A Significant Anniversary 

By Kris Polly

This month’s cover interview with Chas Weatherford marks a significant milestone: the 30th anniversary of his company, AquaLastic. What makes this commemoration especially fitting is that one of the most outstanding characteristics of the company’s flagship sealant product is its sheer longevity. The very first AquaLastic application in an irrigation district, executed 30 years ago, is still operational and effective. In our conversation with Mr. Weatherford, we learn more about the product and the many ways it can seal and preserve irrigation infrastructure. 

Next, we pay a visit to the Precision Technology Institute, Precision Planting’s 400‑acre research farm in Pontiac, Illinois. The facility, managed by Lead Commercial Agronomist Jason Webster, carries out tests to improve yield, profitability, and sustainability across a range of crops. Recently, it has been testing Netafim drip irrigation systems on soybeans, and it is still pushing forward to get even better yields. We learn more in a conversation with Mr. Webster and Davey Rock, Netafim’s key account manager for Midwest agriculture. 

With so much national focus on the arid western states, many people do not realize that Arkansas is the number 3 state in the union in terms of its irrigated area and the number 2 state in how much water is pumped for irrigation. We speak with Wes Ward, the secretary of agriculture of Arkansas, to learn about how the state is strengthening irrigated agriculture and planning for the future. 

After that, we look toward Costa Rica, where a new project has installed several Rubicon Water automated gate structures in the system of the Arenal Tempisque Irrigation District. 

Last, we speak with Jessi Korinek, a cofounder and the CEO of startup company Nave Analytics. Nave provides several efficient, cost-effective decision support and analytics tools for farmers that are based on satellite data rather than in-field sensors. Ms. Korinek tells us more about the capabilities of these user-friendly tools. 

Agriculture is an industry with a broad time horizon. Farmers don’t think merely in terms of years or even decades—many times, they think in generational terms, about improving their operations and creating something that can be passed down to their children. That is why technologies, research endeavors, and government efforts that aim to lay the groundwork for many years of future success are so critical. I hope you enjoy reading about them in this month’s issue of Irrigation Leader. 

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.