With the days getting longer and the weather getting warmer
(I’m sure it’s too good to be true!) spring growth will soon be kicking into
gear and irrigation season will be just around the corner. Now is the time to
be ensuring that you’re as prepared as you can be for the irrigation season.
If you’re an irrigated farmer now is the time to be thinking
about how you’re going to schedule your irrigation throughout the upcoming season.
The days of scuffing the dirt with your boot and having a dig with a spade are
fast coming to their end with the need for on-farm soil moisture monitors such
as the AquaCheck probe, to give some more accurate numbers to the soil moisture
levels than a scuff of your boot on the soil. Having soil moisture probes
installed on farm not only helps you make better irrigation decisions but it
also gives you some hard and fast data to have when it comes to Farm
Environment Plan (or the likes) auditing.
Soil moisture probes for use this coming season should be
being installed now or over the next few weeks ideally. All continuous soil
moisture measurement devices take a period of a few weeks to ‘settle down’ and
give accurate readings post installation.
At Agri Optics we have a great soil moisture probe in the
AquaCheck probe as part of our suite.
The key things to note on these probes compared others (other than their great price) are as follows:
The key things to note on these probes compared others (other than their great price) are as follows:
·
They’re fully telemetered,
giving you access to view up-to-date soil moisture data and make timely
decisions based on current, actual data
·
They’re a vertical oriented
probe that has multiple soil moisture sensors down their length, giving you a total soil moisture trace and soil moisture
traces at each different sensor depth. This means that you can see how the soil
moisture moves down through the soil profile and how effective you’re being
with your irrigation management. The bottom sensor is also a good ‘check’ for
drainage leaving the root zone
·
The AquaCheck probe
has built-in soil temperature sensors – a good gauge to be able to better
manage irrigation and fertiliser timings in the shoulders of the season in
particular
·
They have the option
of connecting to rain gauges to give accurate records of rainfall and
irrigation at each soil moisture probe site
·
They have a short
‘settling’ time post install compared to most of their competitors, meaning
that you’ll get useful data to make decisions off in a short time frame
·
They’re easy to
install and uninstall, making them great for seasonal cropping situations
·
They’re very
competitively priced
·
There are multiple
depth option so that the depth of the probe installed can be matched to your farming
system and requirements
·
In NZ they’ve got Agri
Optics behind them, to help you, the farmer understand and interpret soil
moisture readings and get the most out of soil moisture probes for irrigation
scheduling
You can also view more information on the AquaCheck probes
on our website: http://www.agrioptics.co.nz/portfolio/aquacheck/
If you’re interested in the AquaCheck probes or need a soil
moisture solution for this season please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Agri Optics Team for
some more information and a quote.
All the best for an upcoming irrigation season & year ahead!
Cheers,
