It’s not too early to call.
John McGee will tell you that when June hits, and the weather is hot, and rain’s nowhere to be seen, “it’s a lot harder to help if the infrastructure is not already in place.”
Irrigation is the name of the game, and Michigan Valley Irrigation expects to see about a 20% increase in new systems year-over-year because of how “devastating” the earlier months were to crop germination, said McGee, president of the full-service irrigation company that has locations in Vassar, McBride, and Battle Creek.
“Having a center pivot will guarantee you're going to develop that crop every single year,” McGee told Michigan Farm News. “You can't afford not to. That is evident as you look at all of our large and progressive growers across the state.”
According to Jeff Andresen, the state’s climatologist, soils are abnormally dry across most sections of the state, with 90-day precipitation deficits of 4 to 8 inches across central and southern Lower Michigan.
Much of the state remains abnormally dry or worse, with 45% of the state classified as D1 or moderate drought and the driest areas (just under 5%) classified as D2 or severe drought in sections of west-central and southwestern Lower Michigan.
Still, the USDA reports that only about 10% of Michigan’s acres (827,000) are irrigated.
Jason Larabel is starting to see a shift, though — where Michigan farmers can now control the moisture in the soil.
“To run a project, though, it doesn't happen immediately,” said Larabel, who works in new and used equipment sales for Michigan Valley Irrigation.
“We’ve got wires to run. We've got pipe to bury. There are a lot of things that have to happen before we can set a machine up and have it ready to water. So, I've seen a big increase in interest when it's dry; everybody starts becoming very concerned about the health of their crop."
Typically, Larabel will visit an operation to see where a water source is and evaluate the land before installing pivots. Michigan Valley Irrigation has center pivots systems covering a range of 5 acres to 400 acres of land.
“There are people who will ask, ‘How fast can I get a hard-hose traveler delivered to my farm?’” Larabel said.
“We had a guy in Indiana who called on Friday, and by the following Friday, he had a new Kifco traveler sitting on his farm because they do a lot of double cropping. It just depends on the availability of that specific unit needed."
As far as who is implementing systems, McGee said it’s your corn, alfalfa, potato and vegetable growers.
“These are all mechanized irrigation guys who are already on center pivots,” he said. “I've lost count of the number of individuals who have called this spring with small parcels of alfalfa, for example, and ask, ‘What can you do for me?’ The downside is the amount of time and effort it takes to develop a water source.”
Irrigation in Michigan is primarily concentrated in the southern and central parts of the state, including St. Joseph, Montcalm, Branch, and Cass counties. There’s been about a 70% increase in irrigated acres from 1997 to 2017, according to USDA figures.
Source: michiganfarmnews.com
Photo Credit: istock-laughingmango
Categories: Michigan, Crops