Brazilian Dairy Operation Depends on Center Pivot Irrigation

Technology is an important part of Fazenda Santo Antonious – a dairy operation in São Paulo, Brazil.

“We produce 12,000 liters of milk per day at Canto Porto,” said Thiago Nogueira, a veterinary surgeon at the operation. “To produce all that milk, you need a lot of quality food for the cattle. We cannot achieve that kind of production with genetics alone. Feeding the animals is a crucial part of the business.”

Nogueria said most of the food provided to the cattle is produced on the farm. Center pivot irrigation is used to ensure the pastures have enough forage to meet their nutritional needs.

“Each pivot supports 400 grazing animals,” he said. “With center pivot irrigation, we are able to increase production, without displacing the cattle.”

“This is a very modern farm in terms of water management,” said Bruno Perroni, international marketing manager at Lindsay. “The pivots are equipped with FieldNET^® remote management technology, which allows them to monitor and control their machines with a smartphone, tablet or computer.”

Farm mangers have also started using FieldNET Advisor^® – the industry’s first automated irrigation scheduling tool. The technology delivers field-specific recommendations, so they know precisely when, where and how much to irrigate. They say is provides the information they need to make faster, better informed irrigation decisions - and they’re able to implement their irrigation plans with just one click.

Nogueira says FieldNET Advisor is easy because it provides the information to make decisions and implement with one click. 

With this type of technology, Nogueira said, the operation can keep the milk flowing.

“Good irrigation allows excellent production of food for cattle – and consequently high production of milk,” he said. “This allows us to provide milk to thousands of people around the world.”

For more information about FieldNET and FieldNET Advisor, talk to your local Zimmatic dealer or visit www.myfieldnet.com.