Innovating Irrigation in Oregon: A Conversation with Nolan Grimm from Stettler Supply Company

Since 1948, Stettler Supply Company has been a trusted partner for Oregon farmers, delivering top-tier irrigation systems and support across the Willamette Valley and beyond. In November 2022, we partnered with Stettler Supply Company to bring FarmHQ’s smart irrigation technology to more farms throughout the region. At the heart of this partnership is a shared mission: helping farmers save time, money, and water with solutions that are simple, reliable, and effective.

To learn more about how things are going, we caught up with Nolan Grimm, Co-Owner and Operations & HR Manager at Stettler Supply Company. Nolan and his business partner Taylor Meyer are part of a new generation of ag leaders, bringing fresh ideas and forward-thinking technology to their customers. In our conversation, Nolan shared what he’s seeing on the ground with FarmHQ and how farmers are using irrigation automation to work smarter every day.

How did you start working with FarmHQ?
We met the FarmHQ team at a farm show a few years ago in Salem. We are a young and innovative company, and we are always looking for technologies that will really help farmers save time and money. We were intrigued by the FarmHQ solution, and we have built a great relationship with the FarmHQ team and have been a partner since 2022.

Why are your customers using FarmHQ solution and how are they using it?
Farmers need innovation. They need ways to save time and money. Many of our farms use the FarmHQ remote irrigation automation and monitoring solution to turn pumps on and off remotely, monitor reels and pivots, and control the flow of water in VFDs.

Farmers need innovation, but they also need technology solutions that are affordable and can be easily implemented. FarmHQ is an affordable solution and it is an effective solution. It is easy to implement and so easier for farms to adopt.

What results do you see for farms that use FarmHQ irrigation automation solution to shut their pump on and off remotely?
The basic need for a farmer is to shut their pump on and off remotely. It saves you a 45-minute drive out and back. Saves you wondering if it shut off. All kinds of crops, all kinds of irrigation equipment. The need is the same. What is your time worth? It saves you time, it saves you the diesel in your truck, and it saves you crop damage. That is a real deal.

That is the starting point, and for some people that is enough.

In what other ways do farms use the FarmHQ solution?
Others also want to monitor hose reels when they are coming in. Or they want to track water usage and report on it. More and more farms have to report on water usage and the FarmHQ solution is an easy to use interface that also provides that at no additional cost.

One area is water tracking. This is becoming more and more prevalent because of regulations. Tracking also helps with managing crop growth and crop yield. But tracking and then reporting is coming from county or Oregon state regulations. Some farms have 10, 20, or 30 wells. Instead of going and finding each meter on each well, you can bring it all into one place. FarmHQ can easily do this now, and I expect more farms will start using this.

What do you love about working with FarmHQ?
FarmHQ is an affordable, reliable, simple solution that does what it says it will. We see a lot of automation companies, platforms, technologies that don’t work the way they say they do. But FarmHQ does.

I have only worked with a couple of companies that are as involved and committed to their product as FarmHQ. They make adjustments, answer questions, and resolve anything quickly. They also listen to us and to customers who have ideas about features that will solve other problems for our customers.

What we appreciate is that just like the dedication that our company gives in supporting our work and our products with our customers, FarmHQ has shown that dedication to us and our customers as well.