Advanced Technology for Careful Coordination

A successful harvest fulfills the hard work of an entire growing season. Increasingly, growers are turning to remote irrigation management technology such as FieldNET™ as a year-round efficiency tool.

We sat down with Clayton Irani, owner of Great Lakes Ag Irrigation Inc., a Zimmatic dealer in Six Lakes, Michigan, to learn how one of his customers uses FieldNET throughout the year.

How one hog and crop farmer benefits from precision irrigation technology

One of Clayton’s customers is a Michigan-based hog, corn and bean farmer. His 3,000-acre operation is comprised of irregular-shaped fields spread across a wide distance, making old-fashioned crop checking an inefficient task. And raising hogs while growing crops adds to an already demanding schedule, so this customer is pressed for time.

That’s where FieldNET remote irrigation technology comes in handy. FieldNET solutions help growers maximize yield and reach profitability during a pressure-filled season when weather is unpredictable and time is of the essence.

While some operators are still considering the value and investment, Clayton’s customer is an eager adopter.

“He loves technology,” Clayton observes. His operation includes 25 pivots, a mix of Zimmatic pivots plus those from other brands. However, the FieldNET platform brings them all together in a single, centralized platform. “He’s always moving forward and trying new things. He utilized FieldNET so much his first year that the next year he decided to add FieldNET Advisor to his irrigation operation, as well."

Experience significant savings via FieldNET

During the growing season, Clayton’s customer enjoys the precision functionality that FieldNET offers him. For example, the customer sets degrees for end guns to avoid spraying structures and roads, uses map view to see where pivots are pointing and employs the auto-reverse function to move center pivots with ease.

FieldNET helps him stay connected and coordinated. If a pivot stops running prematurely, he gets an alert on his phone and he can address the problem right away. No more daily drives out to check on pivots, saving time and fuel.

With the monitoring and control capabilities of FieldNET combined with analysis and recommendations from FieldNET Advisor, this grower can fine-tune his irrigation schedules for optimal impact while supporting streamlined labor output.

As a result of the efficiencies this grower experiences through FieldNET, he’s able to dramatically reduce labor costs. “Last year, my customer needed three employees to run pivots. With FieldNET, he can run them all by himself, whether he’s home with family or out tending to the hogs.”

Uptime is everything during harvest

As of this writing, Clayton’s customer is right in the middle of harvest. He’s trying to orchestrate equipment and resources with precision and efficiency to maximize yield and profit.

In a season when timing is so critical and growers rarely let machines idle if they can help it, it’s important to embrace technology that enhances coordination and control.

“My customer loves having the ability to move pivots out of the way of the combine using FieldNET from the seat of the cab instead of having to send his grain cart driver to do it,” says Clayton, in praise of this grower’s commitment to a highly coordinated operation committed to streamlined harvesting.

Experience FieldNET advantages

FieldNET was developed to give busy growers the knowledge they need about what's happening in their operation in real-time and manage their irrigation systems remotely. This technical approach to precision irrigation means growers can carefully coordinate both growing and harvest season activities to improve efficiency while reducing labor needs.

Reach out to your local Zimmatic dealer to learn how you can enhance your operation next year with FieldNET.