Celebrating Innovation in Agricultural Engineering - Beauty in Simplicity | by Andy Smith

Over the last several years, I have become very involved with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Founded in 1907 and comprised of more than 8,000 professionals from more than 100 countries, ASABE is an educational and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of this unique engineering profession. 

As part of this endeavor, ASABE sponsors the AE50 awards that recognize product innovations in the areas of agricultural, food, and biological systems. This year, the Valley_® SoilPro™ 100 earned an AE50 and was the only irrigation-related product to do so.

The SoilPro 100’s beauty is in its simplicity. It is built primarily to provide a low-cost method to help guide irrigation decisions in developing markets. It uses a simple array of components that help the grower understand current field conditions through very simple messages. In an industry that has become obsessed with precision and complexity, it is often easy to overlook some basic tools that help us understand and manage the physical relationships that exist between water, soil, and plants. The SoilPro 100 gets the job done without a lot of bells and whistles and is easy to understand.

My colleague Scott Mauseth, the developer behind Valley SoilPro 100, asked me if I would accept the AE50 award in his place due to a travel conflict. It was a real honor to accept the award on behalf of Valley and Scott before such a prestigious group of professionals. But the real reward for me was being reminded of a couple of things that are easy to lose sight of:

1. There are basic, physical relationships that govern the science of irrigation.
2. There is always a role for simple solutions that work.

At Valley, we have embraced and incorporated a variety of technology into our products. In fact, I don’t think there is another industry in existence with more applied science in use than there is in agriculture. Telematics, sensors, GPS, GIS, and variable rate technology are just a few innovations that have contributed to the rapid advancement of productivity on the farm. But even as complex as some of the agricultural engineering challenges are today, I really appreciate the fact that ASABE recognizes the value the SoilPro 100 brings to the market in a very simple, effective, and easy-to-use package. After all, there really is beauty in simplicity.

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Andrew Smith Director of Industry Relations Andy has spent more than 27 years involved in the irrigation industry as a farmer, contractor, designer, salesman, and trade representative. At Valley, he manages strategic relationships for mechanized irrigation technology across a broad range of applications. Andy lives in northern Michigan with his wife, Kim, and his daughter, Madison, and enjoys a variety of outdoor activities.

Happy World Soil Day!

Originally published on Soils Matter, Get the Scoop.

In honor of World Soil Day, we are sharing a blog on the importance of soil and how it cleans our water.

Q: How can soils filter or purify water, such as for drinking water purposes? There are just so many chemicals and bacteria in the soil that you would expect the opposite.

A: If we put some soil in a glass column and pour "dirty" water through it, the water will come out cleaner than when it went in. The soil, in other words, is a reactor. It has the potential to clean up dirty water by a variety of methods. So how does soil do this?

There are three basic ways. The soil is a physical filter that removes particles suspended in water; it is a chemical reactor that removes dissolved chemicals from water; and it is a bioreactor that transforms and degrades chemicals by the action of soil microbes.

The soil is the largest filter on the planet. The size of the pores in soil (which is based on the amount of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter that make up the soil) determine how effective the soil is at filtering out particles. A finer textured soil (more clay) with many small pores is a better filter. Yet, a soil can be too fine with too many small pores, so that water does not efficiently flow through the soil. A perfect soil has a distribution of pores of different sizes that can both filter water and allow adequate movement of water through soil.

The soil is the largest chemical reactor on the planet. The soil has a net negative (-) charge that triggers the removal of positively (+) charged ions in the water which moves through the soil. These (+) ions are removed from the soil solution much like a magnet with a (-) charge attracts another magnet with a (+) charge. The figure to the right shows how ions like calcium, magnesium, and potassium are attracted and held on soil surfaces. Still other chemicals are removed by the soil by becoming part of the soil structure through a process called covalent bonding.

The soil is the largest bioreactor on the planet. Within the soil, bacteria and fungi transform and decompose chemicals. The nitrogen cycle is especially dependent on the soil reactor. Microbes change organic forms of nitrogen into the ion, ammonium. More microbes change ammonium to nitrate, and even more microbes change nitrate into nitrogen gas, which then enters the atmosphere. Similarly, if the soil "sees" an organic pollutant, microbes go to work transforming and decomposing it, so eventually it becomes carbon dioxide and water.

The net effect is that the soil provides a service to society. It cleans the water that makes its way to rivers and streams. It helps keep the water clean for us to use and for wildlife to survive. If we don’t take care of the "largest reactor on the planet" we may destroy the service it provides and hurt our environment in the process.

By Nick Comerford, a University of Florida soil scientist and Soil Science Society of America member.

New Research Shows How Much Water VRI Can Save | by Travis Yeik

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, irrigation accounted for 62% of the total U.S. freshwater consumption in 2005. This water is used to irrigate approximately 17% of U.S. cropland acres; yet, these acres account for 55% of total U.S. crop sales, including animal forage and feed crops (USDA Economic Research Service). Thus, irrigation plays a major role in both food production and the U.S. economy.

Demand for freshwater supplies has rapidly increased over the past few decades, and the necessity for more efficient irrigation systems is becoming critically important. Half of irrigated croplands across the U.S. are irrigated with more efficient center pivot systems, yet it has become evident through variable rate technologies that there is still room to improve the water-use efficiency with these machines.

