A Unique View of an Advanced Center Pivot Irrigation System

Cody Bailey Author

01/18/2018 Added

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Spring Water Seminar Series 2018

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[00:00:00.258]Just take a couple minutes a little bit,
[00:00:01.456]maybe even lay a little bit of background maybe
[00:00:04.070]for the course for this semester,
[00:00:08.934]but who would you think, in the United States,
[00:00:11.186]which state you think has the most irrigated land area?
[00:00:15.108]Somebody offer?
[00:00:17.094]I know you know, Chris, but, it happens to be Nebraska.
[00:00:20.844]We have almost 9 million acres that are irrigated
[00:00:23.646]in the state of Nebraska.
[00:00:25.748]California is second, and California used to have
[00:00:28.337]over 10 million acres, but they've seen a reduction
[00:00:30.655]of about 2 million acres in irrigated land area,
[00:00:33.879]mostly over conflicts of water for environmental purposes.
[00:00:38.010]So as you look in the western United States,
[00:00:40.090]we're really looking at ways
[00:00:42.843]that we can better manage water resources
[00:00:45.530]and deal with competition between
[00:00:47.621]the various users of that water.
[00:00:50.666]And one of those approaches is to enhance the way
[00:00:55.114]that we apply that water, and so I think this semester
[00:00:58.264]is a lot about advanced water management.
[00:01:01.025]Now, just being more efficient won't solve
[00:01:03.313]the water balance problem, but being more efficient
[00:01:05.951]does have many positive impacts.
[00:01:08.689]One of the best impacts is is it really enhances
[00:01:11.600]the value of the water that we're using.
[00:01:14.038]So, we're getting more value out of the water.
[00:01:16.514]The other thing it does is greatly protect the water quality
[00:01:19.365]that we're associated with, both ground and surface water.
[00:01:22.839]So, there are great reasons that we need
[00:01:24.285]to get more efficient in how we manage the water.
[00:01:27.416]One of the ways we're doing that is through mechanized
[00:01:30.025]and automated irrigation systems,
[00:01:31.786]and if you look at back in 1948,
[00:01:35.033]there was a man who developed
[00:01:36.280]the first idea for a center pivot.
[00:01:38.497]If you've flown from here to Denver,
[00:01:39.979]you see the circles on the ground.
[00:01:42.367]That person came back to Columbus, Nebraska
[00:01:44.977]and started to work with a partner there
[00:01:47.952]to develop pivots in the early 1950s.
[00:01:50.760]They struggled, eventually they sold out their rights
[00:01:53.319]to a company up by Valley, Nebraska,
[00:01:55.986]and the patent expired in 1969.
[00:02:00.005]And then a flurry of companies developed
[00:02:02.300]and started making center pivots.
[00:02:04.050]As it turns out, out of maybe almost 40 different companies
[00:02:07.302]that started making center-pivots back at that time,
[00:02:10.388]we really evolved to
[00:02:11.632]the four primary manufacturers in the world,
[00:02:15.282]and they've made over 95% of the pivots in the world.
[00:02:18.725]And one of those today is Reinke irrigation,
[00:02:22.752]located out in south central Nebraska.
[00:02:26.390]Cody is here to talk about that experience, Cody Bailey.
[00:02:30.046]He's director of engineering with Reinke,
[00:02:32.506]and he previously worked in Idaho
[00:02:35.251]in various areas for irrigation.
[00:02:37.596]He has an engineering and a business management background.
[00:02:40.566]And then recently moved back here into this area
[00:02:42.973]to begin working a little bit closer to family
[00:02:45.412]and begin to work in this industry.
[00:02:47.294]Been there since 2007 or so, I guess,
[00:02:49.805]and became a director of engineering a couple years ago?
[00:02:52.175]Or a year or so ago.
[00:02:53.442]And so, he's gonna talk to us about a company view
[00:02:57.015]of how we better manage water.
[00:02:59.053]Well, it is indeed very exciting
[00:03:00.468]to be here with you today.
[00:03:02.214]I know some of you are here, perhaps on mandatory call,
[00:03:05.764]because it is a part of your schooling.
[00:03:08.207]But I hope you enjoy this moment together that we have.
[00:03:11.144]I do have a lot to share.
[00:03:13.890]It is a rural community in which I live.
[00:03:16.001]We don't get to talk much
[00:03:17.428]because there's just always work to do,
[00:03:18.802]so we get to venture out into the big city
[00:03:20.336]and see a lot of people, it's just hard for me
[00:03:22.033]not to say hello, shake your hand, and tell you what we know
[00:03:25.251]and how we enjoy our rural lifestyle
[00:03:28.217]there in south central Nebraska.
[00:03:30.199]A little more about me, I have a hometown.
[00:03:33.653]For many of you it might be your birthplace.
[00:03:36.014]If it is, then I am a Texan.
[00:03:37.951]However, home for me is where my heart is,
[00:03:40.303]and it's been in different states as we've moved along.
[00:03:43.111]As Darryl mentioned, currently in Deshler, Nebraska,
[00:03:45.636]wonderful population of 744 people, highly recommend it
[00:03:49.274]to anyone who wants the best life ever in a small town.
[00:03:54.145]Just hitting on the fact that I've only
[00:03:57.647]been in this industry since 2007, as Darryl mentioned.
[00:04:00.791]But it has changed even since the past 11 years.
[00:04:04.504]In my experience, what has changed,
[00:04:06.090]it's been the rapid technology improvement.
[00:04:08.793]So decades before, where we might not have seen
[00:04:11.125]as many changes in the technology aspect of it,
[00:04:14.349]the last 11 years have been phenomenal.
[00:04:16.577]And I'll share with you about some of those changes today.
[00:04:19.767]In regards to Reinke, we've been in business over 60 years.
[00:04:22.414]We're grateful to be one of the four that have survived
[00:04:25.703]through the tough times and the good times.
[00:04:27.991]Over 450 employees in new business and over 80+ countries.
[00:04:32.070]Here's what our campus looks like.
[00:04:33.446]It's a little different than yours.
[00:04:34.771]We got a little more space,
[00:04:35.879]a little more pasture, if you will.
[00:04:38.664]We like to think our corporate view is the cornfield
[00:04:41.525]to the south and the rolling hills to the north.
[00:04:44.647]It's about 80 acres and a lot of our prototype development,
[00:04:50.267]listening to the corn grow,
[00:04:51.479]happens on that wonderful 80 acres.
[00:04:54.423]Now many of you may have noticed as you travel
[00:04:57.648]outside of the city that you are surrounded
[00:05:01.176]in a rich environment of agriculture production,
[00:05:04.785]whether it be livestock or crop production or other.
[00:05:08.931]It is very rich in this area.
[00:05:10.613]If you haven't had a chance to experience that,
[00:05:13.076]go get dirty.
[00:05:14.458]Get out to the field's edge and experience that.
[00:05:16.904]In fact, you may not be able to experience
[00:05:19.821]center pivot irrigation system from the field edge
[00:05:22.202]just like you'd like.
[00:05:23.492]So in the next about 120 seconds, let me give you a preview
[00:05:27.976]of the major components of a center pivot irrigation system
[00:05:31.056]so that I may communicate to you more effectively
[00:05:33.751]during this seminar today.
[00:05:37.055]So let's begin with the pivot center itself.
[00:05:39.733]This is the center of the universe
[00:05:41.053]in terms to a pivot manufacturer.
[00:05:43.088]We think of that's the beginning, right?
[00:05:45.424]And that is anchored down to the earth
[00:05:47.184]with lots of concrete.
