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14 POTATO GROWER | APRIL 2020 The Checklist As a farmer, you have a number of things on your mind as you prepare for another growing season. Will I be able to get out into my fields when I want this spring? Will planting go smoothly this year? Are the farmhands ready to get going? One more question should come to your mind: Are my center pivots prepared for the work they will need to do for me this year? Center pivots are vital to your operation's overall success. And like the other farm machinery you own, they are a substantial investment that has to perform when you need it to. But unlike your other machinery, pivots don't spend the winter sheltered in a shed or barn. Instead, they sit out in the elements for 365 days a year. To ensure your pivots are ready to perform, preseason preventative maintenance is crucial to hit the ground running this growing season. The View from Eastern Washington Having grown up on a farm in eastern Washington, John Klingeman has been around irrigation his entire life. In that region, considered high desert land, farmers only see an average of 12 inches of rain each year. Most of the precipitation comes in the winter, so they depend a great deal on irrigation. "If we get a half-inch of rain at once, we consider that a large rain event," Klingeman said. "Farmers in our area are very dependent on their irrigation systems, putting a lot of hours each year on all of their irrigation equipment." For the past 16 years, Klingeman has helped farmers at Skone Irrigation in Warden and Pasco, Wash. As the sales manager and a certified irrigation designer at Skone, Klingeman works closely with growers in the region to make sure the right amount of water is going to the right place, at the right time, to produce a successful harvest. Over the years, Klingeman has seen preventative maintenance—performed during preseason pivot checks—save farmers both time and money in the long run. "Downtime is expensive and always seems to happen when a farmer needs to be doing something else besides fixing breakdowns," says Klingeman. "No one expects to find equipment issues, so preseason preventative maintenance on your irrigation systems are a sound investment that we often see pay off." While Klingeman says the majority of farmers they work with do take advantage of servicing their pivots in the spring, there is one thing potato growers want to make sure they keep up-to- date: sprinkler packages. "Checking that your irrigation sprinkler pressure regulators are in good shape is key to proper water distribution," he says. "Regulators are good for about 10,000 hours of use. But if they become worn out, that can drastically affect plant growth. Without that preseason check, the quality of your tuber has already been negatively affected by the time anyone may notice an issue." Preventative Checks Improve Bottom Line In order for a potato grower to grow the best possible crop, his irrigation system needs to stay in peak condition. The loss Preventative maintenance on irrigation equipment is pivotal to the success of your operation. Story and photos provided by Reinke Manufacturing