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) seeks to apply water site-specifically to the field, depending on soil water holding capacities, crop type, and topography. Water savings with use of VRI has been contrasted in past research, with very few actual field studies being conducted to demonstrate differences in seasonal water application between site-specific and uniform treatments.

This past growing season, Valley conducted a field study with a VRI machine in central Illinois. The purpose of the research was to evaluate traditional uniform water application vs. site-specific irrigation treatments. Four main goals of this research were to: 1) understand how several factors, including soil type and slope, affect the variation of recommended watering rates in irrigation prescriptions; 2) identify how often irrigation prescriptions need to be updated throughout the growing season; 3) analyze water use under uniform and site-specific irrigation treatments; and 4) evaluate yield differences under uniform and site-specific irrigation treatments.

In this blog post, I’ll discuss some of the study results obtained from water-use efficiency between uniform and VRI treatments in a corn crop.

In general, the field where this study was conducted had significantly varying soils, ranging from sand on the hills (with 0-5% clay and 90-95% sand) and loam in the lower lying areas (0-5% sand). Thus, the available water holding capacity between these soils in the 3-foot root zone ranged from 3.75 inches in the sand to 7.2 inches in the loam. Twelve plots (three plots in sand and three plots loam soils for both VRI and uniform irrigation treatments) were identified in the field, each being approximately 1.5 acres in size. Three soil moisture probes (at 6-, 18-, and 30-inch depths) were placed in each of the plots.

Water application in the uniform treatment plots were based on irrigation scheduling recommended by the farmer, which was typically twice a week throughout the growing season. Application amounts were based on a “checkbook” method, determined by the soil water holding capacity and daily evapotranspiration rates. Thus, once it was determined that 50% of available moisture was present in the sand (which reached this level much sooner than the loam), a uniform treatment of water was applied to both the sand and clay soils to bring the available moisture back up to 85% of field capacity (which left additional room for rainfall).

Scheduling under VRI was based on reports from the soil moisture sensors. For example, in the sandy soils, water was applied once the moisture level reached 50% of field capacity. However, in the loamy soils, 50% of field capacity was a considerable 3.6 inches, which was too much to put back on at one time to bring the soil back up to near field capacity. Thus, the loamy soils were typically watered on days when the sandy soils were irrigated, but at nearly 50%-80% of the application depth.

The irrigation treatments between uniform and VRI were conducted from late June until early September. Throughout this time, 24 pivot passes were made over the study area. At the end of the season, irrigation treatments between the sand under VRI and the clay/sand under uniform treatment had similar total water applications of 14.4 and 14.5 inches respectively. However, the loam soil under the VRI treatment remained above 50% field capacity throughout the growing season even as it received a total of 8.9 inches.

Therefore, if this entire field were managed under VRI, there would be an estimated 31% reduction in water use. Although this study was conducted with two contrastingly different soils, it demonstrates how water saving can be achieved using variable rate irrigation.

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Travis Yeik Variable Rate Irrigation Agronomist Travis joined Valley Irrigation in February 2013 after completing his graduate degree at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. His work focuses on writing prescriptions for the Valley VRI products. As a native of Wyoming, Travis enjoys outdoor activities, including fly fishing and hiking. He also enjoys sports and is looking forward to baseball season.

Circles for Rice Update | by Kelly Downing

In the Northern Hemisphere, spring is here and rice is in (and out of) the ground! We have been waiting and preparing all winter for the new crop; now, finally, we get to start growing again. I have to admit, I prefer autumn, with the harvest and sense of completion and accomplishment it brings. However, it is really nice, after a long winter, to get into the field and get the new crop going.

This year, Valley Irrigation has a total of five cooperators in three states: Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas.

In the Missouri and Arkansas areas, much of the new rice crop has been planted, and is now emerging, while planting moves north. This week, we will begin installing soil monitoring instrumentation into the rice fields of our cooperators. Dennis Robison and Chad Price farm right along the Missouri/Arkansas state line; they got into the fields early and their rice is up and growing. Both are “old hands” at this process—Dennis grew rice under his Valley center pivot in 2010, and Chad did it last year. Both produced excellent results, and are primed for another good crop this year. This week, we will install soil water sensors in their fields, which will be used to schedule irrigation. Other growers will be added to the system as they get their crop up and growing.

Soil Moisture Monitors | installed on a rice field

This is one way we increase our knowledge of the process—we monitor soil water status of rice under pivots in several fields each summer. This helps us fine-tune our irrigation recommendations. It is a great management practice for any irrigator to use, but is especially critical with rice, due to the shallow root zone and resulting small margin for error.

We all have biases, and one of mine is toward data-based irrigation management. Estimating evapotranspiration (ET), or crop water use, and using sensors to verify this information is critical for effective, efficient irrigation. Effective irrigation means making sure the crop gets all the water it needs to maximize production. Efficient irrigation means using the least possible resources (water, energy, labor) to accomplish this. Using ET data helps calculate when, and how much, to water the crop. Since these are estimates, we also recommend using sensors to periodically verify that, over time, the estimates are correct.

So, the (generally) warm spring has given most producers the chance to finish field operations in a timely manner, so planting and other activities seem to be proceeding at a pretty optimum pace. I hope you have a safe, enjoyable spring, and I look forward to sharing our progress with you as we work through the summer. Check back and let us know what is going on in your part of the world.