Q&A with Blake Olberding
Blake Olberding
Pasco, Washington
Q: What FieldNET feature do you rely on the most?
A: The low-pressure alarms for my effluent water – otherwise I wouldn't know that the water wasn't coming out and it would cause plugged nozzles. It gives me the upper hand because I can see what's going on.
Q: How does FieldNET help you as a potato grower?
A: The ability to control chemigation from my smartphone is a huge benefit. It saves time since I have to apply nitrogen weekly, and fungicide as needed.
Q: How has FieldNET positively impacted your bottom line?
A: There are many ways, but the top one is the ability to start and stop end guns. Otherwise I'd be wasting water by irrigating the road, which would result in fines.
Q: Was there a time that FieldNET "saved the day"?
A: I was out baling, and one of the bales got dropped in the pivot track. In just a few seconds, I was able to shut off the pivot from my phone right before it hit the bale.
Q: What words of advice do you have for other growers considering remote control?
A: All I can say is, once I had FieldNET on one pivot, I had to have it on all of them.