[00:05:48.348]As you can imagine, there's a lot of things moving,
[00:05:50.703]pivoting around this particular point in the field.
[00:05:53.959]It's comprised of a few major components.
[00:05:56.194]The pivot center itself.
[00:05:58.039]The control panel, which is the brains,
[00:06:00.085]think of it as your computer,
[00:06:01.933]lot of computational power in these control panels today.
[00:06:05.213]Water comes in and water goes out of the pivot center.
[00:06:09.146]And a collector reel at the very top
[00:06:11.034]enables the rotation of this machine
[00:06:13.358]so that the electrical cables do not get bound.
[00:06:16.201]Very simple technology, reliable, durable,
[00:06:18.806]that's been in place for many decades,
[00:06:20.818]but yet can take advantage of the technology of today.
[00:06:24.597]Moving down the machine from the pivot center,
[00:06:26.669]you now have what we call a span.
[00:06:29.190]A span is comprised of water pipe.
[00:06:32.037]Guess what's inside of the water pipe?
[00:06:33.733]You're right, it is water.
[00:06:35.666]And that water has a load, and it needs to be supported
[00:06:38.197]so that it does not fall to the ground.
[00:06:39.965]And so underneath the water pipe
[00:06:41.948]you have a bowstring truss system.
[00:06:44.182]Darryl alluded earlier, there's been a lot of inventions
[00:06:46.611]early on in the industry of center pivot irrigation,
[00:06:51.722]different styles of this trussing system.
[00:06:53.662]I'm gonna talk to you a little bit
[00:06:54.710]about that later on today.
[00:06:56.577]And, of course, on this water pipe at strategic locations
[00:06:59.247]throughout the entire length of the machine
[00:07:02.168]you have outlets that you can distribute the water
[00:07:05.129]through sprinkler devices to put the water
[00:07:06.840]where you need it the most.
[00:07:09.503]Exploding that bowstring truss view,
[00:07:11.937]it's very simple, again.
[00:07:13.365]Just a few components comprise of this assembly,
[00:07:16.574]with the pipe connections, the V jacks,
[00:07:19.020]the cross brace, and the truss rods.
[00:07:21.053]All of these structural components enable that water pipe
[00:07:24.432]to stay in the air and support the load that it bears
[00:07:28.433]when the water is flowing through the machine.
[00:07:31.621]Now, this span, moving to the next component,
[00:07:34.223]is connected to a tower.
[00:07:36.448]This tower is what provides the crop clearance
[00:07:38.943]that's needed in many parts.
[00:07:40.727]Some crop clearance needs to be in excess of 12 feet,
[00:07:44.509]others eight to nine feet is sufficient.
[00:07:47.304]There's even some that need 25 feet of crop clearance
[00:07:51.211]for small orchards in certain parts of the world.
[00:07:53.927]So this tower is what enables us to set that height
[00:07:57.178]appropriately for the machine's desired function.
[00:08:01.865]On this particular tower, it's very simple.
[00:08:03.791]You have a couple legs and a base beam.
[00:08:06.971]You'll also notice that's an equilateral triangle there
[00:08:09.615]which we'll talk about in just a moment.
[00:08:11.398]There's electrical connections that house the power
[00:08:14.381]and control distribution and the drive train.
[00:08:16.362]Much like your car, there are wheels, there are axles,
[00:08:20.590]and there are motors involved.
[00:08:24.079]On the end of the system,
[00:08:24.918]which is probably most recognizable for pivot manufacturers
[00:08:28.527]because we love to hang our sign.
[00:08:30.047]That's like our little pin in the lapel.
[00:08:32.423]We sold it, we built it, we take pride
[00:08:35.517]on the end of the system with the end sign there.
[00:08:37.968]However, there's a lot more going on.
[00:08:40.317]In here we have overhead trussing,
[00:08:42.633]end gun apparatuses of all sorts and sizes.
[00:08:45.462]If you pay attention as you drive, look at the very end
[00:08:47.861]and see how many different variations of things
[00:08:50.590]that are hanging on the end of this system.
[00:08:53.108]GPS is also on board and housed
[00:08:55.894]in the electrical control boxes toward the ends.
[00:08:58.438]In some cases, you will also find something very different
[00:09:01.904]in what we call a swing arm corner.
[00:09:05.012]So instead of an end boom, you actually have
[00:09:06.796]an additional span that's articulating.
[00:09:10.004]Center pivots go in a circle.
[00:09:12.300]Well, how does that?
[00:09:13.358]Because they are fixed in the center and they go around.
[00:09:16.523]That leaves corners un-irrigated in square fields.
[00:09:21.409]And so this device enables us to reach further
[00:09:24.269]into those corners to pick up additional acres.
[00:09:27.150]In many cases, they are guided by GPS technologies,
[00:09:31.224]again, structurally inverted trussing,
[00:09:34.078]valve controls for precise water application packages,
[00:09:37.215]and a custom tower, which is different than the ones
[00:09:39.582]we showed previously to be able to handle the job
[00:09:43.450]that this articulating span can do.
[00:09:46.689]So, why center pivots?
[00:09:48.050]The end result of all of this in that brief Snapchat-like
[00:09:52.729]review of the components of a center pivot,
[00:09:56.072]is for us to be able to manage water.
[00:09:58.498]We want to satisfy ET, evapotransporation.
[00:10:02.866]Why center pivots, then?
[00:10:04.178]Why can't we just wait for the raincloud to come?
[00:10:07.052]Well, it's one of predictability, one of controllability,
[00:10:10.761]and one of being cost-effective.
[00:10:13.526]Like most cases, the weather is unpredictable,
[00:10:16.984]and we don't know how much and when it will rain
[00:10:19.876]to supply the crop with the demand that it's calling for.
[00:10:23.487]So center pivots provide a vehicle to deliver the water
[00:10:27.430]to the crop when it's needed the most.
[00:10:30.204]Also, with center pivots, it enables you to handle
[00:10:34.045]other types of liquids, not just water
[00:10:36.163]that's being pumped out of the ground or canals,
[00:10:38.369]but handling effluent, discharge from processes
[00:10:41.697]and livestock dairies or other types
[00:10:44.613]of processing plants for vegetables.
[00:10:47.674]That waste has to go somewhere, and in some cases,
[00:10:50.419]the waste is not used to satisfy ET,
[00:10:52.884]but it's used just as a means of placing it elsewhere
[00:10:55.489]outside of the facility.
[00:10:58.013]So the ET curve, many of you probably
[00:10:59.997]know this better than I, looks like this.
[00:11:02.849]Now, for some of you, you might think that looks like
[00:11:04.673]the stock market or your 401(k).
[00:11:06.764]Yesterday, it probably took a little hit, but that's okay.
[00:11:09.564]Just be patient, that's how that works.
[00:11:12.652]But this is a crop lifecycle of a corn.
[00:11:16.792]In very simple terms, it has an early, mid,
[00:11:19.692]and late season of life, like many of you.
[00:11:22.959]The ET is, depending on which type or part of life it is in,
[00:11:27.798]it requires different amounts of water.
[00:11:31.041]So our machines not only have to apply a amount of water,
[00:11:34.813]but it has to vary with the crops' demands
[00:11:38.187]as it goes on through its lifecycle.
[00:11:40.383]So, ET is very important to us
[00:11:42.595]because this is how growers and ranchers and others
[00:11:45.988]worldwide can supply the amount of water
[00:11:48.070]that they need to produce a profitable crop.
