Third-Generation Farmer Turns Irrigation Entrepreneur
PureSense founder Matt Angell develops a simple solution to conserve water
Water Conservation Innovation
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"My family's been farming for three generations," says Matt Angell. Their farm in Madera, in central California, grows grapes. But, he says, "I have a love for irrigation."
Angell has been in the irrigation business since the early 1990s, when he began installing drip irrigation systems to save water for his family farm and other farmers. But he was sure that farmers could do better.
"We really can't see underneath the soil. That's where all the analytics need to occur," Angell says. "The soil-water relationship drives everything about a crop. Its health. Its production. Its ability to reproduce, year in and year out."
Angell came up with a relatively simple product—a soil probe equipped with sensors to detect the water content in the soil. The sensors transmit data wirelessly to the Internet, and areas of soil are mapped as red, blue, or green. Blue means the land has been overwatered, red means that more water is needed and green says everything is fine.
Why would a farmer invest in Angell's PureSense?
"Profitability per acre," Angell says. "That comes from better yield and higher quality."
PureSense has customer testimonials to prove it. "It's giving us a better vision of what is happening at different soil levels," said Bob Cushing, an almond farmer in Oakdale, Ca.
Cushing told Pacific Nut Producer magazine: "It has increased our confidence level of knowing how much water we are giving our trees. Depending on almond prices, it will more than pay for itself in just a few seasons."
Posted: 06-Apr-2009; Updated: 20-Apr-2009
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