Growers can easily change the drop hose height from the ground using a lift pole to place the sprinkler head into the docking station.

This new product was designed to provide a convenient way to change drop hose length and to improve crop production, said Dale Shelton, a Pasco, Washington, grower who holds the patent on AquaDock.

“With traditional drop hoses, we noticed dry rings in the corn crops; causing uneven crop growth and yield,” Shelton said. “Using the drop hose docking stations has allowed us to eliminate those dry rings and apply fertilizer evenly to produce uniform crop growth and yields in our fields.

“Wrapping hoses used to take a lot of time. Now we can hang the hoses in a fraction of the time while keeping our irrigators on the ground.”

This new product allows growers to tailor water application to varying crop clearances without compromising uniformity or efficiency – two essential elements in yield and profit, said Jerry Gerdes, product manager for water application at Valley Irrigation.

“It maintains a high level of uniformity when growing high crops,” Gerdes said.  “If the drops are left low, they can drag through the plants, causing dry rings, which can affect yield.

“It’s not just uniformity, but also water application efficiency. With lower crops you get more efficiency with lower sprinklers. The greater the distance between the crop and the sprinkler, the less efficient due to evaporation and wind drift.”

The new sprinkler application is available for new machines and for retrofitting existing pivots. Docking stations can be mounted directly to the U-pipe, or they can clamp around the span. The span clamp version can prevent span cable theft, Shelton said.

“We have experienced span cable theft off pivots in the past,” Shelton said.  “By installing the span cable clamp version on those areas, we have not had a problem since.”  FG

—From Valley Irrigation news release

PHOTOS
Photos courtesy of Valley Irrigation.