Implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act has led to increased scarcity for some water users. From its Fresno manufacturing facility, Netafim USA is working to help growers make up the difference. Netafim photo

A Central Valley manufacturer has launched a new product to help farmers save water.

In January, Fresno-based Netafim USA rolled out its FlexNet Medium Pressure Pipes with hopes to provide more efficient, durable, reliable and uniform water distribution.

While traditional lay-flat irrigation pipe is prone to leaks and requires more labor to install, FlexNet helps farmers reduce labor costs by 20-30% and drastically lowers installation times, according to the company.

FlexNext pipes are constructed without Teflon or glue, eliminating chemicals that can seep into crops, soil and water sources.

Mike Hemman, president of Netafim’s North America division, said 2024 was yet another challenging year for the agriculture industry.

It was the second year in a row with net income for farms dropping, which brought significant challenges with lower commodity prices and higher input costs, as well as higher borrowing costs.

 

“For us. it wasn’t too bad because we have technology that could help them in those aspects,” Hemman said. “We all know the water challenges that we have in California, so adoption of our products — specifically drip irrigation — helps farmers utilize their water more efficiently.”

September 2024 marked the 10^th anniversary of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) being signed into law to stem the overdraft of groundwater.

Implementation of the law has been ramping up, which has led to more interest in drip irrigation technology.

Almonds are one industry seeing the biggest impacts from SGMA, Hemman said. The crop is also a big part of the company’s business.

With the large expansion of almond acreage in recent decades, Hemman said that many of the orchards were planted in areas that had no surface water supplies.

With SGMA rules coming into play, many almond growers can’t pump enough groundwater to irrigate, leaving them to pump just enough water so the crops don’t die. The rule could have some growers paying fines and having to repurpose land.

“Eventually, what’s going to happen is that the orchards will be removed from those areas, and once supply and demand balances, those orchards will likely be planted in areas where they have surface water or better groundwater,” Hemman said.

Regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign nations, Hemman said there has been a trend among farm equipment manufacturers to move production out of the U.S.

Many drip irrigation manufacturers have closed their U.S. facilities and moved their production to Mexico, he added.

If Trump’s tariffs go into effect, it is likely there will be an increased cost for irrigation equipment, which could lead to supply constraints similar to ones that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

However, the Central Valley is well positioned because of investments in local manufacturing for Netafim’s products, with Hemman describing it as a “tariff resilient supply chain.”

 

When it comes to the workforce, Hemman said it is always difficult to find good manufacturing labor. But he added that Netafim has a good reputation as an employer, with a lot of talent wanting to work for them.

To create better products, the Netafim team goes out to farms to get feedback from farmers to see what’s working and what isn’t, and takes that information to their research and development department.

Automation is playing a more crucial role in drip irrigation, Hemman said, noting Netafim’s product, GrowSphere. The device in the field is internet connected and allows farmers to remotely turn on and off the irrigation system, as well as monitor soil and weather.

To get their products onto more farms, Netafim helps farmers find government funding and subsidies.

They also have corporate partnership programs where Netafim works with large corporations including Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Google and Chipotle to help those companies find and fund farmers who want to conserve water, Hemman said.

Hemman said agriculture is cyclical, and the ag industry always recovers.

“We’ve seen the worst of it, and we are seeing bright spots and a light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m feeling the market is beginning to recover,” Hemman said.