[00:11:53.717]There's been some changing landscape.
[00:11:55.756]Darryl said it best, in the beginning, right?
[00:11:58.843]There were so many things that happened.
[00:12:00.547]So, I'm gonna go kind of in the middle,
[00:12:02.490]just after the beginning, 1960s, 1970s,
[00:12:06.101]when a lot of companies jumped on board.
[00:12:08.023]Things were changing drastically.
[00:12:10.328]Changes were being made, inventions were coming on
[00:12:13.122]by the dozens every year.
[00:12:15.320]Span lengths at that time were typically
[00:12:18.185]90 to 100 feet in length.
[00:12:20.775]That means on a 160 acre section,
[00:12:23.375]which you will find common throughout Nebraska,
[00:12:25.746]you would have 12 to 14 of those towers per section of land.
[00:12:31.479]The water was distributed approximately every 40 feet
[00:12:34.614]along the length of the system,
[00:12:36.349]and the opportunities to optimize were many
[00:12:39.628]throughout all of these different designs.
[00:12:41.854]So if we do a comparison of then versus now,
[00:12:44.419]what is the difference?
[00:12:45.596]Well, you'll notice we are covering more ground
[00:12:48.813]than we have ever been able to do before.
[00:12:51.693]How is that?
[00:12:52.906]It is with technology.
[00:12:54.852]GPS, specifically, has enabled us to provide spans
[00:12:58.619]that articulate outside of a normal path
[00:13:03.258]around a fixed point.
[00:13:05.153]That means they can tuck out, they can tuck in,
[00:13:08.774]they can go around obstacles, making it very useful
[00:13:11.897]for us now to cover irregular-shaped fields.
[00:13:14.929]You'll also notice in the comparison from then to now
[00:13:19.113]the fact that the number of towers under the system
[00:13:23.467]in this area are less.
[00:13:26.561]And we're able to do that through structural engineering.
[00:13:30.522]Now, we have some side effects, and they are sometimes
[00:13:34.418]undesirable by having less towers in the field.
[00:13:39.429]In using just some simple math
[00:13:41.741]and calculating the circumference of each one
[00:13:43.765]of those towers throughout a 13 tower system of the past,
[00:13:47.274]we had approximately 55,000 feet of tracks in this field.
[00:13:53.243]Well, growers, if I have a track there,
[00:13:55.527]that means I cannot grow a crop.
[00:13:56.923]Well, how can I now minimize the number of tracks
[00:13:59.143]I have in the field?
[00:14:00.161]With tracks, they come maintenance,
[00:14:01.353]and I have some pictures I'll show you in a moment.
[00:14:03.335]And so there were some efforts made
[00:14:05.096]to lengthen the spans out beyond the 90 to 100 feet.
[00:14:10.399]In some parts of the country today,
[00:14:11.901]an eight tower system is common.
[00:14:13.802]Due to angulating terrains,
[00:14:15.599]the shorter spans are still the best.
[00:14:18.473]Notice it's 35,000 feet, so it has absolutely reduced
[00:14:22.417]the amount of tracks that are in the field.
[00:14:24.366]And so on, from seven, and perhaps the future holds six.
[00:14:29.583]But I also want to point out the fact
[00:14:31.737]that the weight now is distributed differently.
[00:14:35.179]We now have less towers to support
[00:14:37.647]a similar weight on the ground.
[00:14:40.743]What happens now is the weight per tower has increased,
[00:14:43.983]which is a side effect of having less towers.
[00:14:46.760]The weight per tower causes additional stress on the system.
[00:14:50.975]Now, this stress can be handled,
[00:14:52.649]but some systems it may not be designed to do so.
[00:14:55.544]It also reduces system performance by having deeper tracks,
[00:14:59.803]slipping or erratic movement, and so on.
[00:15:02.842]It ultimately requires more maintenance and time
[00:15:05.601]from the grower, time that they may not have to do that
[00:15:09.501]at the time during the season.
[00:15:13.473]I wish I could tell you the future is here.
[00:15:15.839]We don't have a hovering craft
[00:15:18.470]that we can put on these machines.
[00:15:19.889]There are tires that are touching the ground today.
[00:15:22.505]But perhaps you can help build that future.
[00:15:25.394]So what does a wheel track look like?
[00:15:27.964]And, I use this slide to actually make a comparison
[00:15:31.344]about what a rut is versus a track.
[00:15:34.865]So the picture on your right shows a track.
[00:15:38.472]This is where the wheels traverse through the field.
[00:15:41.437]Again, in today's world, we have about seven
[00:15:44.017]of those tracks on average in a section of ground.
[00:15:48.700]Now this one is a, I call a track, because you'll notice
[00:15:51.078]it's not as deep as the one to the left.
[00:15:54.019]The one to the left we call a rut.
[00:15:55.792]Why?
[00:15:56.662]A rut is typically whatever is perceived
[00:15:59.478]as unacceptable to the grower.
[00:16:01.395]So some growers may feel this is very acceptable,
[00:16:03.965]and that's okay, we'll call it a track for them.
[00:16:05.891]But for me, it is absolutely a rut.
[00:16:08.336]You'll also notice on the side here of the rut,
[00:16:11.482]there is another indentation within the soil.
[00:16:15.003]That's actually the drive train dragging on the ground.
[00:16:18.404]It perhaps cannot go any lower than that
[00:16:20.537]because it is now running into the structure of the system.
[00:16:24.531]So this is what requires maintenance.
[00:16:26.866]This is what requires fixing.
[00:16:28.540]And if you have 35,000 feet of this in your field,
[00:16:32.745]it takes time and money.
[00:16:35.539]So how can we mitigate these types of effects of having
[00:16:39.314]the less towers in the field that weigh more
[00:16:43.371]and provide a cost value to our users?
[00:16:47.542]I love this picture, in fact, I did my whole presentation
[00:16:50.278]based on this picture because this is so exciting to me.
[00:16:53.246]So let me draw your attention to think as an investigator.
[00:16:58.530]You work for a pivot company, and someone turns in
[00:17:00.641]a warranty claim that my swing arm corner fell down, okay?
[00:17:05.799]Now you must investigate.
[00:17:06.888]Well, why did it fall down?
[00:17:08.430]Send me a picture.
[00:17:09.914]You get a picture and it looks like this.
[00:17:11.482]What would you do?
[00:17:12.743]You would probably say, oh my goodness, we have a problem.
[00:17:16.277]Well, is it really a problem?
[00:17:18.958]If you look closely here
[00:17:20.712]at the red pick-up truck in the background,
[00:17:23.350]you'll notice just south of the tailgate a pumping station.
[00:17:28.924]And if you draw a line from that pumping station
[00:17:31.035]all the way through to this slight indentation,
[00:17:33.602]this cavitation in the ground here,
[00:17:35.728]you'll notice it's likely
[00:17:37.146]to be a brand-new underground mainline,
[00:17:40.391]a pumping plant that's providing water for this machine.
[00:17:43.610]And you might think, well, what on earth happened?
[00:17:45.610]And it's just that.
[00:17:46.569]Earth has happened.
[00:17:48.036]Earth has been removed to lay the pipe in the ground,
[00:17:50.537]and placed back on top without being compacted.
[00:17:53.740]So, when these machines that weigh
[00:17:55.281]several thousands of pounds on these towers
[00:17:58.520]cross an unsupported part of earth, it will sink.
[00:18:02.580]It will absolutely sink.
[00:18:03.848]And it becomes a headache, of course.
[00:18:05.957]With that, we can develop and have a better way
[00:18:12.012]of managing these issues that are in the field today.
