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Vandenbussche Open House

Mid-June marked Vanden Bussche Irrigation’s annual Demonstrat-ion Days and Open House.

The Vandenbussche Irrigation Learning Centre

Mid-June marked Vanden Bussche Irrigation’s annual Demonstrat-ion Days and Open House.

Dozens of farmers from throughout southern Ontario attended the three-day event, held at the irrigation company’s irrigation learning centre, located just east of Simcoe, Ontario.

The open house featured displays of various irrigation layout designs and equipment, a barbecue and refreshments plus a self-guided tour of 14 different demonstration plots scattered around the 115-acre farm.

Irrigation demonstrations were exhibited throughout the 115 acre facility.

Growers had an opportunity to learn about and view the latest irrigation innovations.

Some of the tour highlights included:
• A demonstration of the Bauer RainBoy and AutoRain Travellers, which are both turbine-driven and work efficiently with low water pressure;
• A working surface installation of Netafim Typhoon thinwall dripperlines, which was set up for a 1.4 acre ginseng garden comprised of 64 beds;
• A demonstration of the Greenfield Mini-Centre Pivot, equipped with Nelson sprayheads, which can irrigate up to seven acres per rotation;
• K-Line Fast Move Sprinklers, an economic and convenient way to      irrigate pastures and paddocks as you can shift the sprinklers while they’re in operation;
• A working shallow sub-surface installation of Netafim streamline     dripperline, 8 mil, on 6.2 acres of sweet corn plus 1 mil clear embossed
• Climagro plastic mulch, 53-inches wide;
• A demonstration of the Bauer Centreliner 4000 which can move both laterally down a field (48 acres) or be used as a pivot (eight acres);

Tour highlights included:
• Examples of several pump and filter stations for use with drip
irrigation travelers, sprinklers and pivots;
• A working demonstration of Nelson R2000 Windfighter sprinklers on five acres of sweet corn. These sprinklers can eliminate riser
vibration and splashdown while providing high uniformity with low     application rates;
• A working demonstration of a Bauer AS-50 Boom paired with an
E21 Traveller, which can irrigate 14.4 acres per pull;
• An evaluation trial featuring an 8 mile Sunstone thinwall dripperline from China;
• A working demonstration of Rain Bird Falcons, economical sprinkler systems, which can shoot a radius of 41 to 65 feet.