Canada’s Southern Irrigation Joins the Zimmatic Family of Dealerships

For more than 35 years, Southern Irrigation has been a leader in delivering Canada’s agriculture intelligent water solutions.

“In 1984, my dad, Bert Oostenbrink, founded the company, then known as South Alta Drip Systems, in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. He was the first to introduce the concept of drip irrigation to farmers in Western Canada,” said Jeff Oostenbrink, CEO of Southern Irrigation. “From the start, we’ve been committed to providing quality products and innovative solutions along with exceptional customer service.”

Over the years, the Oostenbrink family grew and so did the company. Today, five of Bert’s sons (Jeff, Mitch, Alfred, Albert and Frank) are employed by the multi-faceted company, which has expanded to six locations. They recently completed the acquisition of Highlands Irrigation, a leading Zimmatic™ dealership, adding center pivots, laterals and FieldNET™ to their product offerings at the four authorized British Columbia locations.

“Partnering with a top-tier supplier, like Lindsay, will help us keep our promise to provide growers with intelligent water solutions,” Oostenbrink said. “Whether it’s a farmer that focuses on corn, hay, vegetables or dairy, we can provide them with irrigation that’s more consistent than dryland farming, that can be set up quickly and requires little oversight when running. This means they grow more crops with better quality, year after year.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Southern Irrigation into our family of dealerships,” said Jason Parker, director of dealer development at Lindsay. “Their proven expertise has made them a trusted name in Canada’s irrigation industry, and we’re excited to partner with them to bring our Zimmatic and FieldNET solutions to growers throughout British Columbia.”

Because of its flexibility and cost-effectiveness, Oostenbrink said more growers in Western Canada are moving to center pivot and lateral irrigation.

“The trend is to get away from hand move, wheel lines and traveling guns. The younger generation is excited about having the ability to irrigate from their house,” he said. “With increasing costs associated with land and feed as well as the return on investment with a pivot, it’s not hard to convince farmers that this is the way to go.”

Oostenbrink said Dick Ford, former CEO of Highlands Irrigation, will continue on with Southern Irrigation - assuming the role of Location Leader at the Williams Lake facility.

“The team at Highlands built a very loyal customer base,” he said. “Without them, it would have been very difficult to get this moving. They taught us a few of the ins and outs, and this will continue as the year goes along.”

For more information about Southern Irrigation, visit https://southernirrigation.com/.

To learn more about Zimmatic and FieldNET products, visit www.Lindsay.com.