In the late 19th century, Canterbury farmers relied upon a series of stock water races, painstakingly dug by hand, to bring water to the dry plains.
Though still dry, farmers have a much easier time keeping their crops and stock healthy, happy, and watered. Valley Centre Pivots save farmers manpower and water, by delivering efficient, consistent, reliable irrigation. Farmers have another option that saves even more time and gives the freedom of control off-farm: Valley's ICON5 control panel. For Dairy Farmer RIck Wobben, this automated control is a game-changer.
Netherland Holdings outside Rangiora in Canterbury is made up of four farms, three dairy sheds, and a large herd of mainly European Friesians. Across their operation, the Wobbens' have 20 Valley Centre Pivots and a Linear machine. By year's end, all will be equipped with the ICON5 Control Panels, meaning no matter where they are in the world, if they have wi-fi, they can control their pivots via the AgSense 365 app.
Rick is not looking back, "I do not even remember how to use the old select panels. With my phone, I can just choose the machine and press go. Each pivot has its own 'brain' and can run its own mission."
The last three remaining unconnected pivots remind Rick why they made the switch.
"When you have a complicated pumping system, it can be time consuming to get everything up and running. So, in my case, for the last three unconnected pivots, I need to turn each on manually before driving to the pump shed to get it going. If there's an issue, I am basically making a 10 km loop to sort it out," explains Rick.
Seeing the time and labour Rick has saved means a lot to Rose, "Our goal is to help our customers apply and manage irrigation precisely with technology, like VRI, and effeciently through the adoption of ICON5 control panel,' says Rose.
Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) allows you to tailor the delivery of water or effluent to the farmer's needs.
"Being able to control where the water or effluent goes saves Rick money by protecting his tracks and water ways," Rose says.
A recent severe wind event wreaked havoc across Canterbury by knocking over and twisting centre pivots. However, the Wobben's were unaffected.
"Before the storm kicked up, and as soon as the weather warnings arrived, I could command our machines to drive to their stop in slot position," explains Rick.
The freedom remote access offers is invaluable.
"Before ICON5 and VRI, we would have issues with the pivot occasionally crossing the tanker pickup in the middle of the night and I would have to crawl out of bed to sort it. Now, I can do it from bed or event town," extolls Rick.
Contact PGG Wrightson Water today to upgrade your irrigation systems.
