Australia and New Zealand Dealers Share Ideas | by Martin Porter

Valmont Irrigation Australia entertained a few dealers on the Gold Coast in early June. It is the first time in many years that the dealers from Australia and New Zealand got together to swap ideas and meet those from different areas.

We talked about new products, competitive advantages, and dealer development, which we will be rolling out in the next few months. Guest speakers from Nelson Irrigation and Valley Finance shared information about their products as well.

After the hard work in the rooms of the Hilton on the Gold Coast, it was time to let our hair down at the Outback Spectacular. Unfortunately, not all the dealers that attended the training could join us due to meetings and Irrigation Conference commitments. The dealers that did go were impressed with the show put on that night, including a Tribute to Phar Lap, a great Australian race horse from back in Australia’s racing history.

The Irrigation Conference, June 4-5, had good attendance from the irrigation industry. At the Valley stand, we promoted Variable Rate Irrigation, GPS Guidance, BaseStation3™, and all our other products. There was much interest in BaseStation3 from dealers and farmers alike. We look forward to the roll out of this product over the next few months.

Martin Porter Territory Sales Manager, Valmont Irrigation Australia Martin has been involved with pumps since 1986 and irrigation since 1994. In 2003, he realized the future was efficiency in water movement and application, which led to his eventual position with Valmont. He has also worked in power generation, project management, total quality management, and real estate. In his spare time, Martin enjoys water sports, particularly sailing. He is a yachting instructor and trains up-and-coming Naval cadets.

A Trip Down Under | by Cole Fredrick

So one of the “perks” of my job is I travel. A lot. There have been many times when that travel has been challenging. Just the other day I was stuck in an airport while it was shut down because of tornadoes and other weather. I can assure you that utter chaos followed for the next 5 hours, but that is a story for another time. That being said, a majority of my travel is quite enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to travel down under to Australia and New Zealand. I consider this a great perk – not many people get the opportunity to take a trip down under. I also question whether it was a perk because anytime you take a 15-hour plane ride with your boss you question if your career is headed in the right direction! Despite the length, I was surprised at how comfortable I actually was on my flight there and back. Thank you Delta for making it a great flight! Airplane food is not all that bad.

We first flew into Christchurch, New Zealand, and it took about 24 hours of total travel time to get there. Needless to say, I was exhausted. After recovering, I spent the next few days with a couple of our dealers in New Zealand. What a wonderful bunch of people. I must say, I learned quickly that a Flat White (coffee) is amazing and you don’t mess around with a man’s afternoon tea or coffee!
While in New Zealand, the first thing I wanted to do was look for Frodo from the “Lord of the Rings.” Obviously, the boss said that wasn’t in the cards.

New Zealand really is a beautiful country. Coming from central Nebraska, I am used to corn, soybeans, and pastures. In New Zealand, there are dairies. And tons of them! They are somewhere near the top, if not the top, dairy producing country in the world. Pretty good for an island country of its size.

I was simply amazed at the innovation they use to water pastures, keeping them in tiptop shape for the cattle, and at the environments the dairy cattle live in. Let’s just say that they have it pretty good over there.

One of the main reasons I was down there was to see how they use of Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI). They actually use VRI to split a pasture into paddocks that are rotated for the cattle. I thought this was pure genius because it is so efficient. It allows them to turn water off over cattle walking path,s as well as keep any runoff to a minimum. Just some of the great things that New Zealand is doing.

Here is an image showing the paddocks:

One thing I learned quickly in these two countries is that there are a ton of roundabouts and not as many stop signs as we have here in the United States. They also have a lot of “yield of ways,” which means approach the intersection cautiously and stop if necessary, otherwise go on through. I can tell you, I got used to this and even tried to incorporate it here in the States. Unfortunately, a local sheriff warned me of the consequences of that particular practice…

After a few days in New Zealand, we caught a flight to Brisbane, Australia. I always thought these two islands were just a hop, skip, and a jump apart. I was wrong. It was a 3-hour plus flight. After the flight, we drove a few hours to meet with some more dealers.

I was impressed with the names: Toowoomba, Goondiwindi. I am not quite sure if we were in the Outback, but I tell everyone I was! I was also amazed at the contrast between New Zealand and Australia. Australia was more like a desert than New Zealand, although they seem so close together. And to my surprise, I was able to see numerous kangaroos! This was truly a great place.

I was even more surprised by the incredible innovations of the people in these two island countries. I was there looking at irrigation machines and how the growers make them work for their different situations. The engineering and creativeness they came up with was spectacular.

Overall, I would say this was a job perk. An opportunity to visit our devoted Valley customers and dealers, and seeing the differences in the irrigation business and the agriculture problems they encounter. I am still amazed at how awesome all of the people that I met were. I look forward to the day I get to return and spend some more time. I suppose if I have to go with my boss again, I will let him tag along…

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Cole Fredrick Product Manager - Variable Rate Irrigation Cole has been with Valley Irrigation since 2011, where he manages the Valley Variable Rate Irrigation products. He was born and raised on a farm near Grand Island, NE (AKA "paradise"), and he tries to return back home as often as possible. Cole is a HUGE Husker fanatic! He stays young by enjoying all outdoor activities and almost any sport.

Valley Irrigation Around the World | by John Kastl

I recently returned from a product tour of New Zealand and Australia. It was great to get out of the office and experience this region of the world, but, I must say, it's great to be back!

It was very dry in both New Zealand and Australia - there really are some great opportunities for supplemental center pivot and linear irrigation in this area of the world. It's so dry in New Zealand that water restrictions have been implemented in some areas on the south island. The drought is also not good for irrigation water sources, as a great deal of it is dependent on rainfall that the country hasn't seen a lot of recently. Christchurch is still recovering from the severe earthquake they experienced in 2011. In a couple of spots, we saw where the road had shifted sideways by almost 8 feet. The road that once was straight now has a couple of curves!

Cows under center pivot

But, on to happier topics! I learned quite a bit about irrigation in New Zealand and Australia, as well as how center pivot and linear irrigation is used today. In New Zealand, center pivots are used to irrigate pasture for dairies. The cows really love standing under the sprinklers on hot days (pictured at right). There is also some cropping, but mostly for silage to feed the cows. 

Australia does have a few dairies like New Zealand, but they mostly irrigate crops, such as cotton, rapeseed, sorghum, corn, sunflowers, and sugarcane.

We paid a visit to our dealers and some of their customers during the trip. After some great discussion, we learned about opportunities for center pivot and linear irrigation, as well as advancements in technology, that we can help out with to make their lives better!

Along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (pictured on the right), we took time to visit the Sydney Opera House, the Outback, and the Australia Maritime Museum.

Myself and Jim Summers (Valley Engineer)
Sydney Harbour Bridge

As most people do when they visit this part of the world, we saw kangaroos and emus. One of the gals in the Valley Marketing Department asked me if kangaroos were as common in residential areas as squirrels are here in the United States, but I'd equate them more to the presence of deer - and, let me tell you, if a kangaroo runs into your car, plan on taking a trip to your local body shop or car dealer.

Thanks to everyone who met with us during our trip, especially Wayne, Martin, and John of Valmont Irrigation Australia. Hopefully, we were able to answer some of your questions, and we definitely learned a lot!

More pictures from our trip can be viewed from the Valley Irrigation Facebook Page - click here to check them out!

As they say in Australia, "Cheers, mate!"

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John Kastl Product Manager - Equipment 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 gearbox, to name a few), helping 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!