[00:18:15.982]In materials science, and we look at materials,
[00:18:18.968]and this is in steel, the steel category,
[00:18:21.451]this is the banana curve.
[00:18:22.962]It looks like a banana if you look closely.
[00:18:27.032]On this curve, you'll see
[00:18:28.245]the elongation and tensile strengths.
[00:18:30.948]Based on the type of steel will determine
[00:18:34.569]the amount of elongation versus tensile.
[00:18:37.533]Today, or in the past, again, as Darryl mentioned,
[00:18:40.303]looking back, these were iron workers.
[00:18:43.669]These were blacksmiths building these machines.
[00:18:45.609]They had wonderful access to conventional materials,
[00:18:48.676]such as mild steels, highly-elongated,
[00:18:51.527]but not high in tensile strength.
[00:18:54.409]In today's automotive industry,
[00:18:56.889]development towards generation two and three steels
[00:18:59.608]so that they can have enhanced fuel economy
[00:19:01.752]on these vehicles is what's driving
[00:19:04.070]development in the steel industry.
[00:19:06.487]We can also settle in and have under the HSLA,
[00:19:10.891]which stands for high strength low alloy,
[00:19:13.459]steels which provides a world of
[00:19:16.390]both tensile elongation and cost value to the grower.
[00:19:23.097]So what we do now that we can select a different material,
[00:19:26.101]well how can we optimize with this material
[00:19:28.036]that might be stronger?
[00:19:29.570]Is it any lighter?
[00:19:31.152]Well, to do that, we take a, this is a very common design
[00:19:34.405]for stress and strain on a material.
[00:19:37.444]The way that we read this is we have
[00:19:39.206]a resilience linear line here where we operate.
[00:19:43.118]If the stress exceeds this point A,
[00:19:46.153]it will deform the material
[00:19:47.822]and you will lose the structural integrity of that material.
[00:19:51.801]We do not want to go beyond point A
[00:19:54.490]in a center pivot irrigation system.
[00:19:56.471]In fact, where does stress come in?
[00:19:58.618]As I mentioned, stress comes in with longer spans.
[00:20:01.272]Stress can also come in with elevation, varying terrains,
[00:20:05.233]with load and wind, can all cause stress to occur.
[00:20:10.200]The way that design points are created is
[00:20:12.301]we want to be half of the yielding point at point A.
[00:20:16.237]So we want to design our normal, everyday use,
[00:20:18.982]predictable use, within this area here,
[00:20:21.391]which gives us plenty of room
[00:20:23.328]to have some unexpected things happen.
[00:20:27.179]So as we look at optimizing materials
[00:20:29.608]we can use a very basic,
[00:20:31.255]this is a very basic way of going about this.
[00:20:34.498]Steel is not all alike.
[00:20:36.160]It's just like chocolate chip cookies,
[00:20:37.603]your grandmother's are not like
[00:20:38.770]my grandmother's cookies, okay?
[00:20:40.952]Steel is very much the same.
[00:20:42.834]There are different grades.
[00:20:45.153]A36 grade steel at a 3/4 inch diameter can yield
[00:20:50.063]approximately 15,000 pounds of force.
[00:20:53.301]Now when I say that is it can support that load
[00:20:56.659]based on the cross-section at 3/4 of an inch.
[00:20:59.704]Well, what if we used a higher grade material?
[00:21:02.784]What kind of force can I uphold with that?
[00:21:07.605]Well, using the high-strength material,
[00:21:10.015]and using a smaller cross-section, this is very important
[00:21:14.125]because it's smaller than the conventional grades,
[00:21:17.446]at a 60,000 yield strength
[00:21:18.707]I actually can support more load, isn't that remarkable?
[00:21:23.097]So the fact that now if we optimized
[00:21:25.833]our machine of how decades old,
[00:21:28.342]perhaps we can save some weight without compromising
[00:21:31.930]the structural integrity of the machine.
[00:21:34.904]There are machines on the market today
[00:21:36.896]that have done just that.
[00:21:38.724]In a comparison here of the weights of spans loaded
[00:21:42.387]with water as it traverses the field,
[00:21:45.671]the top line is the conventional grades of steel, or A36,
[00:21:50.178]that we just reviewed.
[00:21:51.782]And you can see it is consistently higher or heavier
[00:21:55.891]than the other options that are available today.
[00:21:59.021]The high-strength steel continues
[00:22:00.932]to provide a consistent weight-savings,
[00:22:04.078]yet not compromising the ability to support the load.
[00:22:08.568]And, at last here, is the aluminum.
[00:22:12.020]Aluminum provides an incredible strength-to-weight ratio
[00:22:16.125]that other components cannot provide.
[00:22:18.733]It does come at a premium.
[00:22:20.507]It's like buying an iPhone versus your Android.
[00:22:23.033]It comes at a premium.
[00:22:24.653]But, at what cost?
[00:22:27.718]The contact to the soil is also important.
[00:22:30.691]Now that we can save weight on spans and the towers,
[00:22:33.658]we also want to make sure that we are coupling that
[00:22:36.067]with the best drive train to increase its flotation.
[00:22:39.784]Your mother or father as you were learning to drive
[00:22:42.505]probably told you the importance
[00:22:43.738]of keeping good tires on your vehicle.
[00:22:46.272]It's also one of the important parts
[00:22:48.217]of your braking system if you considered it.
[00:22:52.240]This is very true to a center pivot as well.
[00:22:54.962]The drive train is important to keeping it above ground,
[00:22:59.213]just like the picture I showed where we had an accident.
[00:23:02.969]Based on the tire size and using a three inch penetration,
[00:23:05.957]the square inches that the tire touches the ground
[00:23:09.733]will provide the flotation required to support the weight.
[00:23:13.833]Now this is coupled also with ground supporting capacity.
[00:23:20.674]Different soils support different loads.
[00:23:24.276]That is an act of science.
[00:23:26.019]Now, if you knew that piece of information
[00:23:28.401]on what kind of load your soil will support,
[00:23:30.761]you can then properly select a span material
[00:23:33.985]and the proper drive train to keep that above ground.
[00:23:38.095]Notice here in this grid,
[00:23:39.845]there are points to save between the conventional
[00:23:42.695]and an aluminum system, for example.
[00:23:44.987]You can go from 11 pounds per square inch
[00:23:47.702]on the ground to 7.2.
[00:23:50.369]And notice as I go to the right now on this table
[00:23:54.464]by choosing a larger tire,
[00:23:56.840]which provides more surface area,
[00:23:58.199]can also increase the points
[00:24:00.102]that you can now save an additional and cut down
[00:24:03.142]to 3.76 pounds per square inch.
[00:24:08.989]So the proper selection of materials, the optimization,
[00:24:12.955]of the high-strength and the alloys in these machines
[00:24:16.762]can provide a better, high-performing product
[00:24:21.294]for our growers.
[00:24:23.221]Now this table is not meant to be read.
[00:24:25.709]Actually, if you squint, you'll see a pattern here.
[00:24:28.895]On the left of this table here is the smallest tire.
[00:24:32.835]To the right is the largest tire.
[00:24:34.875]At the bottom is the lightest span.
[00:24:37.106]At the top is the heaviest span.
[00:24:38.818]So as you go through this diagonally,
[00:24:41.387]you can achieve the best flotation system
[00:24:45.046]on the market today, which would provide
[00:24:47.248]a 2.7 pounds per square inch on the ground.
[00:24:51.032]Again, does it come at a premium?
