Michigan Valley Irrigation

Groundwater-based irrigation is pivotal to the United States' agricultural productivity and economic growth. However, the increasing groundwater withdrawal from major aquifers is poised to significantly affect the sustainability of agricultural production systems. This has led to legislative and governmental restrictions on groundwater withdrawal, which hinders the agriculture space from effectively irrigating farmlands.

Michigan Valley Irrigation (MVI), a full-service agricultural irrigation business that sells Valley brand’s irrigation equipment is helping producers overcome these obstacles. Through its long-standing and highly awarded relationship with Valmont Industries (Valley Irrigation), the worldwide leader in producing center pivot irrigation systems, MVI answers all of a producer's irrigation demands by strongly emphasizing water usage optimization. MVI has the most extensive parts inventory in Michigan, with a good supply of new and used equipment on hand. It also has a vast and well-established network of vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors that enables access to supplies and services required to accomplish a range of projects on time.

Leveraging the Valley brand of center pivot, linear, and corner equipment, MVI delivers solutions that conserve water while meeting the skyrocketing food demand. MVI’s early adoption of technology and ability to attract forward-thinking clients has fostered an atmosphere that drives Valley Irrigation to seek its support in on-farm research trials for novel component prototypes. Currently, it has carved a prominent position in the irrigation industry with more than three offices comprising a team with 450 years of combined experience in irrigation and farming-related business dispersed throughout Michigan.

"We strive to provide farmers with the best available equipment, take pleasure in our ability to service them, and are unquestionably the first to react when there is an irrigation-related issue," John McGee, CEO of MVI.

MVI’s vision is to turn a typical center-pivot irrigation system into a field robot that can recognize and attend to the demands of the crop. One of its products, Plant Insights, helps discover nutrient deficits, bugs, pests, and weeds in the field and informs growers of the location and findings. It then employs injection pumps to uniformly and accurately deliver those nutrients, herbicides, or fungicides via the center pivot. A highlighting feature of MVI is its variable frequency drive (VFD) solutions, which enable the replacement of diesel engines with electric ones, resulting in a product with improved efficiency, reduced emissions, and lower operating costs for the grower. Above all, MVI’s solutions can be remotely controlled using AgSense, a remote management solutions platform that enables smartphone-driven control of pivots, pumps, and other irrigation equipment.
Backing its solutions are the only two nationally certified agricultural irrigation designers in Michigan who enable MVI to provide solutions consistently with a robust and reliable design. Its nimble in-house crews can manage the complete construction field layout utilizing cutting-edge GPS technology. Simultaneously, its skilled service team maintains a track of issues and ensures the machinery always operates at peak efficiency.
Its technicians often work in pairs and are well-equipped with the necessary parts to handle every call. MVI's service department also leverages its expertise and technical know-how to meet water requirements for delicate crops.

From a construction standpoint, its in-house team of experts can build an entire center pivot in a single day using an off-road construction forklift and a crane. They frequently travel more than 150 miles to reach different locations and have worked on an estimated 15,000 center pivots across MVI’s footprint.

The client onboarding procedure at MVI varies depending on the variety of consumers in the farming community. MVI continually monitors its performance by forging personal bonds with its clients and relies on their honest feedback. Michigan Valley draws from their extensive experience in providing viable, efficient options and staying with the customer through every step of the project, including working with power companies, government organizations and agencies, and other contractors. This continues beyond the operation of the equipment with service, maintenance, education, and upgrades.

Recently, a sizable client that conducts business across three Michigan counties wanted to curb their expenses, driven by the usage of diesel and the absence of reliable help. MVI assisted this client by developing comprehensive mobile phone monitoring capabilities that enabled a single person to operate numerous pivots through AgSense and effectively control their farms.

MVI always makes a genuine effort to be the most reliable irrigation partner, consistently delivering accessible and high-performance equipment. Today, Michigan is home to some of the best producers in the nation, and MVI efficiently capitalizes on this opportunity using its leading-edge center pivot that can help them optimize and produce crops to their greatest capacity.