Tag: toro

Join Us at the 2014 World Ag Expo

Posted on February 5, 2014 by torodriptips

From February 11th – 13th, Toro will be exhibiting at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. This is a special year for us because we are celebrating a rare milestone – 100 years in business! So be sure to stop by Toro booth #K44 to help us celebrate our “Century of Innovation,” check out our newest products, and find out what we have in store for the next 100 years. To learn more about Toro and our 100-year history, visit www.toro.com/100. Hope to see you at the show!

The Toro Company Kicks Off Centennial Year Celebration

Posted on January 29, 2014January 29, 2014 by torodriptips

On July 10, 2014, The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) will celebrate a rare business milestone – achieving 100 years in business. According to Michael J. Hoffman, Toro’s chairman and chief executive officer, Toro attributes its remarkable longevity to, “the character of our people and channel partners, and their relentless commitment to serving our customers and building market leadership through innovation.”

Toro’s yearlong celebration of its 100th anniversary provides an opportunity not only to look back on the company’s notable achievements, but also to recognize the ingenuity and dedication of its employees – and to thank its channel partners and end-user customers around the world for their loyalty and trust in The Toro Company.

As Hoffman put it, “These same values that have been core throughout our first 100 years form the foundation for continued success into our next century.”

A Legacy of Excellence
From the start, Toro built its legacy by understanding the needs of its customers and developing products and services to help them succeed. This commitment to innovation is reflected in the more than 1,500 patents its employees around the world have earned over the years.

In addition, Toro has developed strong networks of professional distributor, dealer and retailer partners across industries in more than 90 countries to provide local, expert, professional customer service. For example, in 1922, Toro created the golf industry’s first national distributor network. And, in 1934 as the business grew, Toro encouraged its distributors to establish dealers in areas the distributors’ staff could not effectively cover, providing local customer service that proved to be a competitive advantage.

This commitment to customer service has been instrumental in Toro’s development of long-term relationships with golf courses, homeowners, professional contractors, agricultural growers, construction and rental companies, government and educational institutions – in addition to many premier sporting events, venues and historic sites around the world.

People Make the Difference
For decades, customers have counted on Toro because of the company’s reputation for reliability, quality and standing behind its products. When Toro celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1939, the company’s first president and co-founder John Samuel Clapper noted that the loyal service of Toro’s employees and distributors was the customers’ guarantee of a high-quality product. As Hoffman summarized, “What was true 75 years ago when Mr. Clapper made his statement about Toro remains true today – the loyal service of our employees and channel partners is critical to our company’s success.”

Explore Toro Innovations
From developing new technologies to expanding into new markets, a timeline of the company’s many innovations and achievements is available at www.toro.com/100 – in addition to several highlights below, summarized by market:

U.S. Water Prize Winners to be Announced at the California Irrigation Institute Conference

Posted on January 22, 2014 by torodriptips

The U.S. Water Alliance will announce the 2014 winners of the esteemed U.S. Water Prize on Thursday, January 23, at the 52nd annual California Irrigation Institute (CII) conference in Sacramento addressing water and energy use. Alliance President Ben Grumbles will announce the winners in his keynote directed to the audience of agricultural, urban and environmental water experts.

“Given the urgent and critical challenges California faces due to drought, there couldn’t be a better place to announce and celebrate U.S. Water Prize winners,” explains Grumbles. “America’s future looks bright blue with these shining water stars. Our 2014 winners are leading the way by reducing water waste, reusing water resources, and rethinking watershed strategies and technologies.”

Veteran Attends Sustainable Agriculture Training Program with the Help of Toro Grant

Posted on January 16, 2014 by torodriptips

Brock N. Selman is currently transitioning out of the military after five years of honorable service and two tours to Afghanistan. With hopes of creating a future in farming, Brock turned to the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) program, that trains veterans in not only sustainable agriculture, but also business planning.

According to Brock, “I envision a farm where not only high quality organic food is produced, but also a learning center for the young and old, alike. A place where field trips can teach children where food comes — from and how it’s grown, as well as teaching adults about healthier alternatives to fast food and prepackaged meals at the grocery store.”

And the Winner of Toro’s ‘Ready. Set. GROW!’ Grant Program is…

Posted on December 12, 2013 by torodriptips

The Toro Company today announced that Shannon Ranch Elementary School, in Visalia, CA, won top prize in the company’s ‘Ready. Set. GROW!’ grant program. As a result of the public vote, a $7,000 grant will be awarded to Shannon Ranch Elementary. The grant will enable the school to enhance their life sciences program including installing a water-efficient drip irrigation system at their school garden for use by students throughout the year. The garden will also serve as a model on smart irrigation practices for the surrounding community.

Upon receiving the news, Principal Samantha Tate said, “We appreciate the opportunity Toro has provided Shannon Ranch through the ‘Ready. Set. GROW!’ grant. We envision our school garden as being an essential component of our life sciences programs, kindergarten through the sixth grade. To have the opportunity to teach our students about the importance of agriculture in education, and how our garden can benefit our school community, is an incredible gift!”

Subsurface Irrigation Systems Drip Water When and Where It’s Needed to Support Higher Yields

Posted on December 10, 2013 by torodriptips

A 40-year-old irrigation technology is seeing newly realized yield value as drought conditions, economic factors and resource scarcity issues intensify.

Initially adopted by U.S. vegetable, fruit and nut farmers in the 1960s and 1970s, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) technology has rapidly advanced in the last two decades and continues to gain precision agriculture momentum.

Today’s SDI systems apply slow, frequent applications of water into soil and surrounding plant root zones through a system of driplines and emitters buried 10 to 18 inches below ground. SDI systems are well suited to support crop production in arid, semi-arid, hot and windy growing conditions such as those experienced by farmers in the High Plains states.

