A few months ago, our family’s washing machine started making strange noises and wouldn’t completely drain appropriately. So, my husband did what most people do these days and Googled “washing machine not draining.” A slew of YouTube videos popped up showing step-by-step how to remove and clean the pump filter on our specific brand and model of washing machine. My husband propped up his iPhone and followed along with the YouTuber and our washing machine lived to wash another load.
Whether it’s searching YouTube, TikTok (for the younger crowd) or just asking a friend or neighbor, hearing or seeing how someone else does things tends to be our go-to. There is a comfort level in watching how someone else gets something to work or how they find success after trying out a new idea.
No YouTube is necessary with this month’s issue of Irrigation Today. We are bringing the real-life stories directly to you. In this issue, we feature six different farm operations from around the country, and we asked them “How do you do it?” These farmers share their stories of how they have changed things on their operations — whether big or small — to help find the best way to irrigate their crops efficiently. They also shared their experiences with using government funding programs to update their irrigation systems to be more efficient.
Sharing information and learning from each other’s successes and failures is invaluable, especially when it comes to production agriculture. Whether you farm cotton in the Texas Plains, avocados on the California hillside, rice in Arkansas or corn in the Oklahoma Panhandle, you know that everyone in your industry shares the same big-picture goal of producing food for the world, while efficiently using our limited natural resources.
Sharing information and learning from each other’s successes and failures is invaluable, especially when it comes to production agriculture.
Enjoy these snapshots of life from your fellow farmers. Perhaps you will see a little of yourself in one of them or be inspired by hearing how they do it.
Irrigation Today Editor-in-Chief
