Drip irrigation for agriculture is gaining in popularity because of its many benefits. This presentation is a look at how growers are increasing income, reducing costs, improving flexibility and achieving sustainability by using drip irrigation technology on row, field and permanent crops.
2. Overview
Drip irrigation for agriculture is gaining in popularity because of its many
benefits. This webinar provides an overview of how producers are
increasing income, reducing costs, improving flexibility and achieving
sustainability by using drip irrigation technology on row, field and
permanent crops.
Case studies will be reviewed, along with unique software tools
including Toro’s Drip/Micro Payback Wizard and Toro’s AquaFlow 3.2
Drip Irrigation Design Software.
Finally, Toro’s Drip Irrigation Owner’s Manual is introduced along with
links for free downloads of everything presented.
3. Making Drip Pay
Agenda
1.
2.
Introduction
Benefits of Drip Irrigation
–
–
–
–
3.
Increased Income
Reduced Costs
Improved Flexibility
Sustainability
Resources to Get Started
–
–
–
–
Case Studies
Payback Wizard Software
AquaFlow 3.2 Design
Software
Toro Micro-Irrigation
Owner’s Manual
4. Introduction
The Toro Company
• Agriculture headquarters
in El Cajon, CA
• World headquarters in
Bloomington, MN
• Founded in 1914
• NYSE listed company
• $2.4 billion market cap
• 5,200 employees
• 17 locations worldwide
• Active in 80 countries
10. Introduction
Simplified Food Value Chain
Raw Material Suppliers
Dealers, Services, Equipment,
Consultants, Gov’t, Finance
Farmer, Farm Organizations
Packing, Refining, Processing
Distribution:
Stores, Markets, Restaurants
11. Introduction
Drip irrigation’s rate of adoption is increasing in the US…
35
Land Irrigated by Method of Water Distribution – US FRIS…
Million Acres
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1978
1984
Gravity
1988
1994
Sprinkler
1998
Drip Etc.
2003
Sub Irr
2008
12. Introduction
… and especially in California!
Millions of Acres
Land Irrigated by Method of Water Distribution – CA FRIS…
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
-
30 Year
CAGR’s:
-1.38 %
Gravity
8.73 %
Drip
-1.48 %
Sprinkler
1969 1974 1978 1984 1988 1994 1998 2003 2008
Gravity
Sprinkler
Drip
14. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
The primary benefit is improved irrigation uniformity…
15. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
…and resulting improved farm profitability and resource use
efficiency.
16. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
Increased Uniformity = Less Irrigation Run Time
17. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
Less Run Time = Less Water, Labor and Fuel Costs
Cost of
Excess
Water
Applied
Assuming
$50/AF
$
Cost of
Excess
Water
Applied
Assuming
$500/AF
14 $
139
Excess
Operating
Hours
Required
Per Crop
5.3
Cost of
Labor to
Operate Assumed
Cost to
Excess
Drip
Lift
Hours
System
Assuming Pressure, Excess
$10/hr
psi
Water1
$
53.33
50
$ 4.68
18. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
Yield
Quality
Uniformity
Water
Energy
Labor
Fuel, etc.
19. Benefits of Drip Irrigation
Increase
Increase
Yields
Yields
Income
Quality
Uniformity
Improve
Crop
Quality and
Uniformity
Maximize
Maximize
Water
Water
Use
Use
Efficiency
Efficiency
Reduce
Reduce
Energy
Energy
Use
Use
Reduce
Reduce
Labor
Labor
Costs
Costs
Benefits
of Drip
Irrigation
Reduce
Reduce
Risk
Risk
Reduce
Reduce
Fertilizer
Fertilizer
Use
Use
Reduce
Reduce
Pesticide
Pesticide
Use
Use
Improve
Improve
Flexibility
Flexibility
Improve the
Improve the
Environment
Environment
Water
Energy
Labor
Fertilizer
Pesticide
23. Drip on Corn
Cox Valley View Farms, Long Island, Kansas
• Main Objective: Increased yields with less water
•
System Details:
•
120 Acres installed September, 2006
60” lateral spacing buried 12-18” deep
7/8” ID, 15 mil wall thickness Toro tape, 24” emitter spacing
Flow of .22 gpm/100’ = .03” per hour
Buried PVC header and flushing submains
Benefits:
Increased yields of 100 bushels/ac (275 bu/ac SDI vs. 175 bu/ac gravity)
Improved grain test weight (62 lbs/bu vs. 58 lbs/bu)
More efficient use of 18” water allocation
Reduced evaporation, runoff, wind drift and deep percolation
Fuel,. labor, chemical, and cultivation savings of $160/acre
Compatible with no-till practices
Eligible for EQIP funding of $330/ac
Payback on system was 1 ½ years
25. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Corn
Yield Increase, Uniformity and Sustainability
“I get top yields on 100 percent of the
corn field because of the increased
uniformity and efficiency I get with drip
irrigation. Perhaps best of all, drip
irrigation and no-till helps build the
soil, and attracts wildlife nests by
keeping the soil surface dry.”
