A smart valve platform that integrates irrigation technology
Lumo, the leader in precision irrigation technology for specialty crop growers has launched of Pump Automation, a powerful new integration with its smart valve platform.
With Lumo, growers can schedule irrigations overnight and at off-peak times, without relying on overtime labor or pulling folks away from harvest. Real-time flow and pressure data from Lumo smart valves provides the feedback necessary to dial in precision, optimize which blocks to run at the same time, and minimize damage from dry runs and pressure spikes.
“Pump automation is critical to executing irrigations with high performance and precision across a wide range of ranches,” said Devon Wright, CEO of Lumo. “Once you can control the pump, you can automate irrigations end to end whenever you want. Off-peak or overnight. Cycling on and off throughout the day. All without worrying about who’s on site.”
With a tight labor market, soft demand, and scarce water resources, growers are continuing to look for solutions that can help drive labor efficiency and eliminate wasted water, while improving yield and quality markers. Pump automation helps address these challenges head on, reducing trips to the field to turn pumps on and off, catching issues before they cause costly damage to crops and critical infrastructure, and ensuring water gets delivered in exact volumes with ideal timing.
“We successfully automated almost every irrigation set last season on 60 acres of the ranch,” said Andrew Oliver, Vineyard Manager at Antinori, one of the first sites to implement Lumo’s pump automation product. “Running the pump at night freed up irrigator hours during the day. For the first time, I can say that these blocks were sufficiently irrigated, and last year’s canopy and crop proved that.”
Hunter Emch, Northern Unit Area Manager at Redwood Empire Vineyard Management said “We’re saving a ton of time by managing everything virtually. We can now run irrigations overnight, avoid peak times, and confidently move water exactly when and where it’s needed without having to juggle labor or worry about infrastructure risks.”
Lumo’s precision irrigation smart valves have already been deployed at over 150 ranches in Napa, Sonoma, the Central Coast, the Okanagan Valley and Washington State, helping growers irrigate with greater operational efficiency and achieve block-level precision. Safe and reliable pump automation was the logical next step to continue to drive higher levels of performance, precision, and ultimately, profitability.