[00:24:53.414]Yes, but that may be important to you.
[00:24:55.689]What if you were trying to grow sod?
[00:24:58.378]Could you live with a rut?
[00:25:01.488]The answer is no.
[00:25:02.969]In fact, they are more likely to spend the type of money
[00:25:06.079]it takes to put the proper system in
[00:25:08.433]so that they can avoid a track altogether.
[00:25:11.313]Every square foot makes them money.
[00:25:14.380]Every square inch makes them money.
[00:25:16.463]So it's important for them to take advantage of that.
[00:25:20.178]Let's talk a little bit about thermal expansion.
[00:25:21.989]So now we have, we know what these spans can do,
[00:25:26.023]what the weight savings can be.
[00:25:28.313]Even with the best combination of material and support,
[00:25:34.779]we still have influences of the environment.
[00:25:37.909]When temperatures rise, the steel contracts, and vice versa.
[00:25:42.741]So the linear temperature expansion here,
[00:25:45.151]with aluminum over steel at some factors greater.
[00:25:48.118]So on a 1,000 foot steel system,
[00:25:49.985]you could have on a temperature swing of 100 degrees,
[00:25:53.984]10 inches of movement in that machine.
[00:25:56.459]And if you think about how long these machines are,
[00:25:58.570]1,000 feet, to have it move 10 inches,
[00:26:00.681]well surely that's an okay thing?
[00:26:02.846]Well, unfortunately, it's not.
[00:26:04.675]Remember we talked about ruts?
[00:26:07.184]The rut can act like a dovetail.
[00:26:10.135]That tower could be fixed in that rut
[00:26:13.138]and not allowed to move.
[00:26:15.169]There are some studies have been and white papers produced,
[00:26:17.844]I encourage you to look them up,
[00:26:19.605]about flotation and rutting.
[00:26:23.360]And one of the things that's stated in a particular one,
[00:26:26.120]forgive me I can't recall which,
[00:26:28.336]the fact that rubber tires versus an airless solution
[00:26:32.525]may be more forgiving in this case.
[00:26:35.955]In this particular example, this is an airless solution,
[00:26:38.709]meaning there is no air in these tires because the grower
[00:26:42.644]would like to not have to worry about airing their tires.
[00:26:45.746]That's okay.
[00:26:47.073]However, when we do not maintain the track
[00:26:49.868]and it becomes a rut, this could become an adverse effect
[00:26:53.298]and cause fatigue on the system to exceed the yielding point
[00:26:57.430]and cause deformation, ultimately, loss of performance.
[00:27:03.389]On a preloaded condition, we also have the fact that
[00:27:07.586]the ruts are being made while the system is fully loaded.
[00:27:11.796]And once that load is taken off
[00:27:13.266]and the rut is already created,
[00:27:14.564]it may spend all winter long at about
[00:27:17.607]18,000 pounds of just static load,
[00:27:21.449]even though there's no water in it.
[00:27:23.134]And then when we have our thermal expansion
[00:27:25.094]that causes an additional strain on the system
[00:27:27.914]is when we start exceeding the yield points.
[00:27:30.976]Now, I don't fault my Idahoan friends
[00:27:34.166]for telling me Nebraska is flat because, for them,
[00:27:37.615]they don't know what flat really is.
[00:27:40.370]However, Nebraska is far from flat.
[00:27:44.482]So we not only have to take into account the soil type,
[00:27:47.713]the proper materials selections,
[00:27:49.808]but designing for field conditions.
[00:27:52.591]Center of gravity comes into play here.
[00:27:55.694]The center of gravity, using just a simple midpoint method,
[00:27:59.755]you can calculate that based on the shape.
[00:28:02.316]Now this particular shape is a triangle.
[00:28:04.381]It is an equilateral triangle.
[00:28:06.777]Unfortunately, the mass is not equally distributed
[00:28:09.916]throughout this shape.
[00:28:11.642]There is more at play here.
[00:28:13.754]There's a part of the shape on the span
[00:28:16.588]that we call a crown.
[00:28:18.101]This is the depth above the center line
[00:28:20.769]of the water pipe connections.
[00:28:22.586]Some spans have high crowns, some spans have low crowns.
[00:28:27.494]I'm not classifying it in any kind of inches or feet,
[00:28:31.950]just understand there are differences out there today.
[00:28:34.740]In fact, I challenge you as you drive
[00:28:36.436]throughout the countryside to try to take note
[00:28:39.834]of which crowns may be higher than others.
[00:28:43.039]Nonetheless, this has an effect on the center of gravity
[00:28:46.232]and its ability to climb and descend hills.
[00:28:51.822]If we put the structure now of the bow string truss
[00:28:55.175]and the water pipe, the red dot on the top is where
[00:28:58.146]that center of gravity would be located.
[00:29:00.307]Notice it's above the center line section
[00:29:02.447]of the equilateral triangle toward the bottom.
[00:29:04.993]This means, in other terms, it's just top heavy.
[00:29:08.743]So we have to be careful in how much we can climb
[00:29:11.877]or descend the hills of Nebraska.
[00:29:14.822]Illustrating that, if we do a cosine of about 20% slope,
[00:29:19.585]you can see the load is shifted from the center line
[00:29:22.305]to the right side of the line.
[00:29:25.721]And, ultimately, if you do a slope that is too high,
[00:29:29.346]the weight of the top heavy span would then topple over,
[00:29:33.301]which would be highly undesirable.
[00:29:35.396]So, center of gravity is also important
[00:29:37.982]as we build a better future of these machines.
[00:29:42.619]Touching on the power and control scheme of these systems.
[00:29:46.825]Some of you may be interested in some of the more in-depth
[00:29:49.769]electrical electronic technologies that are on.
[00:29:52.758]In most cases, these machines,
[00:29:55.601]or robots as I do like to call them,
[00:29:57.878]are powered by 480 volts,
[00:29:59.954]which may be generated power supply by a power company.
[00:30:04.546]Most of these schemes also include 120 volt control system,
[00:30:08.839]much like the electricity that's in your home.
[00:30:12.926]These are highly algorithmic-based computing systems
[00:30:17.030]that you can provide pre-programmed decisions to react
[00:30:21.688]to certain circumstances that occur in the field.
[00:30:24.275]And I'll give you some examples to those next.
[00:30:27.957]Again, looking a little bit at the past into the future,
[00:30:30.931]back in the day, this dial on the left was the means
[00:30:35.510]by changing the water application rate.
[00:30:39.121]It is a dial from zero to 100%, much like your thermostat.
[00:30:42.997]You set the dial at the appropriate speed and you let it go.
[00:30:46.355]And it applies the same amount of water
[00:30:48.942]throughout the entire field, or until it is changed.
[00:30:53.034]In today's computer world, you now can program various
[00:30:57.612]places in the field to receive different water applications.
[00:31:00.992]We call this variable rate irrigation.
[00:31:03.581]There is multiple levels of variable rate irrigation,
[00:31:06.660]but in simple terms, it boils down to two things.
[00:31:10.348]One is speed, where we just change the amount of water
[00:31:13.414]that's being applied at certain parts of the field.
[00:31:15.923]Well, how can we change the speed in one part of the field
[00:31:18.626]if we don't know where it's at?
[00:31:20.296]Well, through the use of GPS,
[00:31:21.602]we can keep track of its location
[00:31:23.745]and then vary the amount of water based on the program.
[00:31:28.259]The second part is the zone VRI, which divides the pivot
[00:31:31.483]even further into different management zones
[00:31:34.327]linearly across the machine.
