We asked Glenn Heard, a producer in Baker, Decatur, Miller and Seminole counties, how he uses smart irrigation and VRI on his farm in Southwest, Georgia.
Glenn and his son Parker work on their 17,000 acres irrigated cropland farm growing cotton, peanuts, corn, wheat, milo, sweet corn, and carrots.
As a huge proponent of VRI, Glenn shared with us five key advantages of smart irrigation on his farm:
It helps stay within permitted acres, and in some cases, moves permitted acres from unproductive land to productive land.
It prevents lapping other pivots with water, which throws nutrients and pH out of balance.
It saves water, fertilizer, and when combined with VFD, it saves power as well.
Most importantly, it decreases maintenance needs in non-crop areas.
When combined with NRCS-EQUIP, the cost is relatively low.