-Steven Cox of Cox Valley View Farms, Long
Island, Kansas
26. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Hops
Yield Increase, Reduced Inputs
“We experienced a 400 lb per acre
increase in production using drip, which
translates into about $800 - $1,600 per
acre increased revenue. In addition, we
have cut water and fertilizer use in
half, no longer run a sidedresser or
corrugate for rill irrigation, and have far
fewer weeds.”
-Jon Weilmunster, Weilmunster
Farms, Parma, Idaho
27. Benefits of Drip Irrigation – Celery
Yield Increase, Uniformity, Sustainability
“We’re using half as much water with
drip…and experience increased yields
and uniformity at the same time. Drip
creates a uniform crop…that helps a lot
when it comes time to harvest. We
haven’t used flood or sprinklers for
years, and given the current pressures
regarding food safety, we don’t feel we
could even farm if it weren’t for drip”
-Mike Naumann, Naumann
Ranch, Oxnard, California
28. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Lettuce
Yield Increase, Quality, Uniformity, Reduced
Inputs, Sustainability
“My yields are higher, the crop is more
uniform, and the quality is better
because of perfect growing conditions
[with drip]. I only cultivate once
now..which reduces fuel use. I get
more benefit from each dollar spent on
fertilizer – none of it leaches below the
root zone.”
-Craig Andrus, Craig Andrus Farms,
Salinas, California
29. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Strawberries
Resource Use Efficiency, Organic Sustainability
With drip, I’m not applying water inbetween the beds, so weed growth
is greatly reduced….we save in
equipment and labor costs….and
we use less water and energy with
drip vs. sprinklers.”
-Frank Estrada, Reiter Berry
Farms, Watsonville, California
30. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Onions
Uniform Crop, Healthier Plants
“The contents of each 50 pound bag of
onions is superior because the crop is
more uniform in size, shape and
color, thus the customer is more pleased.
I use drip to keep my customers coming
back. Drip nurtures a healthier, stronger
plant, which really shows up during
extreme heat events.””
-Larry Standage, Standage
Farms, Inc.,
Vale, Oregon
31. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Onions
Healthier Plants
“Drip just makes it easier to keep the
plants happy.”
- Pete Dominguez, Terra Linda
Farms, Huron, California
32. Benefits of Drip Irrigation – Tomatoes
Yield Increase
“Our best-ever [processing tomato]
yield on conventional
sprinkler/gravity acreage was 64
tons/acre in 2004. Five years
later, we are achieving 50 – 100%
increases in yields with drip, and an
overall average of 65 tons/acre
operation wide.”
-Chuck Herrin, Worth Farms,
Huron, California
33. Benefits of Drip Irrigation – Tomatoes
Field Accessibility
“Farming the tomatoes is now as
easy as farming the almonds.
We can access the field anytime
without worrying about pipes or
ditches in the way, or muddy drive
rows.”
-Chuck Herrin, Worth Farms,
Huron, California
34. Benefits of Drip Irrigation – Tomatoes
Water Use Efficiency, Decreased Labor and Fertilizer
We used to apply 36 inches of water
per acre to meet a crop ET of about
18 inches. Now we only apply 24
inches of water, a 33% [water]
savings. At the same time, we have
cut labor use by half, and fertilizer
use by a third. This is significant.”
-Chuck Herrin, Worth Farms,
Huron, California
35. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Alfalfa
Yield Increase and Water Use Efficiency
“[One year after planting] 7 cuttings [of
alfalfa] had yielded 14 tons/ac using 7 AF of
water - 2 tons/AF were harvested year 1
with SDI vs. an average of 1 ton/AF was
harvested with gravity.”
-Bob Thomas, Bob Thomas
Farms, Seeley, California
36. Benefits of Drip Irrigation - Cotton
Yield Increase, Sustainability
“I can get the same number of bales of cotton
from 80 acres of drip as I can get the 120
acres of pivots. Why farm more acres for the
same result? Yield, and crop per drop, is the
bottom line.”
