Pool Of Water Management Tech Tools Getting Deeper
February 20, 2014 
Sonya Carns, president of water management company Ag-Tronix.
Are you finding that growers are desiring to apply more technology to their irrigation rather than the old days of just turning the pump on?
Carns: Yes. Farmers are faced with increasing costs to grow their crops. They are searching for ideas through technology to lessen the burden they face. Technology for agriculture is behind other industries in development. We recognized this and developed a platform for all products to operate as one cohesive unit. This allows the farmer to have less exposure to costs by reducing the extra labor needed to manage their water, fertilizer, and ever-changing weather.
With so much attention on water conservation and quality today, how will more advanced systems help with this?
Carns: More advanced systems currently allow you the ability to monitor every aspect of your growing operation and are only limited by what you want to see. You can look at your smartphone and see the weather on your farm, operate the pump, fertilize, and see the moisture level in your field.
Are you finding that growers are looking for more remote control of systems through various means?
Carns: Our larger growers have been activating their system remotely for 15 years. Over the years, technology has become less expensive allowing us to see an increased interest in farmers that thought it was too expensive. We took what was offered and developed a system that can work together on their computer through one software package. This allows a smaller operation like a blueberry grower to monitor the weather from his or her house, get a text warning about the temperature, and see that their irrigation came on to protect against frost, without ever leaving their home.
Can systems like yours help growers conform to BMPs?
Carns: We give them the tools to save money, run a more streamlined operation, and increase yield when managed properly. We use flow meters, which will keep a running total of water used for all reports to the management district. Fertilizer quantities are recorded and stored in a spreadsheet for reference in the future or for any inquiries from an agency. Systems can be customized to simplify the process of recordkeeping, thus allowing the farmer to have what he needs at key stroke. Conforming will be the easy part.
What do you see coming down the road when it comes to irrigation innovation?
Carns: We only have heard or seen ancillary products coming in the future. We realized that we needed to try and bring more technology to agriculture, so we’ve set up a research and development department to create products farmers have told us they want and what they want them to do.
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