Traveling Sprinkler Farming

Pivot Irrigation - Create Healthy Crops and Conserve Water, Too

What's so great about pivot irrigation?

There are actually a number of benefits to irrigating crops with a center pivot.

Pivot Irrigation Provides Consistent Water to Growing Crops

If you've ever flown across the United States, then you've most likely noticed the green and brown circles, and half-circles, on the ground below.

No, these aren't alien landing places! Those circles are created when a farmer waters his crops with pivot irrigation.

Simply, pivot irrigation is like stringing a garden hose across a piece of land from a central water source.

However, the hose is made of a strong material like aluminum or steel, and held up over the growing plants by towers. The aluminum hose can be several inches in diameter, and the towers are mounted on wheels which move the hose around the field.

Each set of wheels has its own motor to propel the tower at its own distinctive speed. This is because the wheels at the end of the field must travel more distance - and faster - than the wheels closest to the water source in order to provide regular, consistent irrigation.

Choose from Electric or Hydraulic Pivot Irrigation

You'll find fans of both electric and hydraulic (also referred to as "hydrostatic") pivot irrigation.

Electric pivots are powered by electricity that comes on when needed to move the towers. At other times, the power is off.

Hydraulic pivots are powered by the same water that irrigates the farmer's crops. The hydraulic power is continuously "on," meaning that it does not need to turn on and off as does the electric pivot.

Fans of the hydrostatic pivot say that wear on these irrigation units is minimized since there is not the continuous stress of starting and stopping. They indicate that continuous motion is much easier on the equipment, which means less repair and maintenance costs.

Another benefit, hydraulic pivot fans say, is that irrigation is more uniform. Plants can receive more water, more often.

Benefits of a Pivot Irrigation System

There are two major benefits to a pivot system.

The first is simply that plants receive water on a regular, consistent basis.

If you picture watering a garden, don't your plants do better if they receive moisture every few days, as opposed to once every 2 or 3 weeks?

The same is true for large scale crops. Pivot irrigation allows plants to receive water every 3 days, on average. This allows the water to soak into the ground, promoting deep root growth which in turn encourages healthy plants.

The second benefit to pivot irrigation is that water loss because of evaporation and drifting in the breeze is minimized.

Pivot irrigation allows the sprinkler heads to be lowered to just inches above the tops of the plants, thus ensuring that most of the water reaches the crop and doesn't blow away in the wind.

Water conservation is a serious concern today, and pivot irrigation gives farmers to ability to "spot water" crops. Evaporation and wind drift are a concern also because many farmers pay for their water through "water rights," which means that they are allowed a limited amount of moisture to get their crops to harvest.

Varied Terrain is Okay for Pivot Irrigation

An advantage to pivot irrigation is that the field does not need to be completely flat. Center pivots can be used on terrain that is rolling as well as the typical level field.

Many crops benefit from this type of watering system. Alfalfa, corn, soybeans, edible beans, sunflowers and more do very well with pivots.

There are currently four major pivot irrigation providers who manufacture this type of farm system. T-L Irrigation Company states that it is the only company providing hydraulic irrigation systems. The other 3 companies are the Lindsay corporation providing Zimmatic equipment, Valley Irrigation, Raintex and Reinke.

Data from 2000 indicates that at that time, almost half of all water used for crops in the United States was applied through pivot irrigation.
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