Bunbury Outer Ring Road, WA
Bunbury Outer Ring Road, WA
October 16, 2024
The European Green Deal includes goals to become carbon neutral by 2050. This has led operations like Intercereal, one of the first Romanian companies in the agricultural sector, to pursue technologies that reduce its carbon footprint and support its year-round production needs.
- ProjectProvide an irrigation solution that increases yields while conserving resources to lower costs and reduce the operation’s carbon footprint.
- LocationBordusani, Ialomita, Romania
- ChallengeIncrease ag production while reducing the operation’s carbon footprint by 5% year over year.
- Solution38 Valley® Center Pivots, 3 Valley Universal Linears, 2 Valley Pumping Stations, Valley Pump Command®
In 2020, the European Green Deal was approved with the overarching goal of making the European Union a climate-neutral society by 2050. Every economic sector was challenged to play a role by implementing technological solutions and processes geared toward lowering their carbon footprint. For Intercereal, one of Romania’s first agriculture-based companies, this led to a conversation with Valley® a Valmont® company. Through a series of conversations to better understand the needs and goals of the company, the Valley team developed a plan for shifting toward becoming carbon neutral and reducing costs while improving yields. Intercereal’s farms are in Bordusani, Ialomita, Romania between the right arm of the Danube and the Borcea arm of the Danube River. An area that was once flooded now includes 6,000 acres of cropland, 4,500 of which are irrigated. The operation produces two seasons of crops, including winter wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sunflowers. Over a 12-month period, the operation relies on an average of 1,200 hours of irrigation. Given the goal to become carbon neutral by 2050, Intercereal needed a visionary partner to empower its operation with resource-conserving technology that also supports plant production. Intercereal chose a Valley Irrigation solution to support its goals due to the reliability of the equipment and proven savings. This included two Valley Pumping Stations equipped with Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to bring water from the Borcea arm of the Danube River to 38 Valley Center Pivots and three Valley Universal Linear Pivots. Valley Pump Command® allows the Intercereal team to link its fleet of pivots and remotely monitor and control the pump stations. This technology reduces the number of trips to check fields and supports the operation’s goal of reducing resources by only using what is needed. Insights regarding when, where and how much water to apply further supports Intercereal’s goals of using fewer resources. Additionally, the VFDs allow for greater control of the pump’s motor speed to further improve the efficiency of the irrigation solution. Through constant pressure and the ability to adjust it when needed, Intercereal can lower operation, maintenance and energy costs./n/n Since implementing the Valley Irrigation solution, the company has made strides toward conserving resources and improving lives by lowering costs and increasing yields. According to Petre Ciobanu, Valley Key Account Manager, “Pumping stations are the largest consumer of energy. With a standard pumping system, Intercereal was supposed to consume an estimated 1 million kilowatts per year, which was reduced to 780,000 kWh using Valley Pumping Stations. This is an estimated savings of 28%, which is amazing.” In addition to energy savings, the company has also increased yields by 984,200 bushels. An additional 10 pivots are being implemented to further help Intercereal maximize its ability to operate more sustainably. Regularly, in the country of Romania, average corn yield without irrigation is 228 bushels (5.8 tons per acre). After irrigation, Intercereal had an average of 287 bushels (7.3 tons per acre) leading the farm operation to extreme efficiency.