Zimmatic-blog
FieldNET Helps Brazilian Sugarcane Operation Efficiently Manage Pivot Irrigation Systems
12 Aug. 2019
With more than 31,000 ha (76,000 acres) of planted sugarcane, Bevap Bioenergy has one of Brazil’s most technologically advanced ethanol and sugarcane mill plant operations.
“Sugarcane is one of the most competitive sectors in Brazil,” said Bruno Perroni, manager of international marketing at Lindsay Corporation. “To be successful and profitable at the end of the harvest, you need to be highly efficient.”
Located in the Northwestern region of the State of Minas Gerais, the operation is fully irrigated with 123 center pivots as well as linear, central and towable machines. Twenty-four of the center pivots are equipped with FieldNET® technology.
“Our pivot operators use motorcycles to take care of the pivots. With FieldNET, they don’t make as many trips to the field, so we’ve reduced fuel and maintenance costs,” he said. “We also are able to quickly and easily turn off the pivots when power is most expensive - from 5 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – and turn them back on again after peak usage hours.”
FieldNET also delivers alerts, via mobile device notifications, if there are unexpected interruptions in operation.
“This is most critical at night,” Almeida said. “If problems aren’t immediately addressed, the equipment could be stopped for hours, applying water in the same place, wasting water and power and possibly causing erosion. With FieldNET, we get real time alerts when there are problems, so we’re able to act quickly with zero waste.”
Almeida said the goal is to add FieldNET to all of the operation’s pivots by 2020 – using FieldNET Pivot Control™ to retrofit older machines and pivots of another brand.
“For us, FieldNET Pivot Control is the ideal solution, because we have pivots from many brands and models – old ones and new ones,” he said. “With this solution, we don’t need to invest in the replacement of the pivots’ central panels, which would be very expensive. Integrating FieldNET into our system is more cost-effective, compared to the competition.”
Bevap recently was awarded the 2019 Usinas Campeãs Award (2019 Champion Mills Award) presented at the 21st Seminar of Sugarcane Mechanization and Production.
The award recognizes the company’s productivity, which was the highest in the West-Southern region. Almeida said the award would not have been possible without efficient irrigation.
“We believe we will continue to increase productivity, because we keep investing in the modernization and efficiency of irrigation and technologies, like FieldNET,” he said. “We have a world-class system that improves each year with these kinds of updates.”
For more information about FieldNET, talk to visit your local Zimmatic dealer or visit www.FieldNET.com.