Growers Talk Success with FlowControl Drip Irrigation

FlowControl drip irrigation is taking the ag irrigation industry by storm, creating an entirely new class of tapes. It is the only tape on the market that is a true flow-moderating drip tape.

Growers know that irrigating on uneven, sloped, or hilly terrain can be difficult.  Getting a healthy, uniform crop is tough because you tend to over-water at low elevations and under-water at high elevations.  Too much water can create problems – i.e. plant disease – and not enough water can be even worse, leaving you (the grower) with a sub-par crop yield at the end of the season.

Up until now, growers accepted the worries and woes of farming uneven terrain. Growers were forced to either accept the poor uniformity and lower yields, avoid the uneven areas altogether, or buy costly pressure-compensating driplines that limit growers’ control over the system application rates. But not anymore!

FlowControl Drip Irrigation helps Growers Conquer Challenging Terrain

“We’ve seen firsthand how FlowControl helps increase yield and quality. Over the past two years, we have tested it and seen it significantly improve our crops’ health, especially in challenging terrain. FlowControl delivers a more uniform crop and higher yields in areas that were once impractical to farm. We’ve even reduced our pre-plant fertilizer costs, thanks to the improved uniform distribution it offers with fertigation. FlowControl’s benefits became especially apparent to us this year – during a major drought we were consistently able to achieve uniformity on long irrigated plasticulture rows.”

Trevor Hardy
Brookdale Fruit Farm    |    Hollis, NH

For years, growers have trusted Aqua-Traxx®, Toro’s original drip tape, for unmatched clog resistance, durability, and precision placement of valuable water and fertilizer. Standard drip tapes like Aqua-Traxx, give growers the flexibility to increase or decrease water flow rates, but provide moderate irrigation uniformity. The best applications for standard drip tapes are flat terrain or medium-length runs.

For growers with challenging terrain, pressure-compensating driplines made it possible to increase uniformity, quality, and yield on changing elevations. However, pressure-compensating driplines are only available in expensive, heavier wall thicknesses, are even more expensive at closer emitter spacings, and sacrifice growers’ control over their system application rates.

Longer Runs Made Easier with FlowControl

“The principal reason we use FlowControl is because our farm is not flat – a 5% to 10% slope.  When we tried normal tape, the uniformity was not good.  We tried splitting the lots and preparing the land better, but that didn’t work.  The only thing that improved our uniformity was moving to FlowControl.  When we did, we saw the benefits right away – the irrigation and crop growth was uniform, fertilizer-use was better, and we could get longer runs.  Before, our maximum run length was 300 feet.  With FlowControl we are running 500 feet, which allowed us to eliminate a submain!”

Bianca Pérez-Lizasuain
Peninsula del Rio | Guayanilla, Puerto Rico

Toro FlowControl drip tape gives you the best features of a pressure compensating tape, and standard tape: More uniform irrigation for any terrain, and the flexibility to control the overall system flow rate.  With FlowControl drip irrigation, you truly get the best of both worlds.

FlowControl lets you take control of your farming application and gives you the next level of uniformity, efficiency, and yield – wherever you farm.