-Loyd Jordan, Loyd Jordan Farms, Meadow, Texas
37. Benefits of Drip Irrigation – Potatoes
Yield Increase, Water Use Efficiency
“Irrigating with a hard-hose traveler is like
using a club; irrigating with a center pivot is
like using a hatchet; but with drip, it’s like
irrigating with a scalpel. I realized a 25
percent yield increase with drip, they
reached maturity faster and early dying of
the vines is greatly reduced. It costs about
10 gallons of fuel to apply an inch of water
with a traveler; with drip it costs about
four gallons of fuel per inch of water.”
-Nolan Masser, Pitman, PA
38. Case Studies
Key Points:
1. Growers
consistently
cite improved
farm profitabilty
by using drip.
2. Every situation
is different!
40. Drip-Micro Irrigation Payback Wizard
With 5 pieces of data, the
Wizard allows growers to:
1.
Estimate
Payback
Period
2.
Estimate
Acreage
Irrigated with
Conserved
Water
41. Drip-Micro Irrigation Payback Wizard
Make 5 entries to estimate
payback period and water
savings
State
Crop
Acres
System Type
Water Cost
Then Click on Calculate
42. Drip-Micro Irrigation Payback Wizard
Step 2: View Reports
The payback
period is
less than a
year, and 25
acres could
be irrigated
with the
water
savings.
44. Drip-Micro Irrigation Payback Wizard
Step 2: View Reports
If no yield or
quality
increases
are
projected, th
en the
payback
period
increases to
3.88 years.
45. Drip-Micro Irrigation Payback Wizard
Key Points:
1. The Wizard helps growers estimate
–
–
Payback period on investment
Additional acres that could be farmed with
conserved water
2. The report may be customized to
reflect individual conditions.
3. Download for free at:
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/financing/payback-wizard.aspx
47. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
AquaFlow helps build drip systems with:
• Optimized irrigation system emission uniformity (EU)
• Optimized flushing velocity
Figure 2 - Typical Drip System Layout
48. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
•
•
•
Dashboard approach eliminates need for toggling
Both irrigation and flushing conditions easily viewed
Spanish language and metric unit options available
49. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
Lateral
Lateral Input:
• Product category
• Product model
• Slope(s)
• Length of run
• Inlet Pressure
• Sub-Main Position
• Compare
Figure 2 - Typical Drip System Layout
54. Classic vs. PC Tape
Classic tape features a
turbulent flowpath:
PC tape features a pressure
responsive section:
55. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
Block uniformity using nonpressure compensated lateral
56
Block uniformity using pressure
compensated lateral
56. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
Figure 5 – Chart Tiles appear in minimized format at the bottom of the dashboard.
57
The chart
tile output
appears in
various
formats at
the
bottom of
the
dashboard
58. Toro’s AquaFlow Design Software
Key Points:
1. AquaFlow software helps build
systems with:
–
–
High emission uniformity (EU)
Proper flushing velocities
2. Well designed drip systems help
ensure that drip irrigation will pay!
3. Download for FREE at:
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/design-aides/design-assist-software.aspx
62. Free Downloads:
Toro Owner’s Manual and Quick Start Guide
1. Download free PDF from
Toro’s websites:
•
•
toro.com
driptips.toro.com
2. Purchase hard copies of
the Owner’s Manual for
$15.00 each at:
•
torodealer.com
3. Obtain hard copies from
Authorized Toro Dealers.
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/manuals/drip-irrigation-owners-manual.aspx
63. Key Points
1. Drip irrigation is gaining in popularity
because:
• Increased Income
• Reduced Costs
• Improved Flexibility
• Sustainability
2. Resources to help you get started include:
• Case Studies
• Drip Micro Payback Wizard
• AquaFlow Design Software
• Toro Micro-Irrigation Owner’s Manual
64. Key Questions
7
1. Will Water Prices
Increase?
Millions of Acres, CA
6
5
2. Will Water Availability
Decrease?
4
3
3. More Drip on
Trees, Vines &
Vegies?
2
1
4. Significant Drip on
Field Crops?
