Bringing Farm Life to the City | by Shannon Peterson

We're bringing farm life to the big city through our partnership with the Omaha Children's Museum. Families can explore the world of agriculture and learn where their food comes from in the Once Upon a Farm exhibit opening Oct. 18.

We began installing a miniature Valley_® center pivot at the museum Wednesday, so children will be able to learn about water and irrigation. And, Valley Authorized Provider Senninger Irrigation is creating a cool sprinkler exhibit. The museum will offer daily programming on different farm topics. 

We can't wait! If you're planning to be in the Omaha area over the next several months be sure to check out the exhibit.

Meanwhile, we wanted to share this special letter from Omaha Children's Museum Executive Director Lindy Hoyer:

Omaha Children's Museum
Executive Director Lindy Hoyer

I'm a small town girl raising a city kid. My worst fear as a child was to end up living on my cousin's farm bailing hay and milking cows before school each day. 

My regret as a mother of a city kid is not having my child spend as much time on the farm as I did growing up. Even so, my son has spent enough time on a farm to have actually seen how milk is gathered and produced, understands that the meat we have in the freezer came from the cow he saw on the farm and that most of the vegetables we eat were grown in the ground somewhere.

Omaha Children's Museum has partnered with multiple members of the agricultural industry in Nebraska to present our next community-engaged exhibit Once Upon a Farm. Our shared vision in creating this exhibit is to help the kids growing up in an urban environment make stronger connections to the origins of their food before it makes it to the shelves of the grocery store or farmers market. 

With agriculture as a leading industry in our state, it is vital for us to help our kids understand where their future lives will intersect with the people who work and manage our farms and ranches. Kids don't have to dream about milking their own cow or harvesting a field to find themselves a role in the agricultural industry.

We look forward to exploring the vast world of agriculture with our visitors this winter. Plan to spend some good, quality time on the farm with us and help us continue to narrate the story of Once Upon a Farm."

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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.

Is Declining Soil Quality Affecting Our Food? | by Shannon Peterson

Consumers don't think much about soil when they are buying food. Farmers, on the other hand, know that soil plays an essential role in crops and yields. 

But does the quality of the soil actually affect the food we eat?

Author Daniel A. Marano examined this possibility in his article "Nature's Bounty: Rich Dirt, Poor Dirt," which was actually published in Psychology Today earlier this year. He notes that "the calcium content of broccoli averaged 12.9 milligrams per gram of plant tissue in 1950 ... but only 4.4 mg per gram by 2003."

Is it possible that "just when we want more from our food, we are getting less, and the declining quality of soil may be the root of the problem?"

It's an article worth checking out because the issue may continue to crop up. You can read the entire article here: Nature's Bounty: Rich Dirt, Poor Dirt

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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.

Here’s to Agriculture – National Ag Day | by Brooke Stover

National Ag Day is about appreciating the role that agriculture plays in our world today. Agriculture provides us with food, jobs, and clothing – I, for one, am very thankful for all three of these. (Life would sure be weird without them.)

When it comes to the things we rely on to live, you can’t build something out of nothing. And agriculture requires many “somethings:” hard work, dedication, knowledge, and a whole lot of other stuff that could take days to list.

I have witnessed the hard work that goes into agriculture, whether it happens in the field or in an office. Many behind-the-scenes jobs play a role in the production of our essentials. So I think it is important that organizations bring awareness to agriculture.

Tomorrow, March 25, the Agriculture Council of America hosts National Ag Day to remind us of the contributions agriculture makes to our daily lives.

There is a lot of recognition deserved by those who fuel our lives, so here’s to agriculture and the people behind the word. They deserve thanks for their commitment to supplying the world with food, jobs, and clothing.

Interesting facts from AgDay.org:

Lettuce is a member of the sunflower family. (This one changed my life a little, just like when I found out tomatoes are a fruit.)

Michigan and New Jersey produce 66 percent of all the blueberries in the United States, followed by North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington. (As I write this, I am hoping Michigan also produces the most success in the March Madness tournament this year – that may save my bracket.)

Pasta made its way to the New World through the English who found it while traveling through Italy. The English made pasta by cooking it for about a half an hour and then smothering it with cream sauce and cheese. This was the beginning of macaroni and cheese! (Thanks for carbs, founders of the new world.)

Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people. (This one is just awesome!)

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Brooke Stover Global Marketing Coordinator Brooke has been with the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing department since 2011. She spends her free time taking pottery classes; though she thoroughly enjoys this, most of her stuff is a bit lopsided. Brooke also loves to read and listen to Frank Sinatra. She enjoys traveling and has been to 19 countries with the goal to make it to six more in the next two years!

Striving to Help Africa’s Small Farmers | by Shannon Peterson

It’s hard to deny that the effects of center pivot irrigation have been revolutionary. Nowhere is that more visible than in the United States where widespread conversion to center pivot irrigation has transformed agriculture and the landscape.  By using mechanized irrigation equipment, U.S. growers increased their revenue and their crop yields. Farmers grow more food with less water while being released from the drudgery of conventional irrigation methods and putting their labor to better use.

On a global scale, aggressive investments in irrigation, hybrid seeds, and fertilizer during the past 50 years have brought famine and poverty under control in Latin America, China, and South Asia. Yet most of Sub-Saharan Africa has made little progress during this same time period.  Limited investment in technology and infrastructure resulted in limited commercial farming in the region. 

Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90 percent of the farmers are subsistence farmers. They spend half their annual incomes on food, leaving little money for education, health, and housing needs. (In contrast, only 6 percent of U.S. annual household income is spent on food). 

An exception is South Africa where Valley_® introduced center pivots in the 1970s. In South Africa, pivots are used primarily by medium and large commercial farmers, who have experienced tremendous success. The same drivers of this success can serve as a model for small growers, and Valley Irrigation is working to develop a model of shared pivots for smallholder farmers.

Many African smallholder farmers remain poor because they depend on unreliable rainfall, making them vulnerable to drought and climate change. Although these disadvantages could be completely eliminated by irrigation, center pivots are often cited as too expensive for Africa’s farmers. 

However, if small farmers share a center pivot, the cost drops dramatically. Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate the dramatic reduction in cost of a center pivot once the radius of the field exceeds 300 meters.

Figure 1

Figure 2

An association of smallholder farmers, or a large commercial producer serving as an irrigation and crop marketing provider, can own and operate the center pivot in cooperation with the smallholder farmers. This approach puts precise, efficient irrigation technology into the hands of small farmers, and the impact on farm production is dramatic because water is available where and when the crop requires it.  

Widespread use of this model could turn subsistence farmers into profitable commercial farmers by increasing yield and empowering farm workers. That's Valley, leading the way and feeding the world! 

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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.

In Focus: Center Pivot and Linear Irrigation

As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food and fiber will continue to increase. In order to meet the rising demand for food, more farmland will have to be irrigated. Click below to learn more about how center pivot and linear irrigation will help keep the world's growing population fed and help conserve the world's most precious resources.




This segment of In Focus will air on PBS Summer 2013.

Want to watch more videos on center pivot and linear irrigation? Visit www.ValleyIrrigation.com!