In our first irrigation field report, Monty Teeter provides a heartfelt answer to the question, What do we need to do until things get back to normal. “To get back to normal…I think this is the norm. I think we need to mitigate any losses. We have to be smarter about our choices and have plans A, B, and C in place, not just we’ve always done it this way my Dad always did it this way that’s how we are going to do it this year. I don’t think we can do that anymore.”
In this interview, Monty Teeter generously provides several valuable suggestions for what steps growers can take to be more successful this year. Over the years, I have gained enormous insights from Monty to improve water management and use. Monty started in the Irrigation Industry in 1972, working for an Irrigation company that manufactured and delivered irrigation piping and products throughout the central United States. He started his own business in 1977 in his garage with three hundred dollars at 24. He has been a distributor, designer, and installer of center pivots for 40 plus years and has experience in SDI (Sub-Surface Drip Irrigation) for 20 plus years. This experience of selling more than 3,500 pivots and thousands of acres of SDI in his businesses has allowed Monty to understand the technologies and benefits of both irrigation applications. With the perseverance of mobile drip irrigation, Monty developed and designed Dragon -Line, the Orange Mobile Drip Irrigation, which combines the efficiency of drip irrigation with the flexibility and economics of pivot irrigation. While living during this time of the drastic decline of freshwater reserves and feeding a growing population worldwide, Monty has always strived to find solutions and innovations for the industry, thus earning the Irrigation Innovation Award from the Irrigation Association for 2019. Today, he will share his vision about “How to make every drop of water count!” and the benefits of Mobile Drip Irrigation.