Agriculture Industry Needs To Do A Better Job “Telling its Story”

Posted on October 29, 2013 by torodriptips

All too often, the general public still thinks of farmers as wearing overalls and using very simple practices to grow crops when quite the opposite is true, says Rob Atchley, general manager of citrus groves for Florida and Texas for A. Duda & Sons Inc., LaBelle.

To help bridge that misperception, he called on those in agriculture to do a better job educating the public about current farming practices and how farmers are true professionals.

“Farmers, especially those who grow specialty crops, need to give the public a view of how we really farm, to show these are highly managed businesses and not a couple of guys in overalls with buckets throwing fertilizer,” he says. “They are professional people who do this for a living. They study these businesses. They grow up in these businesses, and they run them at a high level of oversight because the margins demand it. We can’t do things sloppily.”

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Leave us a comment and let us know your story or how you are a professional in the agriculture industry.

To learn more about Toro’s story, visit toro.com. Or, check out one of our many drip irrigation case studies to learn more about how professionals in the agriculture industry are using drip irrigation to improve their farming practices.

To read more about “telling the story”,

Toro Expands Agricultural Irrigation & Acquires Water Savings Equipment Co.

Posted on October 1, 2013 by torodriptips

As we look to the future, water availability and increasing demand for food are driving awareness for the importance of more efficient forms of irrigation. To meet increasing demand, The Toro Company has announced that it has closed its acquisition of the Xiamen Xiangfeng Water Saving Equipment Company (Located in Xiamen City, China), manufacturer of water-efficient drip irrigation products, sprinklers, emitters and filters for agriculture, landscaping and green house production. Toro’s goal? Continuously improve and meet increasing demand by delivering high quality solutions for growers.

With China being a critical growth market for micro irrigation, this acquisition also provides a means to grow the company’s presence in this important market. Toro is expanding their micro irrigation business, as evidenced by this acquisition and the recently completed micro irrigation manufacturing facility in Romania to support the growing Asian Eastern European regions.

Toro entered the agricultural micro irrigation business in 1996 with the acquisition of James Hardie Irrigation, and has since grown its position through the development of industry-leading drip technologies and investments to expand globally.

Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI)

Posted on September 19, 2013June 13, 2014 by torodriptips

Click here to download Toro’s official guide to Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI). For Spanish, click here.

Subsurface Drip Irrigation is a specialized sub-set of drip irrigation where dripline or drip tape “lateral lines” (tubes buried beneath the crop rows) and supply and flushing “submains” (pipes supplying water to the lateral lines) are buried beneath the soil surface for multi-year use. The technique of burying less expensive Bi-Wall drip tape laterals beneath field crops was pioneered in the American Southwest decades ago, and has since been implemented by researchers and growers alike. The SDI technique is now being used throughout the world on a wide range of grain forage and fiber crops including alfalfa, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane. In addition to drip tape, thinwall integral driplines are commonly used as well.

WEBINAR: Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Grain Crop Production

Posted on September 3, 2013July 17, 2014 by torodriptips

On Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 1PM (Pacific Time), the Grange Network will be hosting a 60-minute, FREE webinar to discuss subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) for grain, oilseed, forage and fiber crops. When SDI is used for these lower value crops, careful attention must be given to ensuring system longevity and optimizing crop productivity so that SDI can economically compete with other types of irrigation, including center pivot sprinkler irrigation. The webinar’s presenter will be Dr. Freddie Lamm, a professor and research irrigation engineer at the KSU Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby, Kansas. Dr. Lamm will provide an overview of typical minimal SDI system requirements to ensure longevity, discuss these lower value cropping systems when used with SDI, and present the challenges and opportunities for SDI.

Click here to register for the FREE webinar, “Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Grain Crop Production.”

Toro Announces ‘Ready. Set. GROW!’ Grant Program

Posted on August 28, 2013August 29, 2013 by torodriptips

Agricultural communities play a vital role in feeding the global population, and with the effects of last year’s drought lingering well into this year, it is apparent that efficient and sustainable agricultural practices are more important than ever. With that in mind, Toro has introduced ‘Ready. Set. GROW!‘ an all-new program that awards $15,000 in grants to help agricultural communities promote efficient and sustainable agricultural practices.

But to make the program a success, Toro is asking for YOUR help in recognizing those that promote sustainable practices in agricultural communities across the United States. All you have to do is identify and nominate non-profit organizations [501(c)(3)] or government entities that are doing great work to improve agricultural communities. You might recognize an organization installing drip irrigation in a community garden to more efficiently use water resources; a local non-profit committed to furthering sustainable agricultural practices; or, an organization training military veterans in modern agriculture technologies. For complete details and to nominate an organization, visit https://www.facebook.com/Toro.Company/app_112813808737465.

Toro to Offer Subsurface Drip Irrigation Guide, Education & Tools at Husker Harvest Days

Posted on August 21, 2013 by torodriptips

Toro will be exhibiting at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Nebraska, offering a variety of ways for growers to learn about subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) and how it can help them maintain or increase yields using less water, even during a drought.

At the booth (#436), Toro will be hosting a number of growers and dealers to share their experiences with SDI to grow soybeans and corn in Nebraska. Interested growers can learn the benefits of SDI first-hand and get a free demonstration on designing an SDI system using Toro’s AquaFlow drip irrigation design software. Additionally, Toro will debut a new ‘how-to’ guide for SDI, based on case studies and years of research growing a variety of crops. Growers attending will also see the actual results of an SDI system at a field demonstration hosted by the show. The first in the show’s history, the demonstration plot irrigates a 30-acre cornfield with SDI buried 14 inches deep on 60 inch centers.