Farmers Can Now View Their Soil Moisture Probe or Weather Data from the Internet

Sit back in your chair. Take a drink of your coffee and take a look at the soil moisture level of your almond orchard. Then pick up the data from your weather station. No it's not too good to be true. Today's technology enables farmers to gain important knowledge about their fields right from their personal computer. Never before have farmers had this kind of information that can be stored and evaluated.

Aquaspy Inc. has been designing products that farmers can use to really make a difference. They are a company that believes that every drop of water that a farmer uses should be backed by the intelligence of good decision-making. As an agricultural consultant I can understand exactly what they mean by that statement.

Good water management starts at the field level. A farmer cannot accurately decide to irrigate a field without first knowing the moisture level that is in the active root zone. Find out how wet the soil profile is and then schedule your irrigation based upon what the crop is telling you. Install a soil moisture probe to see just how valuable they are to your operation. The probes are sold in 20, 40 and 60inch lengths. The 60inch length is usually the best choice for permanent crops like trees and vines. The shorter lengths are most often used in row crops and turf. Data loggers are attached to each probe that can upload data to the Internet by using a cell phone, which is designed into the logger box. You can be miles away and see how dry your field is. This technology really benefits growers that have several fields in different locations. This data is updated every few minutes. You can actually see what time an irrigation started. Did your field man start the water when you asked him to?

The best part about these soil moisture probes is the software. All of your data is stored on your computer for future reference. View the graph from last year to see where you can improve. I always look to see if there is any areas where we wasted water or got a little too dry. Usually we try to keep it right on to maximize yield but also save water. This software allows the user to add management lines and colors to the graphs. Management lines help you to set a low point or a high point acting as a guide to the grower. The lines are saved and really help year after year.

Irrigation scheduling of crops is a science that needs constant precise inputs to make good decisions. Accurate soil moisture and weather information for the grower and consultant is a must.

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