Irrigating Turfgrass for Sod
All the sod growers I know have invested in some form of irrigation. I have seen solid set, soft hose travelers, hard hose travelers and pivots. As the cost of labor continues to grow, operational efficiency has become increasingly important. Like most farm operations in America, sod farms have continued to grow as well. The fields have become larger and the total acres per farm have also increased. The rising cost of inputs adds risk to unirrigated acres that depend on rain to meet plant demands. Michigan’s ability to access water for irrigation is a bright spot compared to many states in this country. Michigan’s irrigated acres have continued to grow and since 2017 have been ranked in the top 20 states for irrigated land.
Center pivot manufacturers have responded to sod growers needs with innovations to meet their specific needs. Valley has been a leader in this area, developing ways to minimize wheel tracks, decrease water to soil impact and adding technology to reduce labor requirements. In addition, sprinkler manufacturers have significantly improved water use efficiency and uniformity.
Mitigating Wheel Tracks
By switching from traditional lugged tractor tire treads to less aggressive turf tires, the footprint is minimized. By installing boom backs, which move the sprinklers near the drive wheels to a position behind them, the wheels are running on dry ground, further reducing footprints in the sod. This greatly reduces unsaleable sod in your wheel path.
Reducing Ground Compression from Watering
By installing drop hoses from the sprinkler port, you can select the depth of drop to the ground from the sprinkler discharge point. The closer the discharge is to the ground, the softer the landing of each water drop. The actual sprinklers have been improved, so a much more uniform droplet size will be landing on your turf. While great for your established sod, this has created an opportunity to water in your new seedings with minimal soil disturbance.
Telemetry – Remote Control and Monitoring of Your Center Pivots
Not only do you not have to relocate and restart your travelers and solid sets, saving countless miles and time, but you can also run your pivots remotely with your phone or tablet. This can extend to your water sources. With electric valves and VFD’s you can switch the water supply to multiple pivots, and program delivery rates for different sized pivots that require different flow rates. All this can be accomplished while attending your kids’ activities! For fields with multiple water requirements, variable rate irrigation is available to prevent under or overwatering.
The greatest impact on your cashflow may be a shorter seed to harvest cycle, turning your fields over faster with more sod sold per acre over a multi-year span.
If you haven’t considered installing pivots on your sod farm, I strongly suggest you give them another look. The next generation(s) on your farm will thank you. The expected useful life is 40 years or more! Give Michigan Valley Irrigation a call to take a look at your fields, I think you will be surprised at the benefits of Center Pivots on your farm.
989-762-5028
“I’m very impressed with the professional service at Michigan Valley Irrigation (MVI). From their product knowledge and help with system design, to the pivot assembly and installation, to the follow up support with system operation, maintenance, and quick parts delivery, the MVI team has exceeded my expectations.
Valley Pivots from MVI facilitate a faster seed to harvest cycle for all of the 4 species of turfgrass sod we grow. I wobble, low pressure nozzles provide a gentle, large and low evaporation droplet with uniform coverage. Boom backs water behind the wheel tracks and along with turf tire options itvirtually eliminates wheel tracks in our sandy soils. When it comes to operation, you can’t beat the AgSense telemetry. Monitoring and operating your pivots, pumps and generators is as easy as pulling up the app on your phone and pressing a few buttons. That’s a serious quality of life improvement from driving around the farm at 1 am or any other time to check your systems.
The rugged reliability of Valley Irrigation Equipment coupled with the great people of the MVI Team makes Pivot Irrigation an investment that will pay dividends for the future of our family farm.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pete is the marketing manager for Michigan Valley Irrigation, having joined the company in 2016. He was raised on a dairy farm in western New York and graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in agricultural economics. His entire working career of over 37 years has been involved in agriculture. A farmer helping farmers. When away from Michigan Valley he operates, Joyful Noise Farm, a small livestock and produce farm and spends time with his family.
