Winner of AFBF ag innovation challenge from Coeur d'Alene

By Paige Nelson

For Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

Have you ever heard of the Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge? If “yes,” you know your Farm Bureau. If “no,” well, you’re in good company because neither had this year’s winner, that is to say, they’d never heard of it before they did a quick google search.

During the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Austin, Texas, in January, Idaho company HydroSide Systems, LLC was named winner of the sixth annual Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, also making them the 2020 Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year.

HydroSide is working to revolutionize the traveling irrigation industry, starting with wheel lines and traveling guns.

Dana and Sharon Mohr are husband and wife owners of HydroSide, based in Coeur d’Alene, and are currently in the process of designing the first-ever completely autonomous wheel line and traveling gun system.

Thanks to the credibility and recognition that comes with Farm Bureau’s award, they are in a good position to release their first products by late summer.

A hands-off way to water

Growing up in a blue-collar world with plenty of hard labor under his belt, Mohr related with his brother-in-law, a farm hand, when he complained about the difficulties involved with wheel lines.

“We saw these old-fashioned machines that were tried and true and worked well,” Mohr said. “They were reliable, but they were very labor intensive and not as efficient as they could be. In the West, water can be as valuable as gold.”

With this problem in mind and after consulting with western Montana farmers, he initially started looking into how he could modernize wheel lines. This led to a breakthrough that automates wheel lines and traveling guns with a combination of GPS and hydroelectric technologies using a whole new drive system.

“When we started digging into it, we saw there were some great advances in some of the precision irrigation technologies, including GPS and computer drive systems,” Mohr said. “We saw a way that we could combine some of these existing technologies to make these systems better.”

The product of more than three years of research and development birthed HydroSide and its flagship invention: an autonomous irrigation system.

According to Mohr, the autonomous wheel line system operates like this: A traditional water pump services one or more wheel lines or traveling guns, sending pressurized water down the line. The gas-powered motors that drive these systems are replaced with all electric movers.

The HydroSide system bolts into the existing set but employs an in-line turbine to charge onboard batteries. The system’s batteries power the onboard computers and electric drive motors. As long as the pump is running, the HydroSide system is harvesting power.

The wheel lines irrigate like normal for their preset time. Once complete, they are remotely shut down and 20 minutes elapse for the water to drain. Then, using GPS technology, the electric motors power up and move the system to its next set spot in the field, carrying the hose right along with them.

The hose spools out as the system drives away from the water source and then picks the hose back up as it returns to the water source — similar to a fishing reel. When the set location is reached, the pump is turned on and irrigation happens once more.

“Say you have your 40-acre square and you have your quarter-mile long wheel line traveling across,” explains Mohr. “Now that wheel line will just drive itself down and back, irrigating, draining and moving over and over across the field. That’s how we’ve been able to automate the 40 acres.”

The system is completely autonomous. Wheel lines are notorious for getting out of alignment, but HydroSide has built steerability into their product.

The HydroSide-enhanced wheel line has two electric movers. A big main unit at the end does all the heavy lifting of the hose and driving of the line. About two-thirds of the way out there is a smaller mover that looks a lot like a traditional gas-powered wheel line mover but instead is powered with the HydroSide hydroelectric drive system. The smaller mover drives in sequence with the main mover, preventing any bends or kinks in the pipe.

“Those systems talk wirelessly with a short-range radio,” Mohr said. “They are able to communicate back and forth and very precisely travel together. We’ve got GPS accuracy down to within 2 inches using our own GPS correction data.”

For the traveling gun (or boom) system, the primary HydroSide mover serves as a 1-to-1 replacement for a hose reel and can work in conjunction with an existing hose reel to cover even more acreage. This also means that you can use the system to perform two functions. For example, you can use the wheel line system on one crop for one part of the season and then use it as a traveling gun for another – all with the switch of a few fittings.

Irrigating from the rocking chair

HydroSide has designed its system to be operated from a smart phone or a computer. Via notifications, it proactively communicates with the farmer.

“Our system is set up with a few fail safes,” Mohr said. “We have a pressure sensor, so if there’s an increase in pressure we know that there’s a blockage … If there’s a drop in pressure, say there’s a failure at the pump or a leak, then a notification will go out.

“Otherwise the farmer is notified when the set moves are complete and then gets an indication of how much water was put down and the general performance of the system.”

Breakdowns happen

Because breakdowns in the field happen, Mohr said the system’s built-in redundancies help the unit continue to operate even if one or more parts are lacking function.

Software on the system is cellular enabled. Mohr said HydroSide can remotely access the units to address any software issues or make upgrades or updates. There’s no need for onsite visits when it comes to software.

Ag Innovation Challenge

With their unit showing great promise in the field, Mohr and his team were asking themselves, “How do we get credibility in the industry?”

“We knew it was going to be a little tricky to get our name out there,” he said. “We started looking at grant opportunities, and then we started looking at competitions. Farm Bureau was the first hit.”

Mohr said the team had no idea how they would fare in the competition. Previous winners had been focused on app technology and drones. He wasn’t sure if HydroSide’s idea was “sexy enough.” Nevertheless, “We threw our name in the hat figuring we had a very practical yet innovative solution for growers.”

HydroSide Systems being named the winner of the 2020 Challenge was a landmark win for Idaho and a sort of statement for the rest of the West.

“We were the only company selected [for the top 10] that was west of Missouri and there’s a lot of amazing ag tech and innovative ideas in the West,” Mohr said.

He said the credibility earned from the prestigious Farm Bureau award has opened important doors for the blooming enterprise and is even more valuable than the $30,000 prize winnings.

“The recognition and relationships that we’ve been able to build and establish as a result of this competition have far outweighed any winnings,” he said. “Even if we won $100,000, the relationships are worth so much more.”

HydroSide’s future

The HydroSide team already has plans in place to take their invention and apply it to pivot irrigation — lateral and center pivots. The application is the same, it would just be scaled up for pivots.

“We realized we could automate [pivots] with this same power plant,” Mohr said. “We crafted our patents to be able to do exactly that.”

In the more near-term, HydroSide is planning a “collaborative demo days” tour of the Northwest.

HydroSide had planned a “collaborative demo days” tour of the Northwest in late spring; however, that road show has been delayed until the summer months or when the coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

For more information about HydroSide, visit www.hydroside.com or send an email to dana@hydroside.com.