How Competition Can Lead to Innovation

By Kris Polly

Nebraska Extension’s Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program banks on a powerful yet simple principle: Allowing producers to test out new management methods in a low-risk environment—all while trying to best their peers—can lead to new insights and ultimately improve performance back on participants’ farms. In our interview with Extension Educators Chuck Burr and Chris Proctor, we hear more about how the TAPS program functions, the results it has had, and how the concept is spreading to other states.

We also have the pleasure this month of featuring Dan Keppen, who will soon be handing over the reins at the Family Farm Alliance after 20 years as the organization’s executive director. In our interview, we discuss the alliance’s core programs, accomplishments, events, and ambitions for the future.

Deep Root Irrigation (DRI) has created a modular system for retrofitting above-ground drip irrigation systems into precision systems that deliver water directly to the root zone. In our conversation with Steve Bugay, who helps DRI with business development, we learn how DRI solves the problems of both traditional above-ground and subsurface drip technology and saves producers water, energy, and labor. Based on the results of tests being done around the world, DRI could save the agricultural sector an astonishing amount of water.

Next, we turn to a success story born of collaboration. After a visit by staff from the Arizona-based Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District (BWCDD) to the Wisconsin headquarters of pumping system manufacturer Watertronics, the two entities worked together to develop the Well Sentry, a remote monitoring and control device for wells. We speak with Robby Milton, the technical sales, product, and market development manager at Watertronics, and Noel Carter and Tyler Frew, the general manager and well maintenance supervisor, respectively, at BWCDD, to learn how the Well Sentry has aided the district. I believe that this technology, developed collaboratively by BWCDD and Watertronics, has the potential to make a real difference in the industry.

After that, we chat with three professionals from Fuji Electric, a global manufacturer that produces many flow meters and drives for the irrigated agriculture market, about how its solutions can save farmers water and energy.

We close by speaking with Delyce Maciel, the director of human resources (HR) and safety at Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) in New Mexico. In a conversation that will be of interest for other irrigation districts, Ms. Maciel goes into detail on EBID’s adoption of the Paylocity HR and payroll system and its benefits.

One of the great things about the agricultural sector is the commitment that professionals feel to the industry. They know that agriculture supports communities and families, provides food to the world, and is poised to take advantage of new technologies that can save water and energy. They devote decades of their life to the industry, work hard to develop and introduce new technologies, and are always ready to share their knowledge to help others succeed. This month’s stories provide excellent illustrations of all those qualities.

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.