Valley Irrigation and Prospera have launched Valley Insights, an advanced technology based on artificial intelligence. Using a variety of acquisition methods including satellite imagery and pivot-mounted cameras, Valley Insights virtually scouts for crop health concerns related to water application, emergence, weeds, pests, disease, and more. Valley Insights consists of two product offerings, Irrigation Insights and Plant Insights. 

Irrigation Insights 

Irrigation Insights uses satellite imagery to monitor water application and detect pivot-related problems.  

“We’re looking to identify clogged nozzles, leaky gaskets, overwatering or underwatering. These satellite images provide a point of view for detecting irrigation issues that are sometimes difficult to see at ground level or with the naked eye,” said Richard Pickens, territory technical manager for Valley Insights in the Delta region. 

Pickens said set up of Irrigation Insights is easy. After providing a Valley Dealer with a list of fields and pivot GPS locations, images of those fields will be captured via satellite every day during the growing season. Collected images are analyzed for irrigation irregularities, and, if problems are detected, growers will receive an alert on their mobile device. Users of the service can even stop irrigation from a remote location with their mobile device, so they can reduce water waste as they travel to the site to fix the problem. 

“Irrigation Insights helps growers avoid costly issues, saves inputs, ensures crop uniformity and saves yield. If we catch these detections early, we can get out in the field and fix them,” Pickens said. 

This is the first year of full launch for Irrigation Insights. It was tested with select growers in 2021. 

Plant Insights 

Irrigation Insights can be paired with Plant Insights, a crop monitoring service that relies on sensors mounted directly on the pivot. High-resolution cameras are placed on spans and will capture images of a field every time the pivot moves — even when it is not watering. Pickens said the images can be used to check stand counts and monitor for weed presence, insect pressure, diseases and nutrient deficiencies. It’s as if the pivot has become a crop scout. 

“We’re not replacing your scout,” Pickens insists, “but it is another tool to help both the farmer and scout get across more acres.” 

Pickens said the Plant Insights installation can be completed in a few hours. Images are uploaded to the cloud and analyzed for issues using a combination of Prospera’s artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision. Users receive alerts right on their mobile device when issues are detected and pinpoint where crops need attention. 

“A good feature of these services is that growers are not flooded with data or images. They only receive alerts or reports when an issue is detected,” Pickens said. 

Farmer insights 

While Valley Insights technology has been trialed on large farms in other parts of the country, it will make its debut in the Midsouth this year. At press time, the technology is being installed on 14 farms in the region this season.   

Jim Klaustermeyer farms vegetables in Washington state. He began trialing Valley Insights in 2019.  

“During the 2020 season I can recall an insight that came across the phone that proved to be very critical,” Klaustermeyer said. “We were underwatering a portion of the field — almost 25 acres of a 150-acre pivot. The carrots were at time when they were needing to be fed, they needed water, they were pulling about as hard as they could go. That particular insight, had it gone unnoticed, could have cost the farm upwards of $25,000 an acre. That one incident made the investment easy to justify.” 

Installation 

Plant Insights and Irrigation Insights can be packaged together. However, if growers want to only use Irrigation Insights, they can access just that service for $1.00 an acre for the 2022 season.  

About Prospera 

Prospera developed a partnership in 2018 with Valley Irrigation and co-launched Valley Insights in 2019. Prospera was acquired by Valmont in the spring of 2021. Today Prospera is an agricultural technology company within Valmont’s agriculture sector. The Valmont agriculture segment covers pivots and technology, and includes brands from previous acquisitions such as AgSense, PivotKing and PivotTrack.