Irrigation, Reservoirs & Scheduling
Irrigation: For Farmers
What Irrigation changes for the person actually doing the work.
For the person running the business, the test of any farm software is whether it removes work or adds it. Irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture deficit and evapotranspiration rather than habit typically delivers substantial water and energy savings alongside better crop uniformity. This module runs the scheduling model, manages reservoir storage and refill, and appraises the capital case for winter storage against a summer abstraction licence that may not always be available.
In their words
What the job actually looks like
These are not marketing personas. Each one is a distinct job with a distinct constraint, and the module is designed so that solving one does not create work for the others.
Potato grower
Irrigated on light land
Needs scheduling that protects tuber quality without wasting licence volume.
- Establish soil water holding capacity by field
- Install and calibrate monitoring
- Model the deficit daily
- Plan irrigation against licence headroom
Salad producer
High-frequency irrigation
Needs uniformity and energy cost under control.
- Install and calibrate monitoring
- Model the deficit daily
- Plan irrigation against licence headroom
- Apply and record volumes
Farm engineer
Reservoir project
Needs a capital appraisal with grant funding modelled.
- Model the deficit daily
- Plan irrigation against licence headroom
- Apply and record volumes
- Monitor uniformity and energy use
End to end
How Irrigation runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Establish soil water holding capacity by field
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Install and calibrate monitoring
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Model the deficit daily
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Plan irrigation against licence headroom
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Apply and record volumes
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Monitor uniformity and energy use
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Manage reservoir refill through winter
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Review seasonal efficiency and yield response
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Capabilities
What Irrigation does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Soil moisture deficit modelling by field, soil type and crop stage
- Evapotranspiration-based scheduling with local weather input
- Soil moisture sensor integration with calibration to field capacity
Operate and monitor
- Irrigation event planning, execution and recording
- Application uniformity assessment for booms, guns and drip
- Reservoir storage volume, refill and drawdown management
Comply and evidence
- Reservoir design appraisal with capital cost and grant modelling
- Reservoir safety and inspection compliance record
- Energy use per cubic metre pumped with cost tracking
Analyse and improve
- Fertigation programme integration with the nutrient plan
- Crop water requirement and critical stage identification
- Deficit irrigation strategy modelling when water is limited
Obligation calendar
What irrigation asks of you, and when
Windows, deadlines and recurring obligations for England. Set a different nation and the calendar reconfigures; farm across a border and it shows both, reconciled.
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February 1 entry
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3 February: Animal Health and Welfare Pathway
Rolling application.
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March 1 entry
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3 March: Plan irrigation against licence headroom
A recurring step in irrigation.
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April 1 entry
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20 April: Adding Value Grant
Round-based.
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May 1 entry
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9 May: Install and calibrate monitoring
A recurring step in irrigation.
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June 2 entries
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5 June: Farming Transformation Fund
Round-based by theme.
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15 June: Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September.
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July 3 entries
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10 July: Model the deficit daily
A recurring step in irrigation.
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14 July: Slurry Infrastructure Grant
Round-based.
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17 July: Water Management Grant
Round-based.
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August 1 entry
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12 August: Establish soil water holding capacity by field
A recurring step in irrigation.
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October 1 entry
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5 October: Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Round-based, usually open for a defined application period.
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November 2 entries
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12 November: Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Round-based.
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27 November: Environmental Land Management Capital Grants
Round-based, with rapid allocation once open.
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December 1 entry
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26 December: Countryside Stewardship
Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group.
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Worked example
How a business like yours would use Irrigation
The problem: Needs scheduling that protects tuber quality without wasting licence volume.
What they do
- Establish soil water holding capacity by field
- Install and calibrate monitoring
- Model the deficit daily
- Plan irrigation against licence headroom
What changes
- Water applied per hectare
- Water use efficiency per tonne
- Energy cost per cubic metre
This is an illustrative worked example built from the module design, not a customer reference. Named case studies are published only with the business's written consent.
What we are hearing
The problems people describe to us
These are composite statements drawn from user research conversations, not attributed customer quotes. We publish named references only with written consent.
I am not short of software. I am short of one place where the same field means the same thing in all of it.
The scheme closed on a Tuesday evening. I had the application half built. Nobody told me the budget was nearly gone.
We farm on both sides of the border. Everything takes twice as long and I still cannot see the whole position on one screen.
Audit week costs me three days. Every single record they ask for is already written down somewhere on this farm.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Water applied per hectare
- 02Water use efficiency per tonne
- 03Energy cost per cubic metre
- 04Application uniformity coefficient
- 05Reservoir utilisation
Free tool
Run the numbers for your own holding
Enter your figures and get an answer you can act on, with the method shown so you can check it. Save the result to your account or take it away as a PDF.