Event Description

Remote monitoring and control are key factors in assisting farmers with efficient irrigation and plant health maintenance. In fact, these systems are gaining traction and becoming more advanced and more user friendly. This class highlights ways in which remote monitoring and control helps growers track irrigation water usage, distribute irrigation water uniformly, and schedule irrigation events. The instructors will discuss how remote monitoring and control can conserve resources, such as water, energy, and time, and will demonstrate some of these actions through video examples and discussion. They will briefly analyze scenarios that use automation versus non-automated fields to demonstrate the benefits of remote monitoring to achieve energy savings, mitigate employee overtime, and avoid wasteful leaching of fertilizers.

This course will also address the significance of remote monitoring regarding SGMA restrictions on groundwater withdrawals. As deadlines are quickly approaching for groundwater monitoring and SGMA compliance, automation and remote monitoring create a great opportunity for growers to manage and report their data to demonstrate compliance. 
 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify basic types of automation and remote monitoring equipment
• Recognize the financial savings that can be achieved with remote monitoring and automation
• Explain how remote monitoring can help growers be in regulatory compliance
• Summarize the basics of remote monitoring with regard to water management and fertilizer leaching
• Compare the cost savings of automation vs non automated operations