Press Releases
Valmont Irrigation Announces Addition to GPS Product Line
August 15, 2011
Valmont Irrigation, the Leader in Precision Irrigation, has expanded their Valley GPS product line. Valley GPS Guidance for corners and linear irrigation equipment is now compatible with both John Deere® Starfire™ and Trimble® GPS products.
“We have been very pleased by the popularity of Valley GPS Guidance for corners and linear irrigation equipment” said Scott Mauseth, Valmont Irrigation Advanced Technology Product Manager. “Being compatible with both John Deere GPS and Trimble GPS base stations means even more growers can take advantage of the Valley GPS Guidance for their irrigation equipment. Compatibility with the GPS systems growers already use on their tractors and combines significantly lowers the costs associated with implementing GPS Guidance for their irrigation equipment.”
Kurt Dunker, who farms corn and soybeans, started using Trimble RTK Guidance on his farm four years ago. Though he has been a longtime user of Valley irrigation machines, until this year he was not able to use his existing Trimble RTK GPS base station with Valley GPS Guidance on his irrigation equipment.
“We have had really good luck with Trimble, and once you start with a GPS company, you don’t want to switch,” Dunker said. “We’re eager to use the Valley RTK GPS Guidance with Trimble this year on a new machine with a corner arm, and we’re considering future installation on existing irrigation equipment.”
Dunker explained that the compatibility with Trimble GPS base stations will make conversions from buried wire to Valley GPS Guidance easier, as it doesn’t require the same labor and maintenance as buried wire. Dunker said another advantage of GPS Guidance is that he can install a corner machine on rented ground without the commitment of a buried wire.
Mauseth added that the Valley GPS Guidance options provide growers opportunities to put more acreage into irrigated production.
“What we’re seeing lately is the desire to get every acre into irrigated production. In some fields, using the conventional buried wire is just not possible due to sub-surface rock, drain tile, underground pipelines, etc.,” Mauseth said. “Valley GPS Guidance solves all of these issues.”
Mauseth added that supplying GPS Guidance products to the market is no trivial task. “GPS is still a rapidly evolving technology. Our dedicated Valmont Irrigation engineers and industry leading GPS partners allow us to confidently provide GPS Guidance solutions to the market and will let us continue to provide GPS solutions to growers well into the future.
For more information about GPS offerings with Valmont Irrigation, producers can contact their local Valley dealers.
Valley Irrigation to Introduce Control Panel at Farm Progress Show
September 9, 2010
Valley TouchPro control panel
VALLEY, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2010) — Valley Irrigation will introduce its new TouchPro™ control panel at the 2010 Farm Progress Show Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Boone, Iowa.
The Valley TouchPro control panel with Touch technology is designed to simplify control panel programming, while giving producers the option to personalize main screen controls to display irrigation information that is important to their operations.
“The TouchPro panel was designed to simplify programming of control panels for pivot irrigation,” said John Rasmus, Valley Irrigation controls product manager. “The TouchPro is a natural progression from the current computerized panels.”
The Valley TouchPro control panel has improved control features, including a graphic view of the pivot, end-gun positions and wide boundary irrigation positions. This new interface helps growers more quickly and confidently make water management decisions.
Bryant Knoerzer, a grain and livestock producer from Elwood, Neb., has been helping Valley Irrigation field test the TouchPro panel for several months.
“I’m very impressed with the ease of operation,” Knoerzer said. “The TouchPro panel is very easy to understand. You just press a button and it’s run visually. That helps visualize differences in degree changes, so if someone puts in a wrong degree setting, it’s more easily caught.”
Knoerzer added that he can customize the main screen, helping prevent the accidental changing of settings. “I can change the screen layout to show controls I want to see,” he said. “I can hide other buttons so settings can’t get changed on me.”
Unlike other touch control panels on the market, the TouchPro panel is designed to handle the challenges of outdoor agricultural environments, including extreme temperatures, high humidity and transient voltage requirements. Rasmus explained that these design specifications will provide growers with uninterrupted performance and years of trouble-free operation.
The TouchPro panel comes with a five-year industry-exclusive warranty and is compatible with the Valley Irrigation BaseStation and Tracker lines of products.
Producers can see the new TouchPro panel at the Valley Irrigation Farm Progress Show booth, No. 1023. Following its launch at the Farm Progress Show, information about the TouchPro panel will be available at local farm shows through spring 2011.
