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diggin’ in SMART IRRIGATION by Scott Mauseth, Valley Product Manager CORNER IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT allows potato growers to maximize the number of production acres in a field irrigated by center pivot irrigation. But until recently, some growers may have faced obstacles that made it difficult or cost-prohibitive to install corner irrigation equipment in some fields. Today, Valley GPS Guidance for Corners allows growers to get the maximum return on their investment in GPS correction and corner machines. It uses the latest in satellite-based Real Time Kinematic (RTK) systems to accurately steer the machine around the field for the most precise application of water and other crop inputs. Valley GPS Guidance for Corners offers four distinct benefits: 1) Eliminates maintenance and installation issues associated with buried wire systems; 2) Can use the same GPS guidance signal used for tractor guidance; 3) Easily reprogram the path with the custom Valley mapping tool to match changes in farm practices or field boundaries; and 4) Machine follows the desired path Put in the Corner 28 Potato Grower | JULY 2010 with fewer steering changes. Steve Oberg, a producer near Pelican Rapids, Minn., decided to install the new Valley GPS Guidance system last year. Growing potatoes, soybeans and corn require irrigation, and getting water to the corners in an efficient and convenient way was a long-standing dilemma for Oberg. Underground wires controlled his former mechanized corner irrigation equipment. In addition to navigating the usual Valley GPS Guidance field-tested, grower-approved threats to proper wire operation, such as accidental damage to wires during tilling, Steve had an additional problem to overcome. One of his corner machines is located next to high-voltage transmission lines. For years, this did not present any issues, until the local power company made some changes. “Those lines started emitting more stray voltage,” Oberg explained. “The change in voltage interfered with the antenna on our corner machine so it couldn’t steer when it approached the lines. “I talked with the power company and they acknowledged the voltage fluctuations, but they didn’t make any