Designing agricultural machinery for a drier future

10/09/26 11:00

For farmers, the challenge is not as simple as securing enough water. When abstraction is restricted and reservoirs are under pressure, inefficient irrigation becomes harder to justify, increasing the need to use available water more precisely. This puts greater demands on machinery, which needs to respond with the same precision if farms are to maintain productivity.

By the end of July, the Environment Agency reported 1,395 abstraction restrictions in force, while demand on farm reservoirs for irrigation remained high. When less water is available, there is less room for it to be applied where it will have little benefit.

Irrigation requirements can vary considerably across a single field. Soil type, moisture levels, crop development and local growing conditions can all influence how much water an area requires, yet conventional irrigation can apply water relatively uniformly across large areas.

As a result, one part of a field may receive more water than it needs while another requires additional irrigation. Variable-rate irrigation offers a way to respond to these differences, using information about conditions in the field to adjust water delivery according to local requirements.

Precision agriculture can now identify variations across a field, with sensors and monitoring systems able to detect differences in soil moisture. If one area requires more water and another needs less, the irrigation system needs to make that adjustment accurately.

Smarter irrigation

Variable-rate systems also point towards irrigation moving beyond fixed schedules and manual intervention. As agricultural equipment becomes more connected, irrigation can respond to changing conditions rather than a predetermined pattern.

However, for agricultural machinery manufacturers, greater autonomy also creates new engineering requirements. Equipment needs to respond reliably to control inputs and make precise adjustments, often with limited human intervention. This puts greater emphasis on the components responsible for turning those instructions into movement.

A current UK trial shows what this could look like in practice. Water Resources East is working with Elveden Estate in Suffolk and Waldersey Farms in Cambridgeshire to test variable-rate irrigation on potato and onion crops. The system combines soil and moisture data, weather information and satellite imagery with irrigation controls to vary water application at 20–30 metre intervals across fields, rather than applying a uniform rate. Previous modelling indicates potential water and energy savings of 20–25 per cent, which the two-year trial will assess.

Designing agriculture for scarcity

A sensor can identify a change in soil moisture, but the system still needs to respond by adjusting a valve, changing a pump or moving equipment to another area of the field.

Linear actuators can provide controlled movement for opening, closing or adjusting irrigation valves, while DC and brushless DC motors can drive pumps, mobile irrigation equipment and autonomous agricultural platforms. Where higher torque or controlled movement is required, geared motors can provide the necessary mechanical advantage.

For automated equipment, these components need to provide consistent, predictable movement, deliver the required performance over long periods and respond reliably to frequent control inputs. Efficiency can also be a consideration where equipment operates autonomously.

For agricultural machinery manufacturers, this means considering the drive system at the heart of design. EMS supplies motors, gearheads, encoders and linear actuators, alongside bespoke drive solutions, allowing manufacturers to develop complete motion systems around specific requirements for precision, torque, space and control.

There are, of course, limits to what engineering can achieve. More sophisticated irrigation equipment cannot create additional water, and agriculture will still need investment in storage, infrastructure and wider water management. The latest drought reports show that the consequences already extend beyond irrigation, with reduced crop yields, poor grass growth and pressure on livestock forage stocks.

What machinery can do is give farmers greater control over how available water is used. If drought and water restrictions become a more familiar feature of UK agriculture, that control will need to be considered as part of how agricultural equipment is designed.

For agricultural manufacturers, the challenge is to help agriculture maintain productivity with the resources available. When water is scarce, that means designing equipment capable of making every litre count.