-
1969 1974 1978 1984 1988 1994 1998 2003 2008 2013 2018 2023 2028 2033 2038 2043 2048 2053 2058 2063 2068
Gravity
Sprinkler
Drip
66. To learn more, please visit:
Toro Micro-Irrigation Products and Services
toro.com
DripTips – educational website and blog
driptips.toro.com
Payback Wizard Software
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/financing/payback-wizard.aspx
AquaFlow Design Software
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/design-aides/design-assist-software.aspx
Toro Micro-Irrigation Owner’s Manual
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/manuals/drip-irrigation-ownersmanual.aspx
Solutions Brochures
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/solution-brochures/solutionsbrochures.aspx
Typical Drip System Layout
http://www.toro.com/en-us/Agriculture/Pages/drip-irrigation-education/drip-system-layout.aspx
67. Contact Us
Toro Micro-Irrigation
1588 N. Marshall Ave.
El Cajon, CA 92020, USA
Phone:
+1 (800) 333-8125
+1 (619) 562-2950
Websites:
toro.com
driptips.toro.com
Notes de l'éditeur
Our session topic today is how growers make drip pay. First I’ll introduce Toro and drip irrigation, and then I’ll share some case studies. Finally, I’ll expose you to some great tools to help you get started with drip including payback software, design software and an owner’s manual written for the grower. All the information I’m presenting will be made available to you either in the discussion room at the Grange Network, or at Toro.com or driptips.toro.com.
Note that I’ve listed four specific benefits to drip irrigation – I’ll be sharing case studies that support each of these statements, and then the tools to help get started. Please type your questions into Chat and I’ll pause periodically during the presentation and take them as time permits.
Toro Micro-Irrigation is a divison of the same company that builds the lawnmowers and landscape irrigation products many of you are familiar with.
I’m speaking to you today from our headquarters for the Americas in San Diego County, California.
At our factory here, and in our factories throughout the world, we manufacture the components that are used in a state of the art drip irrigation system for agriculture.
These are the types of emission devices we build that support fruit, nut, vegetable and field crops.
The picture before you illustrates the typical components in a drip irrigation system. At the top is the headworks with pumps, filters and controls, and then the infield blocks contain submains and laterals that feed water and nutrients directly to the crop rootzone.
An animated version of this illustration is available on our website and shows water flowing through the system, and then shows how water moves through the soil via capillary action using laterals such as Toro’s Aqua-Traxx drip tape.
Toro builds these components and sells them to authorized Toro dealers who configure the system for the farmer.
Drip irrigation has been adopted by less than 10% of the irrigated acres in the United States as of 2008, but its adoption is growing rapidly.
…especially in California, where the majority of the US drip acres are located. Note the Compound annual growth rates of drip in California vs. sprinkler and gravity irrigation.
This growth rate is increasing because, quite simply, growers are finding that drip is a better way to farm
The primary benefit of course is uniform application of water and nutrients through the driplines….
…which translates into increased profitability (because of increased income and reduced costs), and improved resource use efficiency (more crop per drop).
Here’s a brief example of how better irrigation application uniformity helps reduce costs. If this system were performing at 80% uniformity, then it would take nearly 14 hours of system run time to apply 1 inch of water to the crop. If it were performing at 95% uniformity, then it would take less than 12 hours of run time.
In this analysis water, labor and fuel costs were compared in a system with 90% vs. 80% uniformity.
Note that depending on the cost of water per acre foot, that significant savings can be realized by simply reducing the number of hours the irrigation system has to be operated to ensure that all plants receive the minimal amount of water needed.
In addition to the cost savings, growers find that by applying water and nutrients through uniform drip systems, crop yield and quality improve.
Together, increased revenue and reduced costs help make drip pay, and help reduce risk, improve flexibility and help improve the environment.
I’d now like to present some case studies that Toro has collected over the past 5 or 6 years that document how various growers across the country have benefited by using drip.
These case studies are available for download from our website, and include corn, cotton, alfalfa, processing tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, celery, strawberries, onions, peppermint and hops.
This is an example of the kind of information contained in the case studies.
It includes system details, and benefits the grower shared with us.
These are actual financial results shared by Steven and Chris Cox, a father/son team in Kansas. The system investment was offset by additional revenue, and decreased costs, in less than 2 years, much quicker than they anticipated. A little later, I’ll share some software that lets growers estimate payback on their own farm.
The Cox team adopted drip to increase yields and uniformity, and to make the farm more sustainable by building up the soil and attracting wildlife.
In another case study, Jon Weilmunster dramatically increased yields and reduced costs.
Here in California, fourth generation farmer Mike Naumann uses half the water and increases yields at the same time using drip. He doesn’t feel he could even farm if it weren’t for drip.
Up the coast, Craig Andrus realized similar benefits, but also noted that with drip he is able to better control fertilizer placement and prevent leaching below the root zone, which is a big issue in his area.
Frank Estrada with Reiter Berry Farms especially likes drip on his organic operations since weed growth, and weeding labor, is reduced. He also sets his transplants with drip, so avoids the water waste and energy costs associated with sprinklers.
Larry Standage in Vale Oregon uses drip to keep his customers coming back because every 50 lb bag of onions is the same size, shape and color.
