Tools like Weather Stations and Sensors Play Critical Role in Irrigation Efficiency

Increasing challenges resulting from climate change and diminished aquifer resources are driving significant innovation in irrigated agriculture, with growers relying on enhanced on-farm insights from tools like weather stations and soil sensors to improve efficiency across their operations.

A recent study by the USDA Economic Research Service on trends in irrigated agriculture notes the importance of improved irrigation efficiency as irrigated acres expand in the U.S. and compete with urban expansion for water resources.* Developments like seasonal shifts in precipitation patterns and reduced snowpack and snowmelt runoff have reduced water supplies during the growing season. In addition, the higher frequency and severity of droughts have exacerbated this shortage.

Intensified competition for water, coupled with increasingly constrained water supply trends, has important implications for the viability and resiliency of agricultural irrigation, according to the report. How agriculture adapts will shape the future of irrigation and the value it brings farmers. At the same time, the report notes that improved irrigation management practices like using soil moisture sensors, weather tracking, scheduling tools, flow meters, and plant condition monitoring technology are essential in achieving maximum water use efficiency.

More Control

Tools like the new the KestrelMet™ 6000 AG Weather Station can play a critical role in helping growers achieve enhanced results by providing local environmental data that can be used to support irrigation management, resulting in more effective and efficient water use, field by field.

"The KestrelMet 6000 AG was developed to be an onsite monitoring solution for growers with irrigation who want an affordable option for easy access to their data without complex sensor, power, and communication configuration decisions," says Eric Rollins, KestrelMet Agricultural Sales Manager. "By integrating seamlessly into their existing smart farming solutions, the weather station gives irrigated growers more control over their data, enabling them to apply only the amount of water the crop needs and that the soil can hold."

Monitoring on-farm weather and soil conditions is essential for better management decisions, such as using growing degree days for planting, fertilizing, and harvesting, and scheduling irrigations based on evapotranspiration, soil water content or soil water tension. Choosing the right times and amounts to irrigate can lead to higher yield potential, better crop quality, improved plant vigor, and lower disease incidence, in addition to reducing irrigation costs.

At the same time, excessive irrigation can waste soil and fertilizer in water runoff, resulting in deep percolation and leaching of costly fertilizer and farm chemicals.

Meeting Grower Needs

To align with today's grower needs, the KestrelMet 6000 AG was developed in close cooperation with growers and leading Integrated Pest Management (IPM) organizations, resulting in a rugged unit designed to provide growers access to localized, live, continuous weather data they can use to optimize irrigation and production on a field-by-field basis.

Featuring cellular data transmission, the weather station gives growers an on-farm tool that lets them view data in the KestrelMet cloud on any mobile device within minutes. Equipped with an integrated cellular modem, high-power photovoltaic panel, backup battery, and intelligent power management, the KestrelMet 6000 AG requires no external power source.

"Most farms are miles away from the nearest weather station, which is typically located near urban areas or airports, making it difficult for growers to get the most accurate conditions for their locations," says Rollins. "Combine this with hundreds or thousands of acres to manage, and accurate weather data becomes critical to their profitability."

The KestrelMet 6000 AG Weather Station provides measurements for rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, dewpoint, and barometric pressure. It can also be customized with sensors for monitoring soil moisture, soil temperature, leaf wetness, and solar irradiance.

The use of soil moisture sensors, in particular, can have a significant impact on profitability. On-farm trials by Clemson University researchers† found that using soil moisture sensors to manage in-field irrigation use can increase average net income by almost 20 percent. The trials involved fields irrigated with center pivot systems and growers using their standard irrigation practices.

"Those results help affirm that investing in tools like weather stations and sensors is providing value by helping growers be more efficient and productive — producing more with less," says Rollins. "The KestrelMet 6000 AG Weather Station comes with hardware and subscriptions that cost less than half of what other leading companies charge, delivering the lowest total cost of ownership for a cellular weather station."

For more information about features or to order the KestrelMet 6000 AG Weather Station

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* https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/102928/eib-229.pdf?v=3775

† https://news.clemson.edu/clemson-research-finds-using-soil-moisture-sensors-can-increase-farmers-net-income/

About Nielsen-Kellerman’s Professional Weather Division

Nielsen-Kellerman® (NK) is the parent company for a family of measuring and monitoring technology brands focused on providing the accurate performance and weather data needed for safety, business success, research and defense as well as athletic and recreational activities. NK specializes in building products that perform in the most challenging outdoor environments from the water to the desert. NK's largest division is the weather division, encompassing Kestrel® Weather and Environmental Meters,  KestrelMet® Weather Stations, Rainwise Rain Gauges,  Ambient Weather® Stations and internet dashboards, and PVMet Solar Monitoring Systems. NK makes the majority of its products in the USA and is proud to be both a recognized leader in Lean Manufacturing and an award-winning top workplace. For more information, visit www.nkhome.com.