our trees, we have also proceeded to name each one, so now we have our two apple trees, Ohayo and Gozaimasu (think “Good Morning” in Japanese), a plum tree named Woody, and our lilac tree, Lilia.  However, my prides and joys (can a tree owner play favorites? Is that totally unfair?) are Valentine and Sally, my lemon and Satsuma (like a mandarin orange) trees. Valentine was my very first tree, purchased 6 years ago (on Valentine’s day, thus the name) during World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. Since this show is in February every year, and I live in Nebraska, I had to protect Valentine when I got off the plane in snowy, cold Omaha by carrying him under my coat. Like a proud parent, I couldn't believe my eyes when, within the first year, little Valentine produced a lemon, which was quite tasty, I might add. Since then, Valentine has grown to be as tall as me, but has failed to produce another lemon. Sometime I get sad, sometimes frustrated, but I continue to fertilize and trim Valentine back in the hopes that next year, he will bloom and shower me with a windfall of lemons. Now, Sally, on the other hand, is producing Satsumas like crazy – three are growing right now, and there are 10 more buds that have recently turned into fruit. So while I will continue to love and tend to Valentine, I will be able to bask in the sweet fruit that Sally has produced…someday…if the fruit ever ripen!  So now, if anyone has any wise advice on how to make Valentine bloom and produce lemons, I am all ears! - Michelle Stolte, Global Marketing Manager
	I will never forget Christmas 1995, the setting for my tree tale. Like many girls my age that holiday season, Santa gave me a Kitty Surprise! For those of you unfamiliar with this toy, or have blocked it from your memory, Kitty Surprise! was a stuffed cat toy that had a hollow stomach held together by a piece of Velcro. Obviously, the "Kitty" in Kitty Surprise! is the plush cat I just mentioned, but the "Surprise" was the kittens that came in the cat's stomach...that's right. I was a very lucky girl - my cat came with 5 kittens, which was the most that could come with the toy (though, I later found out that it was all a scam, as my 3 friends who all received Puppy Surprise! also had 5 babies in the weird, hollow stomach of their toys).   My Aunt Susan found this toy to be both hilarious and awful. So, when I wasn't looking, she "catnapped" Kitty Surprise! and all of her kittens. Kitty Surprise! made it out safely, but the kittens...well, my Aunt Susan hid them in our Christmas tree. I looked around my house for hours until I found the kittens hanging on for dear life in the Christmas tree, which was dangerously leaning to one side, thanks to our cat (a real cat) Jasmine using it as a hiding spot...and Jasmine wasn't a small cat, by any means. - Kelly Cox, Global Digital Marketing Manager

Do you have a memory of a tree you'd like to share? We'd like to hear it! Click on the Comments box below to share your story. Happy Arbor Day, everyone!

How Will Planet Water Spend Valley Irrigation Donation? | by Jill Zwiener

Mark Steele and Michelle Stolte

Well, you guys did it! Through the Valley_® Water Their World™ promotion, the followers of our Valley Irrigation Facebook page helped to donate $1,000 to Planet Water, a non-profit organization that brings clean water to disadvantaged communities. The work that Planet Water does is life-changing, so by your participation, you’re now helping change lives, too!

Last week, Michelle Stolte, Valley Irrigation Global Marketing Manager, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with Mark Steele, Planet Water Founder and CEO. Not only did we get to see his cool new digs in the historic Bull Durham Building in downtown Omaha, NE, but we also had a chance to sit down and chat. He told us the money donated by Valley Irrigation will help fund the project they’ve implemented in Cambodia. This project supports schools and rural villages in the Siem Reap province (for those of you who are scratching your heads thinking, “Now where is that located?” it’s in the north/northwest part of the country). Gotta feel great about helping kids have fresh drinking water!

Mark said Planet Water has nearly 300 projects implemented in villages and schools in 10 countries in Asia. They have a number of new developments in the works, including looking to extend their childhood education programs into a community outreach program. The target will be caregivers and young children who are too young to attend school. What a great organization! We are proud that we had the opportunity to work with Planet Water and hope Valmont has the chance to continue the partnership!

Thanks again to everyone who was a part of the Valley Water Their World promotion! And don’t let the fact that we’ve already reached our goal stop you from giving more. Remember: You can make a difference!

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for information on future partnerships and information on Planet Water!