Back down in California Pete Dominguez of Terra Linda Farms sums it up by simply saying, “Drip just makes it easier to keep the plants happy.”
Tens of thousands of acres of processing tomatoes have converted to drip over the last 5-10 years in California because of significant yield increases as described here by Chuck Herrin of Worth Farms.
Chuck also likes the improved field accessibility that drip affords on his tomatoes, similar to his almonds.
And similar to the others, Chuck is applying 33% less water and fertilizer, and cut labor in half.
Even alfalfa growers are getting in on the action. The Thomas father/son team in the Imperial Valley are getting twice the tonnage with the same amount of water they used with gravity.
And Loyd Jordan in Meadows Texas says “Why farm 120 acres with a pivot when I get the same number of bales of cotton from 80 acres of drip?”
Finally, Nolan Masser of Pitman Pennslvania sums it by saying that irrigating with a hard-hose traveler is like using a club; irrigating with a center pivot is like using a hatchet; but with drip, it’s like irrigating with a scalpel. His words, not mine! He calculates that it costs about 10 gallons of fuel to apply an inch of water with a traveler, whereas with drip it costs about 4 gallons.
All in all, growers consistently, across the country, around the world, cite improved farm profitability by using drip, which makes the investment pay for itself, sometimes very quickly! As you saw in the previous examples, every situation is different and the drivers to adopt vary. This is why the Drip-Micro Payback Wizard was developed, to help growers quickly assess whether the investment may pay off. Before we move to this tool, let me check with Gary to see if we have any questions. I encourage you to type them into Chat and I’ll handle them along the way as time permits. While we wait, you may think about how you would use drip in your situation, and what questions you might have. For example, you may wonder what the typical cost of a drip system is, or how you go about operating, or maintaining a drip system.
The payback wizard is available on Toro’s website for free download, or it can be used online.
The user enters only 5 pieces of information before the Wizard generates a report that answers two question: How long will it take to pay for the investment, and how many additional acres could be farmed with the conserved water.
Once the 5 entries are complete, click on calculate to instantly view a report that is based on default data gleaned from every state, for every crop, and some assumptions.
In this example, it is estimated that the system pays for itself in less than a year and 25 additional acres could be farmed with the conserved water. In other words, by converting from flood to drip, less water was required to grow the crops on the number of acres in the example, and if that water were to be used on another parcel, 25 additional acres could be supported.
Once the report appears, it may be customized to reflect any user’s particular situation.
Here, we changed the assumptions and found that the payback period increased to almost 4 years.
I’ll pause again here and take a few questions.
If the drip investment looks attractive, the next step is to begin laying out a system
With AquaFlow, system components may be selected that will optimize uniformity and the ability to flush and properly maintain the system.
The dashboard eliminates the need to toggle between screens
In the lateral area, multiple slopes may be entered, and the submain position specified
Similarly, in the submain area multiple slopes may be entered, and multi sized, telesropingsubmains as well. This helps build a system that is uniform and cost effective, in other words, AquaFlow helps you determine just the size pipe needed, no more, no less.
Here are examples of the multiple slope graphs
Flushing parameters for both laterals and submains may be specified and results viewed instantly.
Mainlines may be designed as well.
AquaFlow’s unique Compare feature allows the user to select two different laterals and compare the resulting system uniformity. In this case, Aqua-Traxx classic is compared with Aqua-Traxx PC
AquaFlow’s uniformity map shows that the uniformity with PC would be better than with Classic.
All the technical details may be viewed in different sizes and shapes
And a full, customized report may be created that can be saved in a variety of file formats, printed or emailed.
Again, please type your questions into Chat.
Toro’s Owner’s manual was written and illustrated in such a way to make the concepts easy to grasp. The 2nd edition is now available, including a Spanish version with metric units.
I encourage you to take advantage of this document by downloading the pdf from our website, purchasing a hard copy online, or talking someone into giving you one for free.
This is a good point to pause again and reflect on what we’ve covered.
Being a California native and passionate about our great state, its farming, and its natural resources, I find myself asking how the gravity, sprinkler and drip acreage will look in the next 50 years.
Hopefully this information has been useful to you. Please visit the links pasted on the following page to access it, including the Solutions Brochures, Owner’s Manual, Typical Drip system Layout, and our software tools, the Payback Wizard and AquaFlowDrip Irrigation Design Software. Be sure to sign up for DripTipsas well, and visit the toro.com website to learn more about our products and services.
Please note my contact information after the webinar and feel free to contact me any time with your questions and comments about drip irrigation.
