Androscoggin/Sagadahoc Counties Success Stories
(Lewiston Field Office)

Chesuncook State Soil Monolith on Display

The Soil Resource Specialist in Lewiston worked with the Coordinator of the Auburn Land Lab to develop this permanent display of soil profiles and soil horizons landscape, showing moderately well-drained to poorly drained soils. The display was constructed out of plastic Formica chips.  The soil monolith to the right is of the Chesuncook State Soil. One of the main focuses of the Environmental Education Science Program at the Land Lab is on soils.

New Irrigation System Saves Money, Water, and Fuel

Since 1984 Rick Belanger and his family, who operate a vegetable farm in Lewiston , Maine, have been drawing irrigation water out of Moody Brook.  They grow potatoes, pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, squash, and numerous other vegetables.  They have recently gone from a big gun irrigation system to a center pivot irrigation system.

The new system will cut down on their labor costs.  With the big gun system it took three people about five hours to set up pipe and move equipment, and then it took one person about ten hours through the night to irrigate.  After this, taking the system down would take three people about four hours.  Assuming that no problems arose, total time for one irrigation cycle would equal about 37 billable hours.  Depending on the amount of rainfall, they would irrigate four to five times a season, which meant that about 200 hours of labor costs were being spent on irrigation every season.  The new center pivot system should take one person about 30 minutes to program.

The center pivot system will cut water usage in half.  Center pivot systems also have more efficient water usage than big gun systems. 

In addition to the reductions in labor costs and water usage, the Belangers will reduce fuel usage and they will have access to the two tractors that were used to power the previous irrigation system.  Production is not expected to change much, but the quality of the produce should improve, especially with crops that are highly sensitive to water needs such as potatoes and sweet corn.  In addition, disease incidence may be reduced due to less leaf and tissue damage.

The installation process for the center pivot system began when Rick applied for Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program dollars through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Before money could be granted there were several environmental reviews needed.   

The field was surveyed and the irrigator path mapped out.  A few trees needed to be cut from one corner of the field.  Fortunately, the field to be irrigated is relatively flat so the irrigator will be able to easily traverse the area.  The pipeline from Moody Brook to the location of the pivot was laid out.  A pump station was constructed near Moody Brook to move the water to the field.  The Belanger's needed a large pump in order to obtain a pressure high enough to move the water through the long stretch of pipe.

The irrigator consists of one 135-foot section, three 179-foot sections, and an end boom measuring 66 feet.  There are four mobile towers and one stationary tower.  The main control panel is located at the stationary center tower and is voice activated.  There is also a separate power box located at each mobile tower.  Sprinkler heads are spaced evenly along the irrigator and needed to be installed in a specific order to account for the different water pressures that will reach them.

< Back to Features...