Carrot Country

Valley Dual Span Irrigates Carrot Seed

Carrot Country
Winter 2006

Center pivot irrigation is moving into the Southwestern United States in a whole new way. Valmont Irrigation is marketing a pivot under the Valley brand
that has two sets of spans to provide unique management control over water. Precise water application control is necessary in the production of baby carrots, a crop that is the fi rst to benefit from the new technology.

Germinating carrot seed is a tricky endeavor. The seeds are planted just 1/8th of an inch under the soil, and winds can quickly dry out the topsoil. “Having two sets of spans on a pivot, along with high speed motors, allows the dual span pivot to apply water over the whole field once every 2 ½ hours,” says Ray Batten, territory manager with Valmont Irrigation. “Watering the whole field would take five hours with one span set.”

Later in the season, management of this type of carrot production dictates a slow application to pull the water, and the carrots, deeper into the soil profi le. The pivots are run more slowly then to apply 1 to 1½ inches of water per rotation. With the dual spans, the machine can run slow, but water two segments of the fi eld at the same time.

In the middle of the summer the soil dries out quickly. Growers using the Valley dual span pivot are using two different sprinkler packages that are easily changed out with the use of nozzle clips. One nozzle package produces a high water application and the other a low water application which increases the management capabilities for the grower.Sprinkler nozzles are easily changed on the entire pivot, in about an hour.

At times, growers will plant in two different cycles on the same field, allowing the crops to mature and be harvested weeks apart. The pivot can be programmed to water these two areas independently, to accommodate the harvest schedule.

Labor costs are increasing all the time. Growers currently using the Valley dual span pivot have converted from solid set irrigation. With solid set irrigation, labor is needed to remove the system and then replace it to work around fi eld operations. With pivot irrigation, the pivot is permanent and is simply moved by punching a few buttons on the control panel or on a cell phone from the tractor. Batten says he’s heard of direct cost labor savings of 25-30 percent with the conversion from solid set to a pivot. Growers also don’t have to deal with the maintenance and shrinkage costs that come with setting up and breaking down solid set irrigation for field operations. There’s less chance of losing or damaging gaskets, nozzles
and sprinklers when the equipment is attached to a permanent pivot.

On the Valley dual span, the two span sets actually function independently of each other. One can go fast, while the other goes slow. The two span sets talk to each other through two control panels. One can follow the other, or they can each “windshield wipe” an independent area of the field.

“Importantly,” says Batten, “the technology was created using stuff Valley already uses on a regular basis in a slightly different application. There was a software
change and a mechanical change; otherwise it’s just a Valley 8000 pivot. This means it’s easier to get parts for this dual span pivot.”

For additional information about new labor-saving technologies from Valmont, growers can contact their local Valley dealer, call Valmont Irrigation at 1-800-825-6668 or visit Valmont on the Internet at www.valmont. com/irrigation/.