OUTLOOK, Sask. – An irrigation pivot that can run on 110-volt or solar power is offering market gardeners new options.
Vegetable and fruit growers got a hands-on look at the system, the only one of its kind in Canada, during field tours at the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre here in June.
Boyd Derdall, president of Rain Maker Irrigation Development at Outlook, said this system has applications for producers growing vegetables, fruits and alfalfa, and in fields where the three-phase power commonly used in the larger rigs is not available.
Read Also
U.S. farm group supports supply management
U.S. grassroots farm advocacy group pushing new agriculture legislation that would move towards supply management like Canada has for dairy industry
“When we eliminate three-phase power, we eliminate an awfully big cost,” he said, noting the Lindsay Greenfield system is more economical than solid set systems in smaller fields.
There is a lot of interest in the new system in Outlook, said Derdall, who has sold a solar pivot to a Canadian government research farm in Egypt.
Similar lateral rigs have been used in smaller Ontario operations and in the United States, where the system is manufactured.
The two-tower solar system at Outlook, with a 1.8 horsepower drive and four-inch galvanized steel pipes, costs about $25,500, with the solar panel and batteries accounting for $5,500 of that amount.
Costs are lower if the farmer does his own setup, said Derdall. The system uses 10-foot lengths of pipe that reduce the setup time.
It covers 3.5 acres for about $1,000 per acre but can be towed to cover more acres in four different fields, lowering overall per acre costs, he said.
A conventional system covering a quarter section would cost about $80,000 to buy and about $610 per acre to operate.
Derdall said water can also be pumped with solar energy but only in small quantities. Water is pumped to the test system from pressurized lines in the Outlook field.
The solar panels can be used for 10 or more years, with the galvanized steel pivot expected to last 30 years.
Barry Vestre, field operations supervisor at the Outlook irrigation centre, said it’s too early to say how well the system will work since it was just installed this spring.
“It’s very new and there’s a lot of trial and error,” he said.
Vestre said it offers one irrigation option for isolated fields a long way from conventional power sources.
While the solar-powered battery recharges well, even on low-light days, he wondered how it would work during the reduced daylight hours of September.
Vestre also felt the system, with its smaller wheel and motor size and shorter rig height, could have problems getting through well-hilled potato fields or over tall corn crops.
Rain Maker is setting up a solar-powered irrigation line to water the grass at its plant east of Outlook. More information can be obtained at www.zimmatic.com.
