SUPPLY CHAIN
Paulman, who manages about 5,000 acres with groundwater and center pivot irrigation, has seen supply chain stresses across all of the types of equipment he needs to keep the farm running. In the past, that’s encouraged connections between professionals.
“Fortunately, in agriculture, for the most part you’re able to work together,” he says. “For a lot of those pressures, you can call up a neighbor, say, ‘You know that grain cart you’ve got parked out there? Can I swipe a part off of it?’”
But as the supply chains have started to pull tighter, that’s caused everyone to feel the pressure.
“That was OK for a while,” he says. “Now it’s more, ‘Wait a minute, are we going to be able to get that part to replace it and get it running again?’”
Stocking up
Ensuring water availability for plants is always a major task for growers, especially while farming in an area where water use is under allocation. As irrigation system parts have gotten more difficult to track down, he’s had to make tough decisions about buying new when it makes sense just to make sure the crops are getting what they need.
“We’re in an allocated area where they restrict our pumping, so there’s only so much water we can pump,” Paulman says. “You have to think really strategically in terms of making sure you’re prepared for whatever’s coming next.”
“Your schedule has to be moved up. I’m not talking about a week. I’m talking about 30, 60 or 90 days.
— Roric Paulman, Paulman Farms
For much of his typical order of replacement parts, he’s added about 10% to 15% over the standard quantity, just to make sure that he’s able to get some products coming in. Even if he only gets half of the order in the near term, that will help him manage his needs.
Before the pandemic, when Harsch needed parts for his irrigation equipment, he could often get them in a day or so. While many parts weren’t being warehoused, it was possible to get what he needed. But even having to wait a handful of days prompted him to begin stocking commonly used parts, he says. Covering about 2,200 acres with both center pivots and gravity-fed irrigation, he tries to keep spares available.
“The parts that we know we’re highly likely going to need, we’ve just started stocking because we know the inventory isn’t there,” Harsch says.
12 Irrigation TODAY | Summer 2022
As the pandemic continued and into this year, the stress on the supply chain for parts hasn’t lessened. “There are significant supply chain shortages now, worse than it was last year,” Harsch says.
Last December, a corner arm fell over on a pivot during a windstorm, he says. He ordered the replacement right away, but it wasn’t slated to arrive until the first week of May.
Wahlgren has pushed to develop as much efficiency in his farm’s irrigation system as possible, including having his well tested through a program with Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts as well as others. Between those efforts and tracking the farm’s actual water use, he’s been able to make better choices about how to protect the farm against supply chain stresses.
He used that data to direct the company’s investments in updating the systems where he’s been able, starting with the least efficient to strengthen those weak points and make the need for repairs less likely. “I’m trying to direct a limited budget toward the highest payback,” Wahlgren says. “Those would be the systems with considerable age, losing pressure, losing volume or starting to see problems.” Now, almost all of their pivots are models that are less than three years old. “We decided to spend the money where it makes sense.”
For Harsch, building a stock of commonly used parts is following the adage that fate favors the prepared. “It’s not just a pandemic thing,” he says. “Nothing ever seems to get cheaper.” Having spare parts on hand even for large equipment like pivots not only helps him avoid having to make tough choices and deal with insurance companies, it’s an overall cost savings.
“Whatever we think we’re going to need, we’re trying to get it on hand,” Harsch says. “Any type of maintenance we’ve been trying to do, we tried to do a bunch of it in spring in case we needed any parts, so we would have time to try to get them.”
One more contemporary tool that’s been useful in securing parts has been the internet, Paulman says. Where farmers haven’t always been the most eager to embrace new technologies, online marketplaces have been an increasing resource.
Leasing of some equipment like sprayers is also becoming more popular again, says Paulman.
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