Last week, we ran a center pivot irrigation system into a woods and flipped it over. An unfortunate series of events led to this. We’ll just say it was a pretty rough week.

The aftermath included:

In the end, three of the four spans are damaged. The machine is likely totaled. Since it is an older machine, it is difficult to get parts.

We consulted with both of our local dealers. The options were to try and repair the system, replace the system with new, or do nothing until after harvest. Since this was a later-planted corn field, Option 3 was taken off the table quickly (and with the 14-day forecast showing dry weather, that appears to be a good decision). Both dealers could have a new system on the ground in 3 to 5 days. The estimates came in nearly identical. One dealer had better availability and a completion date a week earlier. Not knowing what all we would get into on a rebuild, we opted to replace the system. We went with the earliest promise date.

We have caught a couple pop-up rain events on that farm since the wreck happened. Totals of half- to three-quarters of an inch. They have certainly helped, but the moisture meter is now reading all the way to the left-hand side of the ‘refill’ range.

The field across the road has been watered a couple of times already, providing an additional inch-plus. Corn is sucking up water quickly and we’re having trouble keeping that moisture meter in the ‘optimal’ range.

Well, here we sit nine days after the wreck, seven days after we ordered a pivot and as of Thursday evening, the system was halfway up with the expectation that it will be completed and running on Friday. That really isn’t too bad.

It will be a while before we know if/how much yield was lost, but we’re hopeful it will be minimal. If there is a good part to this, the wrecked system is up against the woods and can stay there until after harvest.

The crew has done a pretty good job building the new system in a smaller than normal area, maybe only knocking down a path 25-30 feet wide from the road to the center of the field.