Funding smarter irrigation for farms

By Jesse Sanchez. 

Val Fishman is helping connect growers with resources that support more precise, water-efficient irrigation systems. 

Smart irrigation technology can help agricultural communities conserve water while maintaining productive farmland, but adoption often depends on whether growers can access practical funding. Val Fishman, an advocacy and development consultant with Netafim, Orbia Precision Agriculture, works at the intersection of agriculture, industry and sustainability and contributes to the Irrigation Association’s efforts to promote broader adoption of smart irrigation practices. During her five years in the irrigation industry, she has helped translate corporate sustainability commitments into measurable benefits on farms while supporting the long-term viability of farming communities. 

Val entered the field after spending 11 years with an environmental nonprofit, where she helped shape work now known as corporate water stewardship. That experience showed her how agriculture could directly influence water use and climate outcomes. 

Subsurface drip irrigation using manure effluent was one technology that captured her attention. Netafim later patented the approach as SDI-E, demonstrating how irrigation innovation could produce environmental and operational benefits for farmers. 

Today, Val views smart irrigation adoption as both a funding challenge and a connection challenge. She works to connect farmers with financial resources that can help them modernize their irrigation systems. While some of that work involves improving access to state and federal programs, she primarily collaborates with private-sector companies investing in agriculture through sustainability strategies. 

Precision remains central to the value of smart irrigation. In Western regions, improved systems can help farmers manage limited water allocations without removing land from production. In groundwater-dependent areas, they can help extend finite supplies. In regions experiencing flash drought, better information can support faster decisions before crop stress affects yield. 

Val believes accessible funding could remove one of the most significant barriers to adoption. Although proven irrigation technologies are available, financial resources can be difficult to access, slow to deploy or poorly aligned with farm-level decision-making. 

Learn more about how smart irrigation professionals are advancing water efficiency across agriculture!