Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 28
PumpTrakr
Pump
Trakr
Farmer creates
21st-century
solution to ageold problem
by Jim McCarty
jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
F
armers are the world's biggest
gamblers. They plant their
seeds, then hope for enough
moisture - but not too much.
Those plowing the fertile
ground wherever the
water table is close to the
surface hedge their bets
with irrigation.
Pumps powered by electric or diesel motors pull the
water to the surface and
spread it out on the fields.
Timing is everything. Getting
it to the plants in the right
amount and at the proper
time can lead to a bumper crop and
higher profits. But keeping track of a
far-flung network of pumps and irrigation units can be a daunting task.
That was the case for Oran farmer
28
and SEMO Electric Cooperative member Nathan Holmes. He recalls sitting
at his computer desperately searching for a 21st-century solution to the
problem of being in multiple places at
the same time.
Nathan's quest came from a particularly stressful year when flooding caused several rounds of
replanting at Holmes Farm.
The five-person crew that
runs the farm was spread
between planting beans,
flushing rice, spraying
and trying to keep
the pumps running
Oran
on a 2,700-acre
farm that is entirely
irrigated and includes
crawdad and catfish ponds.
"I drove myself crazy," he admits.
"The whole ball of wax was so much
to handle. I thought, 'someone has
to make something better than
this.' And that's what prompted my
search."
His efforts fell on barren ground -
but led to him developing an app that
makes life much easier for farmers.
What Nathan wanted was a way
to share information the way it is
done today in many other industries.
For example, at the end of a day he
had to sit down with employees and
quiz them on what fields had been
watered, how long the pumps ran,
whether the tanks needed more fuel
and anything that might need repairs.
Farmers seek precision in their
operations today in order to cut costs
and make the most on a bushel of
whatever they are growing. "Precision
is great, but the more you go for precision the more your management
goes up," Nathan says. "If you can do
it perfectly, think of how much money
you can save. But you can't do it perfectly with five people on 3,000 acres
RURAL MISSOURI | MARCH 2020
March20_SEMO Member.indd 1
2/7/20 3:06 PM
Rural Missouri - March 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - March 2020
Contents
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - Contents
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 4
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 5
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 6
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 7
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 8
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 9
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 10
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Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 41
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 42
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 43
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 44
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 45
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 46
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 47
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 48
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 49
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 50
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Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 55
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 56
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 57
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 58
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - March 2020 - Cover4
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