On June 9, Barbara Booth, vice president of microirrigation at Rain Bird,  was interviewed by Investment Reports on the future of agriculture and ways in which Rain Bird is preparing.

“With the trend toward growing locally, we recognize that we need to move the water to agricultural areas,” says Barbara when discussing the challenges currently facing the agriculture industry.

Aside from water sourcing, the agriculture industry also faces labor shortages, land availability and the need to sustain a growing population. Due to technological innovations, labor shortages may be solved by automating the agriculture industry through Wi-Fi and cloud-based systems that can auto-adjust irrigation schedules.

Rain Bird itself was born from the agriculture industry. The first Rain Bird invention, the horizontal action impact sprinkler, was developed with the intention of letting growers in California irrigate more efficiently. While Rain Bird still sells impact sprinklers, other water-saving solutions have also been developed, including microirrigation. Microirrigation products deliver water more precisely and at a slower rate.

“We need to attract young, diverse and ambitious individuals to solve the challenges that we face in agriculture today,” says Barbara. “I am sure that the pace of innovation at Rain Bird will be one factor which excites and attracts that new talent.”

Investment Reports is an online media company that focuses on providing authoritative, objective and useful reporting for business leaders.

Barbara has been with Rain Bird since 2000. She has served in a variety of roles, including business development manager, marketing manager for landscape irrigation and director of golf, before being promoted to her current position in 2021. Barbara holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.