Color-coded flags mark strategic locations where soil tensiometers are buried at Reiter Berry Farms, in Watsonville, CA, on Thursday, August 27, 2015.
Color-coded flags mark strategic locations where soil tensiometers are buried at Reiter Berry Farms, in Watsonville, CA, on Thursday, August 27, 2015.
Data from this sensor and other sensors will be trnsmitted to a comunication repeater on the hill in the distance, where it will go to a cloud-based irrigation management system. The farms are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to improve on the 30% water savings they already achieve with precision micro subsurface irrigation. The use of a Wireless Irrigation Monitoring Network (WIN) to collects data from wireless solar powered soil tensiometers, and weather field stations positioned throughout farms in three counties enable them to track soil, temperature, and humidity conditions with a cloud-based irrigation management system, to better manage watering and soil conservation efforts in more than 700 acres. They actively share their data, methods, and experiences with other producers. Better management by producers using a currently dwindling supply and quality of ground water (wells) in this county will help recharge the aquifer and prevent the migration of nearby Pacific Ocean salt water into the ground water they use. This is one of the ways growers are extending the water supply. Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) has been involved with family farming since 1868; is a leading fresh, multi-berry producer in the world; and a leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in North America. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung. Original public domain image from Flickr