[00:31:37.030]Think about this for a moment.
[00:31:38.864]You now have the capability of having
[00:31:41.473]over 300,000 different watering application variations
[00:31:47.312]within one field.
[00:31:48.685]Seems like a little much, doesn't it?
[00:31:52.486]The VRI on these machines is very simple
[00:31:55.068]in terms of its equipment.
[00:31:56.916]Valves are used to control the sprinkler.
[00:31:59.667]They are also controlled by GPS position
[00:32:02.927]to turn on or off at certain places in the field,
[00:32:06.151]which varies the water being applied.
[00:32:10.658]In most cases of VRI on the market today,
[00:32:13.269]you can have many zones or just one,
[00:32:16.262]whether it's controlling individual heads
[00:32:18.289]or multiple at one time.
[00:32:20.049]It's really up to the needs of the field.
[00:32:23.438]Varying soil types, topography,
[00:32:25.646]different populations of seeds can all dictate
[00:32:28.976]how many valves you have and in what configuration.
[00:32:33.892]In an example of this, there is an easy-to use tool.
[00:32:38.184]I believe the industry has done perhaps a little messy job
[00:32:42.046]of providing easy-to-use tools to our growers
[00:32:45.108]to take advantage of this technology.
[00:32:47.131]One of the things you wouldn't tell a grower is
[00:32:48.980]"Mr. Grower, you now have 300,000 different zones
[00:32:53.468]"in your field that you can program."
[00:32:54.994]That's very daunting.
[00:32:56.885]In a simple task here, a grower took it upon himself
[00:32:59.665]to improve one particular part of his field.
[00:33:03.317]The field he was focusing on was
[00:33:04.692]this particular little finger right here.
[00:33:07.331]This is a different soil type in the field,
[00:33:09.971]a little more sandy than the rest.
[00:33:12.187]He wanted to see if he could improve yield.
[00:33:14.441]So using a tool like VRI, he was able to map out
[00:33:18.042]and over his yield map from the previous year
[00:33:20.515]where he could add more water or lessen the water
[00:33:24.986]based on the yield map.
[00:33:27.183]Notice here on this dark blue line,
[00:33:29.714]he wants to place more water in this area
[00:33:32.024]than he does toward the inner part of that system.
[00:33:37.202]The results were favorable.
[00:33:38.921]Now, I can't tell you that this was
[00:33:41.581]the same crop year over year,
[00:33:43.163]the same amount of precipitation year over year,
[00:33:45.348]the same amount of water application
[00:33:46.929]from the center pivot year over year.
[00:33:48.921]But what I can tell you is that
[00:33:50.209]he had a favorable experience with technology,
[00:33:54.161]and that is progress in the right direction.
[00:33:56.875]If we are to change, we have
[00:33:58.757]to make it a memorable experience,
[00:34:01.730]one of positive, not negative.
[00:34:04.736]So the before and after shots here show, again, the finger,
[00:34:09.029]and the results the next year it is completely disappeared,
[00:34:12.382]all from varying his amount of water
[00:34:14.415]being applied in that section.
[00:34:16.404]Now does every field benefit from variable rate irrigation?
[00:34:19.847]No, I don't believe so.
[00:34:22.031]But when you have variabilities in the field,
[00:34:24.717]you should turn to more precise water application practices.
[00:34:29.706]Touching on the GPS guidance systems
[00:34:32.288]that are on the machine,
[00:34:33.591]there's the one that we use for variable rate irrigation,
[00:34:35.993]just sensing the location of the machine.
[00:34:38.142]And then we also have a secondary one
[00:34:40.353]that is sensing the position of the swing arm.
[00:34:43.368]That's the articulating span I mentioned earlier
[00:34:45.864]that swings out in the corner of the field.
[00:34:48.559]This yellow line is a virtual line.
[00:34:51.013]Again, it is computed through the use of microchips
[00:34:54.272]and GPS positioning, and can allow that machine
[00:34:58.011]to be driven or guided in the proper location in the field.
[00:35:03.617]It's located here above the tower
[00:35:06.611]of the swing arm device itself.
[00:35:08.907]This is very similar to the GPS devices
[00:35:12.075]you use on your phone when you're driving
[00:35:14.299]in and out of a busy city.
[00:35:16.024]However, we need a higher grade of accuracy
[00:35:18.621]because we don't want that span to wander off too far.
[00:35:22.037]In fact, it is surveyor-grade, sub-centimeter accuracy
[00:35:26.077]on the farm, highly precise and accurate equipment.
[00:35:32.472]With this data and this computational power
[00:35:34.509]that we have on the machine, we're able to collect data
[00:35:37.689]and, actually, lots of it.
[00:35:40.326]I find in agriculture today that there's a lot of data
[00:35:43.351]that may not be as useful as we think it is.
[00:35:46.030]In fact, it might be a bit burdensome for our growers.
[00:35:49.318]There's four simple questions
[00:35:50.476]that you need to ask in terms of data
[00:35:53.291]and whether it adds value or not to the grower.
[00:35:56.380]What data is being collected?
[00:35:58.341]Is it pressure?
[00:35:59.494]Is it flow?
[00:36:00.551]Is it tire pressure?
[00:36:02.007]Is it GPS position?
[00:36:04.504]Where is it located?
[00:36:06.949]How often does it need to be collected?
[00:36:09.809]And what will you do with this data?
[00:36:13.162]In contrast to a Facebook feed, for example,
[00:36:16.157]where data is delivered to your smart phone almost instantly
[00:36:19.729]when the other friends that you have have posted it,
[00:36:23.001]center pivot irrigation systems don't need to monitored
[00:36:25.918]as closely in most cases.
[00:36:28.564]In fact, they move very slow.
[00:36:30.924]We measure the speed by feet per minute
[00:36:33.498]instead of miles per hour.
[00:36:36.392]So with this data, we're able to make decisions.
[00:36:40.208]Actionable data is very important in our industry.
[00:36:44.656]When data is collected through a sensor
[00:36:46.526]it can be transmitted through a communications channel
[00:36:50.310]to either an in-field data collection system
[00:36:53.455]or a server site cloud-based system.
[00:36:56.533]This enables growers to have access remotely
[00:36:59.002]through their smart phones and Internet-enabled devices.
[00:37:01.884]These products can be placed on many different objects
[00:37:04.499]in the field, giving the grower the ability
[00:37:06.902]to monitor and control remotely.
[00:37:09.999]Some of the things that are changing now in our industry
[00:37:13.021]is the way that we access the data
[00:37:15.045]or a means of communicating it from the field.
[00:37:18.268]It's what we call low bandwidth information.
[00:37:21.613]Next generation communication platforms are already
[00:37:24.058]in play by Verizon and other communications carriers.
[00:37:27.540]These categories are dedicated to things
[00:37:31.682]like agricultural equipment and others.
[00:37:35.262]Your refrigerator, your microwave, your smart coffee pot
[00:37:38.577]and things like that.
[00:37:40.746]A next generation of hardware is going
[00:37:42.256]to be needed in our industry.
[00:37:44.632]A lot more design, a lot more computational power
[00:37:47.421]perhaps is also required.
[00:37:50.850]The power used in this next generation of low bandwidth
[00:37:53.952]data usage is lower power than the 2G, 3G, and 4G
[00:37:57.943]that your mobile phones are using.
[00:38:00.303]In fact, where most houses today
[00:38:02.756]have approximately 10 megabytes
[00:38:04.810]of upload and download speeds,
[00:38:07.056]we are still striving and can thrive
[00:38:09.901]at a 300 kilobytes per second download and upload speed.
