Agrilink expands its SW Florida client list of growers

Monday, November 4, 2002

By LAURA LAYDEN, lllayden@naplesnews.com

When the company he was working for in Australia dropped its horticulture division, Peter Moller had to act fast.

Agrilink's irrigation rain gauges are placed throughout the groves to monitor watering and rainfall. The information is then transmitted back to Immokalee and growers can access data through the Internet. Erin Wigger/Staff

He was out of work and had to find a way to pay his bills. So in 1997 he started his own company — a company that's now helping Southwest Florida's growers use their water more wisely and save money.

"I sort of had an entrepreneurial seizure one day, and thought I would go into business," Moller said in an Australian accent on a recent visit to Collier County.

Moller founded the Australian company Agrilink International Inc., whose U.S. headquarters is in Santa Rosa, Calif. The company expanded into Florida in August of last year, and started working with local growers about a year ago.

In Florida, Agrilink's primary target has been the citrus industry. But it's not stopping there. "We will go after other crops — sugarcane and other row crops, like tomatoes and peppers," said Chet Townsend, area manager for Florida

In Southwest Florida 10 citrus growers are now using Agrilink's technology, including Southern Gardens, Consolidated Citrus and A. Duda & Sons. Statewide, the company is working with more than 40 growers.

The first year, Agrilink asks growers to water as usual. Using its soil moisture probes and weather sensors, the company then tracks the grower's performance and develops a plan for improvement.

A weather station in a citrus grove outside of Immokalee relays information to growers so that they can decide when and how long to water their groves. Erin Wigger/Staff

Recently, Moller, who is based in California, and other members of the Agrilink team were in town to meet with the local growers who are using the company's technology. Agrilink is beginning to talk to them about how they can modify their irrigation practices for the next season.

In the past, deciding when to water and for how long has been somewhat of a guessing game for local growers. But now they are beginning to see how science and technology can help them increase their bottom line.

Tim Gast, a research horticulturist with Southern Gardens Citrus Processing Corp. in Clewiston, said his company has learned it can water for longer periods less frequently, and get better results. The company has also learned how it can cut down on its electrical costs by avoiding running its irrigation systems at peak times, he said.

"We weren't sure how we could modify our practices and be effective and still not hit those demand time charges," Gast said. "We are seeing that we can do that."

Southern Gardens is just beginning to make changes. Eventually, Gast hopes he'll be able to use Agrilink's technology to determine when to hold back water from the trees to get a better bloom. A better bloom means more fruit on the trees, and that means a bigger crop.

Dry periods and cold weather are what cause the trees to bloom. But it's a delicate balance.

"You can't let the trees get too dry," Gast said. "There's a narrow margin. You don't want to stress them so much that you hurt your crop. You want to stress them enough to affect the bloom."

Agrilink's soil moisture probe, once inserted in the ground, uses radio technology to send data on temperature, humidity and other variables directly to the computer. Growers can use the information to make decisions about when and where to water. Erin Wigger/Staff

On average, growers are able to cut their watering costs by 30 percent using Agrilink's technology, Townsend said. Some local growers will save as much as 50 percent because they are watering so much more than they have to, he said.

Agrilink's technology is wireless. Its weather sensors are connected to radio-controlled weather stations that transmit data directly to a computer every 15 minutes. The company's software generates graphs, event reports and other statistical information. Growers can use that data to determine when they should spray for pests, fertilize or prepare for a freeze. Built-in alarms will alert growers on their cell phone when there's a chance of frost, or if the temperature exceeds 92 degrees, which can cause leaf burn.

Agrilink's soil moisture probe, called the C-Probe, also uses radio technology to send data directly to a computer. The information is updated on the screen every 15 minutes, and growers can use it to make quick decisions about when and how much to water. Growers can see moisture readings 4, 8, 12, 20 and 36 inches below the ground and use that information to make sure they are getting enough water to the roots of the trees.

Growers view the data collected by the probes and sensors on a private Internet site. They are able to see weather data from around the state, which is fed to a computer by the 60 weather stations Agrilink now has in the field in Florida.

Agrilink is different from its competitors because it offers consulting services and trains growers how to use its technology and how to analyze the information it generates, Moller said.

"There are a lot of companies that manufacture sensors," he said. "But they haven't put it in a box for growers to use successfully."

Moller said when he was let go from his job at a chemical supply company in Australia in 1997, that company was just starting to market irrigation management services. He saw a lot of potential in it and that's how he came to develop Agrilink.

What started out as a one-man company now has more than 60 employees. Agrilink has raised more than $10 million in venture capital, and was recently recognized as one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies by Deloitte & Touche.

Agrilink's soil moisture probes have been used by California growers for about two years. It's mainly used by cotton and citrus growers, and in the wine industry.

In Australia, the technology has been used by growers of tropical fruits and vegetables, as well as growers of wine grapes and cotton for about five years, and the demand continues to grow.

Townsend says most of Agrilink's competitors are either chemical distributors or they sell their equipment to researchers. And they can't offer the expert advice that's available through Agrilink. Townsend has more than 25 years of experience in the citrus industry, and the company has a team of trained agronomists who can interpret data collected by its sensors and probes around the clock.

In the past, growers have purchased expensive technology they hoped would improve the efficiency of their irrigation system, but wound up not using it because they didn't know how, Townsend said.

Unlike its competitors, Agrilink leases its equipment to growers, making it more affordable. The cost of leasing the equipment is about one third of what it would be if growers had to buy the technology. Also, Agrilink maintains the equipment.

For the consulting services and the technology, growers pay anywhere from $20 to $30 an acre annually. Growers could spend $30,000 just on two probes purchased from the company's largest competitor, Townsend said.

Local growers say Agrilink's probes have proven to be more reliable than the other probes they've tried.

Gast says they work particularly well in the sandy soils of Southwest Florida.

He said the company hasn't had any problems with the probes. However, there have been other glitches.

Some of Agrilink's software has been difficult to use, and there has been some difficulty in trying to pull up some of the graphics, Gast says. But every time there has been a problem Agrilink has responded quickly, he said.

"It has usually been Internet- and computer-related problems — server problems," he said. "We had a weather tower that was struck by lightning, but that's something that just happened."

Gast says it's critical that the information generated by the probes and sensors is easy to read and easy to retrieve, or the managers in charge of the grower's irrigation systems aren't going to use it.

"If it's a hassle when they come in and look at it, they are not going to look at it," he said. "So we are trying to get it to the point — and we are working closely with Agrilink on this — that it's easy for them to look at. I think we are getting there, we just need to work on it more."

Growers aren't the only ones who stand to benefit from Agrilink's services. In Southwest Florida, there continue to be water shortages, and growers are one of the biggest users of water in the region.

"Any way we can conserve the resource is beneficial to all," said Kurt Harclerode, a spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District in Fort Myers.

Harclerode said growers are already some of the most efficient water users in the region. They have to be efficient because if they are watering too much they are wasting money.

The Water Management District has a mobile lab that gives everyone from farmers to condominium residents tips on setting up efficient irrigation systems. He says many growers have taken advantage of the lab and heeded the advice of its experts.

Still, there's always room for improvement, Harclerode said.

"We can all be more efficient users and we need to use only what we need," he said.

Agrilink sees the opportunity to work with more local growers to improve their watering systems.

It hopes to reach more growers across the state. In the last year, the company has installed 162 soil moisture probes in Florida, 92 of them in Collier and Hendry counties.

The company continues to expand in the U.S., and its looking to grow its operations in the Midwest.

At the same time, the company sees the opportunity for more business in other countries. Agrilink's soil moisture probes are already in 25 countries, including Argentina, Chile and Mexico.