Valley Irrigation to Display the New Bender30™ at Farm Progress Show
September 9, 2010
Valley Bender30™
VALLEY, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2010) — Valley Irrigation will display the new Bender30 option on a full size 8000 series pivot at the 2010 Farm Progress Show Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Boone, Iowa.
The Valley Bender30 option increases the number of acres a grower can irrigate at a low cost. With the ability to bend any drive unit at a 30-degree angle, a grower can easily wrap a tree line, feed lot or avoid obstacles in the field allowing for maximum irrigated acres.
By bending his Valley center pivot at the third regular drive unit, Joel Bergman from Loomis, Neb., was able to pick up additional acres next to his cattle yard. “The Bender30 allowed me to wrap our existing center pivot up next to the feed lot picking up a rather large triangle of land that otherwise would not have been irrigated,” Bergman said.
The Valley Bender30 will easily retrofit existing center with no structural changes required to the machine, even bending at multiple locations on one machine.
“The Bender30 may very well become one of our most popular pivot options,” says Wade Sikkink, Valmont Irrigation product manager. “With few additional parts, a Valley dealer can retrofit an existing pivot or design a new machine to maximize irrigation potential. Optional water shut-off valves will shut off the sprinklers on the stopped spans while the bend continues to irrigate.”
With the focus on Precision Irrigation, Valley Irrigation continues to outperform the competition with an exclusive speed-up timer function on the Bender30. This feature improves the center pivot’s water application while in the bent position.
Producers can see the new Bender30 option at the Valley Irrigation Farm Progress Show booth, No. 1023. Following its launch at the Farm Progress Show, information about the Bender30 will be available at local farm shows through spring 2011.
Valley Irrigation to Introduce New VRI Control
September 9, 2010
Valley VRI
VALLEY, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2010) — Valley Irrigation will introduce Valley VRI at the 2010 Farm Progress Show Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Boone, Iowa.
Valley VRI is the irrigation industry’s first line of variable rate irrigation (VRI) controls integrated directly into the existing irrigation controls.
“Valley VRI puts irrigation management decisions in action,” said Jake LaRue, Valley Irrigation international projects and products manager. “This improves efficiency and lowers production costs, which can, in turn, increase a producer’s profits.”
There are two different levels of VRI control: Variable Rate Zone Control and Variable Rate Speed Control.
Valley VRI Zone Control
VRI Zone Control
VRI Zone Control allows maximum precision irrigation via individual sprinkler or span control. This is done with up to 30 different VRI zones controlled through Valley VRI tower boxes and the Valley Pro2 control panel at two-degree increments around the field. VRI Zone Control provides the highest precision possible, and is available now.
VRI Speed Control
When programmed for VRI speed control, TouchPro, Pro2 and Select2 panels allow variable rate control for every 5-degree section. Variable Rate Speed Control will be available in late 2010 and will come standard in new TouchPro, Pro2 and Select2 control panels.
The key element of the Valley VRI is the VRI Mapping program. For both the VRI Speed Control and VRI Zone Control, this user friendly computer program allows the operator to use soil texture, topography, Veris® maps, yield maps or other specific field maps to develop irrigation prescriptions.
Valley VRI installed on center pivot
Earl Vories, Ph.D., agricultural engineer and lead scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service in Missouri, has been researching the mechanics of VRI for five years and thinks the technology is important to the future of irrigated crop production.
“Mid-South soils are highly variable within a single field,” Vories explained. “Without VRI, producers have to set irrigation rates based on an average soil type, or pick the most limiting condition.” This practice compromises potential yield on other soil types within the same field.
Jimmy Moody, a cotton, soybean, corn, wheat and rice producer near Dyersburg, Tenn., participated in the field testing of Valley VRI Zone Control and saw its benefits firsthand. Valley VRI helped him effectively irrigate a particularly challenging field with soils ranging from Sharkey clay to very coarse sand. Based on that experience, Moody looks forward to using Valley VRI on additional pivots.
“I have variable soils from sand to silt loam to clay. With Valley VRI,” Moody said, “I’m not going to be applying too much water to my cotton crop in heavier soils in order to get enough water on my sandier soils in the same field.”
Vories added, “Precision operations have taken a hold on other facets of ag. It doesn’t make sense to precisely apply other inputs and not water. I think you’re going to see a big increase in adoption of VRI technology between now and five years from now.”
Producers can learn more about Valley VRI at the Valley Irrigation Farm Progress Show booth, No. 1023. Following its launch at the Farm Progress Show, information about Valley VRI panel will be available at local farm shows through spring 2011.
