Origin

Kennedy Irrigation is the product of a water research commission project known as “Research on a computerised weather-based irrigation water management system” - De Jager JM; Mottram R; Kennedy JA. Report Number: 581/1/01

By using the Putu-vegetation growth model weather data, irrigation records and crop data were used to simulate the water usage of plants and soil moisture levels.  The data obtained was correlated and used in recommendations to farmers on how much and whether to irrigate or not.  The project was hugely successful and was proof that crop growth models can be effectively used to simulate soil moisture levels.  The biggest obstacle was and is to obtain irrigation records from farmers on a daily basis in order to do the correct simulations.  It is a very tiresome and expensive process but Kennedy Irrigation saw the opportunity of establishing a service that could measure soil moisture levels accurately on a daily basis which could supply the farmer with the necessary recommendations.    

James Kennedy, then the sole proprietor, established Kennedy Irrigation in 1992.  In order to ensure continuous growth, financial stability and to ensure access to the latest cellular technology and research, available partnerships were formed. These qualified representatives, researchers, agriculturists, electrical engineers and programmers ensure that the clients of Kennedy Irrigation are furnished with the best possible service and advice.      

Today the success of this business model is attributed to a combination of the above knowledge, because to ensure a sustainable and profitable agriculture, one can nowadays not focus exclusively on agricultural knowledge and training.