Four generations harvest corn crop

When Smith’s family got together for harvest this year, they were doing more than picking corn. They were celebrating four generations involved in the harvest on land held by the family for about 200 years.
Smith said actually two more generations should be recognized.
Smith’s father, Bryan Smith, moved his family to land north of Enders, where Smith, 87 next month, resided from 1929-1952. He then moved to his present location near Champion.
The Smiths, including son Lloyd, grandson Nick and great-grandson Allan, 12, farm corn, wheat and soybeans. They began picking high moisture corn Sept. 29, then laid off for three weeks to wait for the corn to dry down. The Smiths completed harvest Dec. 3. Lloyd’s wife Rhonda drove a semi to transport corn. Vilas Smith began farming when he was 10 years old, helping his father and a hired man. He drove a four-horse cultivator. “I can still hear those horses clopping,” he laughed.
When he first began harvesting corn, horses were still used. Then tractors came into play.
Smith remembers the steamer and thrasher used for harvesting wheat. It took a lot of time to cut wheat. He also remembers the corn pickers attached to a tractor or pulled behind one. The corn was harvested on the ear, then stored in a rick. It was scooped by hand into a sheller to remove the kernels from the cob.
The big difference these days, Smith said, is the machinery.
Most of the Smiths’ crops are irrigated by pivot, with just a little gravity irrigated. Smith said he first installed gravity irrigation on the Champ­ion Valley land, using siphon tubes connected to ditch water. Gated irrigation pipes followed, and then sprinkler pivots.

Evaluation of a Center Pivot irrigation system

Here is the evaluation abstract of a central Pivot irrigation System (CPIS), made in Brazil from a technical and economic point of view. The profitability of the system was simulated using real data obtained from a farm located in Chile, projected over a time horizon of ten years.

Internal Rates of Return were estimated on two crops that frequently use CPIS maize for seed and maize-for grain, assuming a decreasing capital allocation and an increasing governmental subsidy, in the terms provided by Chilean Law 18.450.

From a technical standpoint, results showed that the operation parameters agreed with the specifications of the manufacturer. The Hermann and Hein Coefficient of Uniformity obtained was 86%, classifying the area irrigated as «well watered».

The Distribution Uniformity parameter obtained was 79%, an adequate result for the crop and soil conditions of the test.

The Internal Rate of Return obtained for maize for-seed varied from 23% to 103% for the range of 100% to 25% of self-financing.

For the case of maize-for-grain the investment is profitable only with a maximum of 70% of capital allocation from the part of the farmer, implying that the minimum subsidy required from the part of the State is 30%.

Water for farming

Most people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains.

So as the world’s population grows and incomes rise, farms will (if they use today’s methods) need a great deal more water to keep everyone fed: 2,000 more cubic kilometres a year by 2030, or over a quarter more than they use today.

Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer as global warming worsens. The world is facing not so much a food crisis as a water crisis.

The solution, is more efficient use of water (Pivot Irrigation Systems) or, "more crop per drop”. Some 1.2 billion people, about a fifth of the world’s population, live in places that are short of water. Farming accounts for roughly 70% of human water consumption.

So when water starts to run out, as is happening in northern China, southern Spain and the western United States, among other places, farming tends to offer the best potential for thrift. But governments, whether to win votes or to protect the poor, rarely charge farmers a market price for water. So they are usually more wasteful than other consumers—even though the value they create from the water is often less than households or industry would be willing to pay for it.

Fathers of Center Pivot Irrigation (IV)

Valmont Industries, Inc.

Valley Manufacturing Company (Valmont Industries, Inc.) was founded in 1946 by Robert Daugherty.

He invested his entire life savings to start the company, which manufactured farm elevators, hay rakes, wagon hoists and tractor front end loaders.

In 1954, he acquired patented manufacturing and sales rights for self-propelled irrigation system from farmer Frank Zybach.

Advancements in technology like linear move systems, hot dip galvanizing, low-pressure nozzles, and computerized pivot panels has made Valmont the largest manufacturer of center pivots in the world.