[00:38:13.233]Let me explain what I mean.
[00:38:15.999]If you compare an email that you'll write to your loved one,
[00:38:19.188]and tell them how sweet and wonderful they are,
[00:38:22.068]that will likely take about 7 kilobytes of data to transmit.
[00:38:26.847]Our machines out in the field,
[00:38:28.545]to provide advanced controls and daily monitoring,
[00:38:32.250]consume just a little more than that.
[00:38:35.595]It is incredible the technology
[00:38:37.490]that's been used to packetize data
[00:38:40.122]efficiently and effectively in these remote locations.
[00:38:44.287]You'll notice satellite is far greater data consumption
[00:38:50.275]over cell, and then radio you have
[00:38:52.372]an even greater bandwidth of data.
[00:38:55.137]But do we really need it?
[00:38:57.569]That is the question.
[00:39:00.115]The other question is the cloud-based computing
[00:39:01.920]versus the in-field computing.
[00:39:04.322]It's much like having your Google Drive on your smart phone
[00:39:06.945]versus storing those files locally
[00:39:09.230]when you may need to access them on the laptop
[00:39:11.097]and they're unavailable because they're on your smart phone.
[00:39:14.084]The decisions that are being made
[00:39:15.497]on these irrigation systems often times are very critical,
[00:39:19.217]like the amount of water you need to apply.
[00:39:21.300]If we apply that incorrectly we could damage a crop.
[00:39:25.240]A lot of the computational power decisions
[00:39:27.531]are stored locally on the machine
[00:39:29.008]in the event we lose connectivity with the cloud.
[00:39:32.636]So it'll take a little bit of both
[00:39:34.646]to create a new future in remote management.
[00:39:40.301]These can be summarized in three different ways.
[00:39:42.763]Of managing by exception,
[00:39:44.336]just tell me when something's gone wrong.
[00:39:47.375]I don't need to look at the screen all day long
[00:39:49.372]to know what my center pivot is doing.
[00:39:51.905]You can also pre-configure actions
[00:39:53.472]just like a robot that's told, "Just execute commands."
[00:39:58.632]You can also gain access to any actionable data
[00:40:01.356]across a myriad of different services
[00:40:04.230]that are available in agriculture today
[00:40:06.027]that we call Ag Data Services.
[00:40:08.951]So that is what I wanted to share with you.
[00:40:11.004]I hope that you've had a little unique view
[00:40:14.541]of center pivot irrigation systems from then and to now,
[00:40:17.630]and I'd love to answer any questions that you may have.
[00:40:21.917]There absolutely may be a day
[00:40:23.925]that sub-surface drip irrigation could challenge
[00:40:27.622]that of a decades-old center pivot irrigation technology.
[00:40:33.091]I think when it would become the challenger is
[00:40:35.472]when it can rival the ROI that a center pivot can provide.
[00:40:41.042]Unique advantage of center pivot irrigation
[00:40:42.803]is it can span large areas of ground
[00:40:45.804]with little infrastructure, whereas SDI,
[00:40:49.453]or sub-surface drip irrigation, would take much more labor
[00:40:53.265]for an installation perspective and the longevity
[00:40:55.860]appears to be less in today's market.
[00:40:59.513]So I think some things would need to change
[00:41:00.934]before it could really play a contending role
[00:41:05.833]against center pivot irrigation.
[00:41:19.927]Thank you, Cody.
[00:41:20.760]This is actually more interesting than I anticipated.
[00:41:23.393](laughing)
[00:41:24.226]That's good news, Pat, thank you.
[00:41:26.670]I guess, into kind of summarizing
[00:41:29.506]and just thinking about the time
[00:41:31.148]that you've been in this business,
[00:41:33.557]obviously, this is business for you,
[00:41:35.965]what would you consider to be
[00:41:37.327]the most significant advancement in the time
[00:41:41.166]that you've been in this business
[00:41:44.070]in terms of center pivot irrigation?
[00:41:47.264]And looking ahead, without giving away any company secrets,
[00:41:50.702](laughing) where's the emphasis in terms of
[00:41:55.165]making further improvements from here?
[00:41:57.446]Thank you, Pat, for that.
[00:41:58.408]I'll answer that in two parts.
[00:42:00.077]The first part, perhaps the greatest improvement
[00:42:02.060]I've seen is a paradigm shift towards technology,
[00:42:07.091]towards remote control.
[00:42:09.803]An example of that is in the northwest,
[00:42:11.492]a very large grower did the task
[00:42:14.459]of checking on irrigation every day.
[00:42:16.542]They had 100 systems, it took six men to get that job done.
[00:42:21.628]When they've invested in technology,
[00:42:23.534]as I call it remote control,
[00:42:25.558]and using simple Internet-enabled devices
[00:42:27.333]like their smart phone, they've now been able
[00:42:29.230]to reduce that to two men.
[00:42:31.269]And they manage by exception, where they go to the machine
[00:42:34.014]that needs their attention,
[00:42:35.798]not that just deserves it, perhaps.
[00:42:38.500]And so that has been a wonderful thing to see,
[00:42:42.201]and it has moved quickly.
[00:42:43.228]Why?
[00:42:44.061]Because I believe the advancements in our consumer markets
[00:42:47.421]with smart devices have caused ourselves to think,
[00:42:50.703]"Well, why can't I just do it from here?
[00:42:53.263]"Take it with me where I go so I don't have to drive
[00:42:56.455]"and I can cut down on my time
[00:42:58.832]"required behind the windshield."
[00:43:00.620]And there's many other reasons
[00:43:01.582]why they would do something like that.
[00:43:03.694]So, again, it's one of bottom-line inputs, saving time,
[00:43:08.814]but also being able to do more
[00:43:11.090]is an absolute advantage of that.
[00:43:13.751]So without revealing company secrets, of course,
[00:43:16.887]and I love to talk, so I gotta be very careful,
[00:43:19.505]they will throw something at me if I tell a secret here,
[00:43:23.773]is the fact that the future holds an optimization.
[00:43:28.352]There is still so much opportunity
[00:43:30.904]to do better at the computational parts of our system,
[00:43:35.303]whether it be centralized computing or distributed,
[00:43:39.603]the architecture there has opportunity.
[00:43:43.179]The other opportunity there is
[00:43:44.563]the further optimization of the materials.
[00:43:46.937]We are still throwing a lot of iron
[00:43:49.691]that may or may not be needed to support the load
[00:43:53.170]that is required to get the job done.
[00:43:55.403]What does that mean?
[00:43:56.413]That could mean that there's a future
[00:43:58.420]for more growers being able to purchase
[00:44:02.733]this type of equipment, instead of having
[00:44:04.252]such a high capital cost.
[00:44:06.515]Again, that would also provide opportunities
[00:44:09.372]to compete with other variations of irrigation
[00:44:12.516]that are on the market today.
[00:44:15.405]I hope I didn't tell any secrets (laughs).
[00:44:19.356]Any other questions?
[00:44:20.189]And it can be anything, really.
[00:44:22.426]Yes.
[00:44:23.259](audience member asking question without microphone)
[00:44:37.476]Yes, I think, yes, thank you, Darryl.
[00:44:40.777]So, the opinion of attaching devices to the machine
[00:44:45.510]to be able to monitor crop health
[00:44:49.102]in addition to applying the water.
[00:44:50.913]Is that something of interest, was the question.
[00:44:53.574]And the answer is absolutely, yes.
