The FieldNet app, which works with smartphones and tablets, has been expanded for further monitoring and control of center pivot sprinklers and related equipment.
This series looks at what’s behind the recent spike in irrigation, the lack of regulations around groundwater, and the impact this will have on Illinois in the future.
The drought of 2012 was the worst since at least 1988, spanning the entire Corn Belt, from Ohio to Wyoming, and costing the agribusiness industry billions of dollars.
While Illinois is not currently facing a water crisis, highly populated areas with high growth are undergoing some levels of water conflict, partly because of agricultural irrigation.
Experts warn that projected decreases in corn and soybean yields in the coming decades because of climate change could continue the rise in irrigation and drive up prices for farmland above aquifers.
