Agriculture faces a big challenge

World's population is growing quickly, and we're not only talking about adding more people, we're talking about more people with better lives. 

Agriculture faces a big challenge, it has to produce food to feed 9 billion people by 2050. Experts say that there will be no enough resources to provide food for our population. Moreover, some aquifers under the surface are going down the drain. 

Farmers can't grow corn without irrigation, or it wouldn't be the kind of irrigation production that they're used to using. While dryland corn averages 24 bushels an acre, irrigated corn averages 200 bushels an acre. So the risk with dryland is important. The loss of irrigation would mean less income, fewer business, a decline in land values...

The answer is not shutting off every center pivot. Farms and irrigation communities will never accept to stop watering with machines that make their local agricultural production be sustainable.

The best crop insurance is irrigation

Irrigation is one of the most important factors that contribute to agricultural prosperity. Uniform and timely applications of water to crops help to avoid water losses in long dry seasons, and produce revenues by increasing crop yields in normal seasons. Irrigation creates more predictable yields and a reduction in risk that is so important to farmers. In fact, we might even say that the best crop insurance is irrigation.

Most farmers started to invest in irrigation after the Second World War, primarily focusing on high-value vegetable crops and not on grain crops. The irrigation of potatoes, sweet corn, beans, tomatoes and other vegetables improved yield and quality. In those days, irrigation systems were moved by hand across the field and water usually came from ponds.

Center-pivot systems began to appear, irrigating larger acreages without the need for hand labor.

With the emergence of the poultry industry, the demand for grain corn as a primary feed source grew rapidly. A lot of farmers responded by investing in center pivot irrigation systems. But this irrigation system is not only useful to feed poultry industry, but it also mitigates nutrient movement to groundwater and streams by enhancing the uptake of nutrients by crops.

Outdoor Security System

This is the first outdoor security system that requires no electricity. It uses sensors and trap sensors to detect intruders and risk situations. With no need for building works or channelling, since the technology it uses is completely cordless.

The system cosists of an electronic unit and a number of sensors and trap sensors (three different types) plus, if neccesary, an actuator with up to 50 components per installation. The coverage range can be up to 50 metres between each trap sensor and the Electronics Unit. Remote communications are achieved by using a SIM card from any operator, slotted into the Electronics Unit. Optimal power management means that the system can send one alarm every day for a whole year.

Trap sensors for detecting people

With conventional security a large number of electronic devices are used, but they're not traps. They are detectors that make no attempt to be hidden: barriers, cameras, volumetric devices, etc. Burglars are aware of their existence and so try not to be detected. They are intended to detect intruders in closed compounds.

Our system can detect and surprise intruders anywhere out in the open, applying logic: if someone wants to steal they must pass along a certain path, approach a certain machine, enter a given site, open this box, go up those stairs, etc.

Sensors for risk situations

Issuing an alert if an animal leaves a fenced area, when the water level is too low or too high, when somewhere is flooded, if there is a power outage, or for any other application without the need for a power supply.

Applications

For tracks, fencing, gates, farm machinery, irrigation wells, barns, silos, pens, tools, etc. From now on traps can protect the things that previously were at risk of being stolen or damaged.

Family's farming roots

Although Jake has been an entrepreneur in agribusinesses such as starting the grain elevator here and raising hogs as a young man, he never ventured too far from his roots as a dirt farmer. "My grandfather was my hero," he said. "He and his brother, Jim, came from Hillsboro by covered wagon in 1903 and purchased land which remains in the family today".

"I owe everything I own to the perseverance of Grandpa. My grandparetns first bought 500 acres of brush-covered land 2.5 miles north of Vancourt for $2.50 per acre. They cleared the land and four years later purchased addition adjoining land for $7 per acre. My dad and his brother, Sam, helped Grandpa raise cotton, milo and registered Hereford cattle on the stockfarm," Jake said.
"Before they owned a tractor, they broke the cropland with mule-drawn plows. At harvest time, they would have to pull the cotton bolls by day, and at night they would pull the cotton out of the bolls." From those early years to the present generation, the advancement of technology and diversification has brought changes to the Powell farm.
Irrigation and modern harvesters have not only increased the proficiency of production, but genetically improved cotton varieties have increased the yield.
"My family was born with farming in their blood. My grandfather also liked the ranching business. He had 100 head of registered Hereford. My father also liked the cattle business. When I started working with my father, he sort of turned the farming over to me and he stayed with the cattle. Actually, I was in my second year at Southwest State College in San Marcos when my father was in the hospital with back problems. I came home to keep the farm going and never went back to college".
"I have always loved farming. I enjoy watching the crops grow. It is unique that all of the land purchased by my grandfather remains all together. Between my cousin, and I, we are still operating it. I concentrate on farming only."
"I also had ranching interest for years in Menard and Concho counties, but sold that property several years ago. I also tried several ventures early in my life which no doubt helped hold on to the farm. I had a 200-sow confinement operation in the 1960s and 1970s and sold most of the swine. In 1974, with partners, we built and operated the Vancourt Grain Elevator. I was running the hog operation during the same period, so I was mixing the hog feed, which saved on input costs. The farm has good water wells, so irrigation was installed about 25 years ago. It is ideal for this part of the country where we have more dry years than rainy ones. With the Pivot Irrigation Systems, there is always something green and growing on 650 acres of farmland".