[00:44:56.124]However, do we see a strong enough return on investment
[00:45:00.432]for the equipment to actually compensate
[00:45:04.388]or to help offset that initial investment?
[00:45:08.436]There is some fantastic work that,
[00:45:10.319]I believe her name was Sandra,
[00:45:11.468]out of the Bushland Research Station down south in Texas,
[00:45:15.308]that has been attaching such devices to a machine
[00:45:18.188]and analyzing the results, the added value of that.
[00:45:23.788]And I think they're on the cusp
[00:45:25.363]of seeing something great there.
[00:45:27.452]At this time, we don't see a lot of that happening,
[00:45:30.276]but always there's the question of,
[00:45:32.350]well, what if my machine could do this?
[00:45:34.507]Or do that?
[00:45:35.839]It's already passing by, maybe it could just
[00:45:38.355]de-tassel it while it's at it.
[00:45:42.933]Okay, thank you very much.
[00:45:44.203]I have a question regarding the more power
[00:45:49.244]that the center pivot uses to run.
[00:45:52.351]Is there individual metal that are being planning
[00:45:55.276]so that can manufacture pivot that use less energy?
[00:46:01.339]Because a year ago I was working with Valley Irrigation,
[00:46:05.684]and they were going over a field to fix the standard pivot
[00:46:10.165]and it looks like they consume a lot of electricity
[00:46:14.671]and that sometimes some cities had to shut off the pivot
[00:46:20.215]and then give the power to the households,
[00:46:22.790]so is there any engineer metal that are planning
[00:46:25.978]so for in the future that will have pivot
[00:46:28.137]that take less power to run?
[00:46:31.683]Very good question, thank you for that.
[00:46:33.751]In regards to power, in fact they may look like
[00:46:36.726]they consume a lot of energy,
[00:46:38.409]but because of the higher voltage,
[00:46:40.734]higher voltage will provide lower amps,
[00:46:43.265]and in a lower voltage, will provide higher amps.
[00:46:45.516]These machines use 480 volts, which is a higher voltage,
[00:46:49.551]so in essence, when a machine is operating,
[00:46:51.290]it might be consuming about seven and a half amps.
[00:46:54.426]When you look at seven and a half amps, and you think of,
[00:46:56.424]okay, what in my house do I have seven and a half amps?
[00:46:59.419]And, of course, we look at you've got a lower voltage,
[00:47:02.150]but that's similar to perhaps a treadmill,
[00:47:05.565]one of the state-of-the-art treadmills
[00:47:07.498]that you can run super fast on, right?
[00:47:10.144]Similar to some of the hair dryers
[00:47:12.555]or blowers that are available today.
[00:47:15.157]So, at the voltage rate that we currently are operating at
[00:47:18.688]it's actually incredible that these machines
[00:47:22.021]can operate with seven and a half amps.
[00:47:24.168]How is that done, you may ask, maybe the next question.
[00:47:26.518]Let me predict that.
[00:47:27.831]The fact that we can do that is
[00:47:29.090]through smart gear reductions
[00:47:31.340]within these energy efficient motors
[00:47:33.671]that we are using on the spans today.
[00:47:37.570]In fact, the tower houses, each one of those towers
[00:47:40.527]is approximately 3/4 horsepower, okay?
[00:47:43.886]3/4 horsepower motors is all it takes
[00:47:46.368]to propel these several thousands of pounds
[00:47:49.375]of infrastructure around the field.
[00:47:53.112]And that is done through the smart reductions
[00:47:55.388]on the drives themselves.
[00:47:59.981](audience member asking question without microphone)
[00:48:03.776]It is in comparison, the question is the real power
[00:48:07.927]is to help propel the water to draw the water,
[00:48:11.682]is absolutely correct.
[00:48:12.966]You will spend far beyond on the power of the pumping plant
[00:48:17.538]in energy costs than you ever will
[00:48:19.579]on the center pivot irrigation.
[00:48:24.173]More questions?
[00:48:36.304]I think the systems are great.
[00:48:38.433]This is a wonderful presentation on how this works.
[00:48:42.887]But, I guess, a basic question would be
[00:48:47.700]in order to have the pivot on your property,
[00:48:50.560]you've got to have the water underneath it
[00:48:53.004]or coming in through a surface irrigation system
[00:48:56.886]to make that pivot viable.
[00:48:59.720]So, on a well, what's a minimum on say, gallons per minute,
[00:49:06.382]on a well that you've got to have
[00:49:08.485]in order to make one of these systems work?
[00:49:11.303]Great question.
[00:49:12.136]So what's that minimum?
[00:49:13.885]And that all varies based on the crop that you're producing
[00:49:17.250]and the demands that it may have,
[00:49:18.770]but let's predict for a moment,
[00:49:19.974]it may be a corn crop in Thayer County.
[00:49:22.670]It's not uncommon to see a 750 to 900 gallon permanent well
[00:49:27.702]to be able to provide sufficient water
[00:49:30.743]during the lifecycle of that crop.
[00:49:33.648]And that may also vary based upon
[00:49:35.510]the amount of precipitation that's provided
[00:49:37.480]or supplement from time to time.
[00:49:40.173]In other areas, you may find an ever higher application rate
[00:49:43.832]required for certain vegetable crops or potatoes,
[00:49:47.169]for example, that might require more seven to eight
[00:49:50.679]gallons per minute per acre of coverage that it's covering.
[00:49:55.234]So, there is definitely some water required to propel these.
[00:49:58.777]Without that, this machine is not effective.
[00:50:09.599]So, I have maybe the last one.
[00:50:11.732]You mentioned about the data
[00:50:12.951]transmission speed and all that.
[00:50:14.741]I came across new company called Waterbate.
[00:50:18.022]They're using a radio frequency data transmission.
[00:50:21.716]But of course, that has some issues, radio frequency,
[00:50:23.839]with the topography, one issue.
[00:50:26.252]But, why we need so much speed for transmission?
[00:50:30.867]You have already gone through that,
[00:50:31.882]maybe if you can elaborate this future need
[00:50:35.883]or why people are funding in these start-ups?
[00:50:39.008]Yeah, great question.
[00:50:40.539]Why do we need so much speed?
[00:50:42.617]Speed is addictive.
[00:50:44.197]Just like precision is addictive.
[00:50:47.364]And, do we need the speed?
[00:50:48.749]I would challenge whether we need the speed.
[00:50:51.100]I really would.
[00:50:52.292]These are not life-saving machines
[00:50:54.103]that have to computate certain algorithms
[00:50:56.036]so that we could save a human soul, correct?
[00:50:58.616]These are slow-moving machines that we may have more time
[00:51:01.304]to transmit and receive information.
[00:51:03.794]The interesting part there is, because of the drive
[00:51:06.672]for consumer, the speed is just a bonus.
[00:51:10.212]And it comes at no additional cost in most cases.
[00:51:13.399]What comes at additional cost is the amount of data
[00:51:16.511]you want to transmit over that speed or over that line.
[00:51:20.733]So, we look at the amount of data.
[00:51:24.441]Again, just retouching on that.
[00:51:26.315]Do we really need that much data?
[00:51:28.221]And I think it just really depends on what we see our future
[00:51:31.215]to be on these complex machines
[00:51:34.052]and how much computation that they really need to do.
[00:51:37.689]Today, it is absolutely getting the job done
[00:51:40.265]based on the current speed
[00:51:41.756]and computational powers that it has.
[00:51:46.732]Thank you, thank you everyone.
[00:51:48.259](applause)

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A Unique View of an Advanced Center Pivot Irrigation System

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