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On the western edge of Republic County near Courtland, Kan., third-generation farmer Richard Lindberg is proving that innovation and conservation can go hand in hand.

Richard and his wife Melanie own and operate Lindberg Family Farms. For many years, they’ve discussed and adapted the farm’s irrigation strategies to meet the realities of limited water resources. The farm’s geography presented additional challenges, split almost in half by railroad tracks. With help from Reinke in the past year, Lindberg met that challenge and even earned the Republic County Conservation District’s Key Banker Award for water conservation.

The honor recognizes Kansas farmers who demonstrate exceptional stewardship of agricultural and natural resources. Lindberg’s operation stood out for its adoption of advanced irrigation technology designed to maximize water efficiency in an area with water use restrictions.

Improving irrigation

Lindberg Family Farms has been irrigating crops for several decades as the farm was purchased 80 years ago. Like many operations in the region, irrigation began with siphon tubes and eventually evolved into graded irrigation pipe systems. While effective for their time, those methods typically deliver only about 50–60% irrigation efficiency. As water supplies have tightened over the years, Lindberg realized a more efficient solution was needed.

The farm moved to center pivot irrigation, installing one pivots in 2009. But the most significant change came recently. In 2024, Richard installed another and retrofitted the original system with variable rate irrigation (VRI) capabilities.

In 2025, Roehr’s Machinery in Beatrice, Neb., helped Lindberg by installing two new Reinke Electrogator II pivots. They also added Reinke’s award winning electronic swing arm corner (ESAC) technology to walk the pivot past their barn, adding valuable acres under pivot. The Reinke dealer installed RPM Touch Screen control panels and the RC10 monitoring system, helping Lindberg with remote management to save valuable resources while still putting down the water his crops needed.

“The dealer helped us plan the whole thing,” Lindberg said. “We put up the new Electrogator pivots and got soil sensors out in the fields. Now I can control the whole thing with my phone instead of driving around to check and make sure the pivots were getting water to the crops.”

Water savings a “major turnaround”

The time savings was a big bonus, but the best part came later in the season when he could see how much less water they’d used.

“For the first time ever, we didn’t run out of water during the growing season,” he said. “Historically, we’d always had to shut off the water well before we wanted. This was a major turnaround for us.”

That milestone marked a major turnaround for the farm. In previous years, water allocations often ran dry before crops finished their growth cycle. With the new pivots and precision controls, the farm managed its entire season without exhausting its water supply.

Lindberg credits Reinke’s irrigation equipment and technology along with the support from the Republic County Conservation District, grant funding and assistance from the local Farm Service Agency to help make the upgrades possible.

“We couldn’t have made these improvements ourselves,” he said. “This has all really been a blessing for us.”

Reinke irrigation solutions make all the difference

The technology allowing Lindberg to irrigate fields with precision water application is integrated to work with CropX sensor to monitor soil moisture, crop behavior and soil health. The sensor collects the data and feeds back watering recommendations to the Electrogator II pivot.

“Richard can easily access the information he needs on his smart phone without having to drive out to the field and check the pivots manually,” said Eric Bathel at Roehr’s Machinery. “The field layout was challenging, but with the addition of a swing arm we were able to get nearly90% coverage of his total acres and made a dramatic difference in their irrigation water usage. From one year to the next, they could certainly see the difference in how much they saved.”

For Lindberg, investing in modern irrigation isn’t just about efficiency – it’s about conserving resources and protecting the future of farming that his family has done for generations.

For more information on grants to help purchase precision irrigation equipment, find your state’s Natural Resources Conservation Service office by visiting NRCS.USDA.gov.To find out more about Reinke’s complete line of irrigation solutions or to find a dealer near you, go to Reinke.com.

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