In this issue:
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Holiday Wishes
Upcoming conferences
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Achieving 85 to 90% water application efficiency on-farm
Surface water efficiency to support groundwater replenishment
Win a Prize – Take a Photo of a Rubicon Gate
Rubicon Wins Prestigious Australia Export Award
Wishing You Health, Happiness and Prosperity for 2023
Our team would like to take this opportunity to wish you an enjoyable Holiday Break and a Happy New Year ahead.
We look forward to seeing you during 2023.
RUBICON WILL BE AT THESE UPCOMING CONFERENCES
| Conference | Title | Start date | Finish date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irrigation Leader Magazine | Irrigation Leader Workshop | 1/10/2023 | 1/12/2023 | Chandler, AZ |
| Four States Irrigation Council | Four States Irrigation Council | 1/11/2023 | 1/12/2023 | Ft. Collins, CO |
| Tulare County Farm Bureau | Irrigation Technology Seminar | 1/12/2023 | 1/12/2023 | Visalia, CA |
| Idaho Water Users Association (IWUA) | 86th Annual Convention | 1/16/2023 | 1/19/2023 | Boise, ID |
Rubicon’s 2022 FarmConnect launch achieving 85 to 90% water delivery efficiency from water source to the crop
While the on-farm flood surface irrigation practice is as old as irrigation itself, the employment of newly developed technology by Rubicon is making amazing on-farm advances creating high-performance surface irrigation that is of major benefit for future food and fiber production.
Completed trials in the USA and worldwide demonstrate the water savings and advantages of surface irrigation for modern day farming.
Rubicon’s on-farm irrigation trials have shown how 20% or more of water used on farms can be saved through Rubicon’s FarmConnect high-performance surface irrigation solution.
The water is saved through improved irrigation scheduling and application efficiency. And these on-farm savings are in addition to water savings achieved by Rubicon in the canal network from the water source to the farm turnout, which reach up to 90% water delivery efficiency.
One such successful trial was in California where Rubicon, in collaboration with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), commenced a number of projects with the principal objective to demonstrate the gains in application efficiencies possible through the use of optimally-managed, automated, high-flow bay irrigation for alfalfa and furrow irrigation in Holtville, California for sugar beet production.
With successful trials now completed or scaled up, there is keen farmer interest in furrow irrigation and the potentially lower set-up costs compared to other irrigation equipment.
Rubicon’s automated canal management solution, known as Total Channel Control (TCC) is well established in the USA through software, smart automated control gates, flow meters, and sophisticated communications that integrate to autonomously operate open canal distribution networks. Developed over a 27-year period, Rubicon’s autonomous canal control technology can supply water to American farms within as little as two hours from ordering, compared with the several days normally taken with a manually-operated system.
Ultimately, Rubicon’s canal technology delivers the right amount of water at the right time to the farm turnout. From this point on, FarmConnect manages surface crop irrigation for additional efficiency.
Developed over a 12-year period Rubicon’s FarmConnect solution consists of on-farm water application hardware with smart sensors, all with telemetry connecting to web-based AgTech apps that enables farmers to manage their crop water requirements and irrigation programs from a smartphone or laptop.
The FarmConnect software is a data-driven platform that uses data analytics and predictive algorithms on cloud-based computing to interpret real-time field conditions. On-farm control and automation utilize software programs and LoRa-enabled radio nodes to operate FarmConnect checks and valves along with delivering irrigation system monitoring capabilities from in-field sensors.
The technology is instrumental in getting the water application volume just right so that crops are not over-irrigated or under-irrigated and allows for flexible start times and watering durations.
A variety of FarmConnect equipment is used on-farm including BayDrives for bay outlets integrated with flow sensors from the canal’s SlipMeter to measure flow to the field. Rubicon PikoMeters can be used to measure tail water from the end of an irrigated field to provide insights for irrigators into any events with water losses during irrigation programs.
Other on-farm equipment includes wetting advance sensors and water level sensors that connect via LoRa to the farms’ AgPod gateway to record activity, calculate flow, and alarm irrigation events.
This exciting collective Rubicon solution, from the water source to the crop, is now fully launched in the USA. Learn more about Rubicon’s FarmConnect at the links below.
Peter Moller, Business Development Manager, says: “ Supported by evidence based scientific research projects and commercial industry, there is no need to shift irrigation practices from flood irrigation to pressurized drip or sprinkler irrigation infrastructure in the pursuit of higher application efficiencies.
“By modernizing inefficient flood irrigation systems to high performance surface irrigation systems, irrigators can gain similar application efficiencies, increases in yield and low labor costs whilst capitalizing from the energy free, gravity fed water supply, thus maintaining zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with on-farm irrigation application systems using surface irrigation.”
For more watch our FarmConnect solution overview video, component overview or visit the FarmConnect website for further information:
Peter Moller can be reached at peter.moller@rubiconwater.com
How Rubicon Assists With Groundwater Replenishment
The volume of groundwater stored in many of the world’s aquifers is depleting at a rate faster than replenishment. In States throughout the Western USA groundwater depletion is common and a serious issue for farmers.
From water source to crop, Rubicon Water is focused on providing innovative irrigation solutions to best manage our agricultural water resources. Included are solutions for groundwater replenishment.
Our technology is helping by taking the pressure off aquifers by increasing the flexibility and sustainability of surface water delivery to farms, achieving up to 90% distribution efficiencies in automated canal networks.
Improved distribution and efficiency of surface water can help to reduce over-reliance on aquifers and provide more water management choices.
In addition, canal networks can be utilized to return water to the ground. This is being effectively done through recharge sites. Water saved or made available from surface water is being returned to aquifers and accurately measured using Rubicon overshot or undershot gates.
There are also a range of arguments for the benefits of modern surface high-performance flood irrigation in relation to groundwater replenishment.
Rubicon’s FarmConnect high-performance surface irrigation is a solution that can also help with groundwater replenishment.
Emily Downing has written an interesting article about “the myth of efficiency” for the Western Landowners Alliance “on Land” Publication entitled, “Don’t throw the baby out with the flood irrigation water”.
Win a Prize – Take a Photo of a Rubicon Gate
Grab your camera next time you are out on a ditch ride and get as artistic as the urge takes you.
Send us your Rubicon gate photo, marked with geographic coordinates, and get in the running for a $100 gift card.
The best photograph each month will be published and with your permission it may also be used on our Rubicon social networks.
Please email your photo to: inquiry@rubiconwater.com
Rubicon Wins Prestigious Australia Export Award
Rubicon Water has been chosen among Australia’s top exporters at the 60th Annual Export Awards run by the Australian Government. Rubicon Water was among a group of finalists and subsequently the ultimate winner of the Sustainability sector of the Award.
The award recognizes outstanding success in environmental solutions, clean energy innovation, materials and energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste and water management, green buildings, smart cities and R&D collaboration.
Rubicon demonstrated how its’ technology provides quality, on-demand water supply services to worldwide farms while reducing water losses in the supply system.
Bruce Rodgerson, Rubicon Water CEO told the Award panel: “In the coming decades, many regions around the world are expected to face either absolute or seasonal water scarcity conditions. This is driven by increasing competition for water and more variable water availability due to factors such as climate change and population growth. Our solutions significantly improve the distribution efficiency of water in large-scale irrigation networks. This makes more water available to support the future prosperity of irrigated agriculture.”
Rubicon began its’ exporting journey with the USA in 2006. Since then it has established many worldwide export markets and continues to grow as an international exporting company.
Read more about the award and Rubicon’s contribution on the AUSTRADE website here.
