A relatively new agricultural technology company started by a long-established Saskatchewan farming family is making irrigation waves in the Outlook region — NewTec Irrigation & Ag promises to make planning, installing, maintaining, and upgrading irrigation systems easy.
“Relatively new company, but been in the farming industry for quite a few years,” explained Mike Baerwald, vice-president of operations at NewTec. “The owners are Ron and Gwen Elder, and they have been in numerous agricultural businesses.”
The Elders are well-known and well-trusted in the region for their farming expertise, and they’ve brought the traditional Saskatchewan values of friendliness and reliability to each of their enterprises over the years.
“I’ve known these guys since the beginning of time, that kind of thing,” said Bill Ivan. Ivan and his family are multi-generational — currently on their fifth generation of farmers — and farm both irrigation and dryland crops. “They’ve always helped me out wherever they’ve worked before.”
“They all came together at NewTec there in Outlook, so that’s just where I went. I just know them, and they’re good at what they do, from service to parts to sales. Simple as that.”
The Saskatchewan government has recently committed to a multi-billion-dollar irrigation project in the southern part of the province that will provide many fresh opportunities for farmers to increase their irrigable land.
That project is expected to roughly double the amount of irrigable land in the province by 2030.
“We can help anybody who has irrigable land, and the government of Saskatchewan has started putting money back into that,” Baerwald said. “You guys are seeing some of that in Moose Jaw, the Qu’Appelle Valley, those types of things are starting there, and then also here as well, and the infrastructure is really just being brought back to life, is what that is.”
The company can do any irrigation solution, but is especially focused on pivot irrigation, which supplies water to crops from a central location.
Baerwald said that NewTec has a direct supply line to their manufacturer that enables them to supply any scale of need, be it one pivot or twenty.
“Instead of doing a manual irrigated system, where you have to be out there, turn it on, watch it, that type of thing, now we’re going into a generation (of technology) where you can do everything you want from one location,” he added.
The so-called Internet of Things, a term for the phenomenon of having everything possible hooked up to the ‘net, is also fully integrated in ag-tech. NewTec Irrigation & Ag uses an agricultural telemetry system called FieldWise that allows ag producers to collect data and control their irrigation tech from anywhere.
The priority, always, is maximizing yields while minimizing costs, including time invested. NewTec helps their customers from start to finish of the project, and will be around helping to keep that equipment current for years to come.
“We had an old pivot that I was going to replace, but the season started and I thought, I’ll just go with it and see if it lasts,” said Ivan. “Well, it didn’t. It fell down. Long story short, they had a pivot in stock … and I’m not regretting it one bit.
“I really didn’t lose any irrigation time with them. … They’re good at what they do. Simple as that, and they’re willing to help and make things right and keep you running during the peak season.”
Find more information at newtecirrigation.com/.
