IRRIGATION - CENTER PIVOT

Valley® Center Pivot

The Valley^® pivot with its wide stance and three internally mounted cross braces per side provides the necessary strength and durability required to handle radial, vertical, and torsional loads as the machine moves around the field. The access ladder enables the operator to easily adjust the mechanical stop-in-slot, end gun shutoff and the auto reverse switches, along with stainless steel nipples and floating riser pipe ensures longer riser seal life.

The pivot can be controlled by any of three modular control panels: the Valley^® Standard, Select, and Pro. Each one offers distinct features, which all the operator to choose the controls to best fit his immediate needs. The operator can upgrade a Standard module to the Select or Pro when additional machine management capability is required.

Labor costs can be significantly lower with a center pivot versus other irrigation methods. A University of Nebraska Shortcourse paper, "Comparison of Irrigation Distribution Systems," presented by Dean Eisenhauer revealed that a center pivot required only 25% of the labor necessary to handle a gated pipe reuse system.

This can be a significant savings especially where labor may be limited and/or costly.

In the Garden City Kansas area, growers are able to raise as much corn on 132 acres of pivot irrigated land as they did on 160 acres with flood irrigation. Maintaining total yields while planting 18% fewer acres is a significant gain in light of current farm programs. Reducing irrigating pump time from 4,000 to 2,000 hours per field can have a tremendous impact on profitability.

The largest crop consulting firm in the United States, Servi-Tech, Dodge City, Kansas, conducted a thorough study of water usage when irrigating. They concluded sprinkler irrigation used 33% less water than flood. In some areas in southwest Kansas, water usage was reduced by 70%.