New centre-pivot technology transforms irrigation systems into mobile monitoring platforms that track soil moisture, crop health and field conditions in real time.
Centre-pivot irrigation systems could offer farmers more than water delivery, with new technology helping transform the equipment into a mobile field-monitoring platform. Autonomous Pivot is developing a system that collects real-time information to support irrigation planning and crop management.
“Nothing is in the field more than the pivot, and yet most of them tell you very little, if anything at all, about the crop,” says Daniel Jenkins, vice president of sales for Autonomous Pivot.
The company’s technology combines cameras, ground-penetrating radar, GPS, rainfall measurements, and irrigation data to help producers better understand field conditions. By using equipment already travelling across farmland, the system aims to provide continuous insights without relying solely on stationary soil sensors.
During the 2026 growing season, Autonomous Pivot installed its technology at EMILI’s Innovation Farms MacGregor site in Manitoba. EMILI is assessing the system’s ability to interpret field conditions, improve irrigation efficiency, and identify potential pest and disease concerns.
Jenkins said working with EMILI has helped the company introduce its developing technology to growers and evaluate its practical value.
“Development is a tenuous process because you’re asking a grower who has never seen what they need to imagine it or envision it, and we’re trying to build things that are useful. Being able to partner with entities like EMILI that facilitate exposure to the technology, that’s been something that has definitely stood out,” said Jenkins.
The system’s central feature is automated water-balance monitoring. Using information about soil water-holding capacity, irrigation applications and field measurements, it tracks how moisture changes throughout the field.
Its camera captures wide-angle and close-up images at intervals as frequent as five minutes. These images can help identify crop emergence, growth stages, pests, diseases, physical damage, nutrient deficiencies, and other plant stresses.
Meanwhile, ground-penetrating radar measures soil moisture without disturbing the ground, and a tipping-bucket rain gauge records precipitation.
GPS tracking helps determine the pivot’s movement, allowing the system to compare conditions across different areas during successive irrigation cycles.
The accompanying app organizes the collected information into tables, graphs, and field summaries. Dividing the field into eight sections gives farmers a clearer picture of localized moisture conditions and the effects of rainfall, irrigation, and evaporation.
“With the system, we’re able to get hundreds of points of data from all around the field. We’re able to see how moisture is being maintained in different areas, and if they are building, maintaining or losing moisture from revolutions to revolution of the pivot,” said Jenkins.
Ultimately, Autonomous Pivot aims to turn existing irrigation infrastructure into a practical decision-support tool, helping producers use water more efficiently, recognize emerging crop problems, and make timely, informed management decisions.
Photo Credit: emili