62 | control of their systems from their chosen devices regardless of where they are, on or off farm, meaning peace-of-mind while on holiday is easier to achieve. The remote system is designed for easy management of the variable application rates and can also be connected back to Plains Irrigators Limited meaning it sends instant alerts to the farmer who can then decide to notify Plains Irrigators if there’s a problem. That instant notification can mean a huge saving of water depending on how often the farmer visits each of their irrigation systems and might have otherwise found the problem. “The majority of New Zealand has a maximum application rate of only five mm applied every IRRIGATION » Plains Irrigators Two and a half decades in the game • from page 61 They put their mechanical engineering knowhow to work and by 2006 had begun developing the programming and prototype that became Precision VRI (Variable Rate Irrigation), now an established technology increasingly used by farmers everywhere having been acquired by global agribusiness Lindsay Corporation in 2011. It’s an integral part of what Plains Irrigators offer when they’re working on irrigation solutions, and the Zimmatic Precision VRI can also be installed retrospectively on any centre pivot. Then if farmers so choose they can go further and have installed a remote control system. Controlled via web-based software or through an app this gives farmers 24 hours. In the peak of summer you could have evapo-transpiration rates of six to nine mm so for every five mm of water you’re putting on you’re losing between one and four. So if a pivot’s stopped for six hours you’re potentially running at a deficit of irrigation with run-on effects on watering and crop yields.” Each nozzle on the pivot being able to be individually controlled according to several different parameters means different amounts of water can be applied very precisely to different crops, or over different soil types or avoiding laneways, or effluent can be applied through it with programmed avoid zones. Plains Irrigators retrospectively fitted VRI to a client’s system which crosses about two hectares of laneways on an intensive dairy operaJolly’s Pivot. tion milking 280 cows. “He spent $70,000 putting VRI on his system which was costing him between 50 and 60 thousand per year on track maintenance and now the most he spends on track maintenance is around $20,000. Plus he’s had far fewer lame cows out of the herd because they need penicillin which means production is up overall. Plus the variable rate saves water going out unnecessarily which leaves water available for use elsewhere with K-line sprinklers which then means he stays within his allocation instead of having to spend thousands to buy more water,” says Dan.From Dan’s point of view this technology offers farmers of all types: arable, sheep and beef or dairy, the means to stay compliant while making the most of what is a precious resource both financially and environmentally. He’s looking forward to more farmers adopting it with all the advantages it has to offer.
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