Comments on: Crazy Farm Equipment?!!

Question: Crazy Farm Equipment?!!

DrSkrud — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:44:01 -0800

What's going on in these strange circular regions (pictured here) in Christmas Valley, OR? My guess: Some kind of circular crop field, with a big rotating arm that does tilling/harvesting. If my guess is right, what kind of farm equipment is that and where can I learn more about it? If my guess is wrong, what is it?

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:46:12 -0800

I think the arm is simply for irrigation.

By: marionnette en chaussette

marionnette en chaussette — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:46:54 -0800

Center pivot irrigation!

By: Forktine

Forktine — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:48:37 -0800

It is a rotating irrigation boom. Tilling and harvesting is done with the usual tractors/combines/etc.

By: felix

felix — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:49:47 -0800

rotary crop irrigation equipment; google.

By: SpecialK

SpecialK — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:50:49 -0800

The center point is either a water main or a well. The boom is an irrigation machine that takes water from the well/main and spreads it on the crops below. It's much easier to maintain the center point than it is to have to maintain flexible hoses and tubes for full-field irrigation.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:53:07 -0800

Take a look out the window next time you're on a cross-country flight on a clear day. You'll see hundreds of these.

By: Reggie Digest

Reggie Digest — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:58:23 -0800

Neat!

By: easternblot

easternblot — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:08:03 -0800

Someone also asked about these last year.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:28:53 -0800

In addition to the radial watering boom, this kind of plowing pattern also reduces soil loss from wind erosion.

And plowing/harvesting in a spiral is easier than a raster-scan pattern because there are no corners.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:55:57 -0800

Here's a picture from Kansas.

It's interesting that a lot of them aren't full circles. There are pie-cuts out of them. What happens is that the center-pivot irrigator "bounces" and changes direction each time it reaches the edge of the irrigated area.

By: shelleycat

shelleycat — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:53:26 -0800

In New Zealand these irrigation booms are often actually spraying whey (as in curds and whey), a byproduct of the cheese industry. This is to help fertilise the soil and I guess is a source of water extra to whatever they get from the local river.