Potato Grower

26 POTATO GROWER | JULY 2019 Pete Ewing has a philosophy about precision irrigation: "If you're not right on, you're wrong." Of course, irrigation is important for many growers, but some crops have more demanding moisture requirements than others. Ewing, a second-generation potato farmer near Big Lake, Minn., knows that red potatoes are picky about getting the right amount of water. "People buy red potatoes by appear- ance," he says. "They want them to look pretty. We're on fairly sandy soil here, and watering is very important. There is no forgiveness on it. If the weather conditions are wrong and you miss your irrigation by a day, it can severely hurt the coloring, the quality and the smoothness of your crop." Ewing Farms Inc. has a packing plant and cooling space on-site and employs 40 to 50 seasonal workers during the harvest season, which lasts from around mid-July until mid-October. Most of their potatoes are shipped to the East Coast. Part of the crop goes into 5-pound bags for grocery store sales, and the rest is packed into 50-pound boxes for food service businesses in New York. "Those fancy restaurants want the fancy red potatoes," Ewing says. "Some- times they'll put four or five little potatoes on your plate, and they want the bright red color." remote management saVes time During the growing season, Ewing pays close attention to the irrigation on his farm. It was a challenge to stay on top of things before he started using remote irrigation management more than 10 years ago. "Some of our farms are about 20 miles away from our base, and it was im- possible to get to them as often as I wanted to," he recalls. "Before remote manage- ment, I spent a lot more time making trips to those fields. "Now I can get up in the morning, look at my cell phone and say, 'Okay, it's run- ning.' I can wait until the vines dry off and then go out and scout the fields. I can plan my day instead of the irrigators planning my day for me." Ewing uses AgSense, a smart irrigation solution from Valley, primarily to monitor and control his pivots, as well as to check rainfall. "I do about 99 percent of it on their app on my phone. It's very simple to use," he says. "The only time I use my PC is when I have to adjust any of the main settings." He adds that his Valley dealer, Kelan Buchta at Grand Irrigation in Clear Lake, Minn., does most of his setup for him. During the planting and growing season, Pete Ewing works alongside four other people: his father, Jim; his young- er brother Willy; his son Nathan; and a family friend. Ewing's wife Brenda handles most of the bills and bookkeeping for the farm. Pete and Brenda also have two other young children. freedom for familY aCtiVities With two kids still in school, Ewing ap- preciates being able to monitor his center pivots remotely. "Remote irrigation management gives me some freedom," he says. "My wife and I can go to our daughter's volleyball games and our son's activities. If we want to get away for a night, we can do that and still have a pretty good pulse on what's going on at the farm." The bottom line is that monitoring and controlling his irrigation remotely helps Ewing do more with less, and ensure that his potatoes receive exactly the right amount of moisture during the growing season. When you're irrigating red potatoes, he says, "It all comes down to timing. You're putting a lot of money in the ground every year, and there's no room for error." His investment in remote irrigation management pays off with every harvest. Pretty Potatoes Smart irrigation solutions help grow top-quality potatoes

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