When Kurt Bantle bought a 12.5-acre avocado grove in 2011, he envisioned farming as a nice contrast to his day job as a wireless testing expert. He also saw business potential.
Then came a historic five-year drought.
“This was supposed to be the yin to my life’s yang, where I came and just got dirty,” Bantle said at the 850-tree Bantle Avocado Ranch, atop Santa Margarita River Valley in Fallbrook. “We did the business plan. But nowhere in the statistical models does it say factor in a record-breaking drought.”
The lack of precipitation put a premium on water. To grapple with high prices, Bantle built a moisture monitoring and automated irrigation system. This is where his technical expertise with Internet of Things (IOT) products came in handy.
In 2014, he began placing sensors in the ground that wirelessly communicate a critical piece of information: How wet is the soil?
The Cloud Brings Water
Cloud-based software collects the data, and when a tree needs to be watered, the system turns the sprinklers on automatically. Other sensors deeper in the soil measure whether bursts of water reach deep enough to flush out tree-weakening salt.
Bantle’s system innovation stands out among a crop of avocado farmers turning to technology to survive. He estimates his system — a few of which he’s sold without trying too hard — cuts water use by as much as 50 percent, without sacrificing the grove’s health.
Standing beside a 15-foot tree recently, Bantle pulled back thick, dark green leaves, revealing avocados that will be plucked from the trees come December or January. What appears to be a promising yield contrasts with a year ago. Red and brown-tinged trees lined the grove, the wrong color for this time of year. Avocados fell off the tree en masse before they were ready to be picked.
Bantle hopes this year marks a turning point for the farm. After all, he bought the land as an investment property, in hope that his avocado harvests could supplement retirement income.
“This year is actually a do or die year for us.”
Growing Interest in Avocados
He’s often joined by his wife, Jennifer, and his two daughters have lent a hand at the property, perched on a rock hillside that offers sweeping 360-degree views of the county. Looking west, wine grapes are being harvested at a neighboring farm, and farther out a marine layer obscures the beaches.
In July 2011, the family paid $155,000 for the land in foreclosure. Bantle knew getting in the avocado business was a far cry from two or three decades ago, when land and water were cheap. But the couple had farming know-how. They also saw a growing interest in farmers markets, avocados and locally grown food.
“We lived in France for a while, and there was just something so cool about how closely seasonal food was tied to everyday life,” Bantle said. “I saw that catching on here.”
The land hadn’t been maintained for a few years, but had 60-foot avocado trees dating back to the 1980s that Bantle figured would get them going.
In 2012, though, it was decided the trees needed to be “stumped” — cut down or severely pruned — to save water and make picking easier. The tradeoff was that doing so put the trees out of production for two years.
More setbacks followed. Notably, a heatwave wiped out last year’s crop. There was also the trial and error of developing the soil moisture monitoring and irrigation system.
Forced to Innovate
Initially he thought he could grab such technology off the shelf, but nothing existed for small farms. Instead of wireless, an alternative would be running copper wire. Yet it’s cost prohibitive and a target for rodents.
Building his own irrigation system largely meant connecting the dots between existing infrastructure, and then adding in his technical expertise.
“The guys that do soil moisture sensors don’t do valve control. And then the guys that do valve control don’t do sensors. And they struggled with understanding wireless — how radio waves go through trees, over trees and under trees.”
Bantle said he’s finally worked out the system’s kinks. This year is a test of just how effective it is.
“We pulled 3,000 pounds out of here last year. We should be pulling 70,000 pounds,” he said. “This harvest hopefully will allow me to tell people I used 1.5 acre feet of water per acre and produced just as much tonnage as the 4-acre-foot rule of thumb.”
For all the headaches, he said the avocado business offers plenty of rewards.
“The people I’ve met, the atmosphere here, there’s a magic to it,” Bantle said.
Precision Watering
Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego Farm Bureau, said conservation technology has become a necessity in avocado farming. It’s all about watering just the right amount, at just the right time.
“In recent years, you have a choice: you go out of business or you learn to be technologically savvy,” he said.
Larson said cities, too, play a role in keeping farmers in business. He pointed to Escondido greatly expanding its recycled water infrastructure, which will allow farmers to irrigate at a fraction of the cost of imported water. A recycled water treatment plant in Escondido, set to be built in two or so years, could shave as much as 40 percent to 50 percent off farm water bills.
Selling the System
Since 2013, Ganah Krasnyanskiy has operated a 12-acre organic farm in Escondido. The land is in the midst of becoming high-tech. She installed a solar-powered water filtration system to cut down on salt that hurts trees, and she’s eyeing a soil-moisture system, having consulted Bantle.
“He’s a treasure chest of knowledge,” Krasnyanskiy said, adding, “Technology gives us a lot of tools.”
Bantle has sold a few of his systems, which include sensors, nodes, valves and a gateway device. For a 20-acre farm, the ballpark cost is $5,000. He’s exploring further commercialization, with the pitch that it pays for itself and then some over time.
“I don’t see any way to be in the business of farming without high-tech,” he said.
