Farmers brace for severe weather impact on costly center pivots as spring storms loom

Center Pivots are one of many investments that ag producers and farmers who are tasked with growing food and fiber must make.

One of the downfalls of center pivots is that they are exposed to the open weather elements, and that means when strong storms or severe weather move across the region, they can have a negative impact and a costly impact on center pivots.

“Mainly in a hard straight-line wind, it will blow them over, it blows hoses off if they get to whipping around in the wind and get them tangled up,” said Chandler Bowers, ag producer.

“I mean it's Mother Nature, I hope you're current on your insurance and you've got to hope everything works out,” said Westin Williams, farmer. “You have to get up the next morning and drive around and say a little prayer and hope that everything is okay.”

Some of the newer center pivots are designed to rock and roll in high winds, but just like anything else over the last three to four years, they’ve gone up quite a bit in price.

“You go to get your bigger center pivots, just like vehicles, it can all vary, but yeah, a half-mile pivots you’re getting up to the $200-to-$350-thousand-dollar range,” said Bowers.

“Center pivot is a way more optimal way of using the groundwater and a lot more efficient than the row watering days,” said Williams. “Today, a center pivot is 30 to 40% higher than they used to be a few years ago.”

With the risk of strong storms and severe weather moving across the region over the next few days ag producers and farmers said it’s a very active spring which means they have no choice but to closely monitor the weather to help reduce the risk of one of their center pivots being damaged and or out of commission for repairs.