Kalvin Kovatch’s wattles are in a Montana rut… exactly where they should be.

Having grown up west of Great Falls, Kovatch knows that farmers struggle to keep irrigation-pivot wheels from gouging ruts in their fields. If ruts get too deep, a pivot sensor turns the water off because the structure is strained.

"If you’re in eastern Montana and you’re buying water shares and your pivot’s off for the whole night, that’s a big deal," Kovatch says. "There are thousands and thousands of pivots out there. It’s a huge market–we’re just the first to get into it."

Kovatch http://roundwoodwest.wix.com/wood designed his wattles to match the width of the wheel ruts. When he tested them under pivot wheels, the wattles compressed slightly and then sprang back. They also hold their form when they get wet, unlike straw.

In September, Kovatch’s brainchild became the first woodchip wattle certified by the Montana Department of Agriculture as weed-free for use in farm fields.

By Laura Lundquist

Full Story: http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/business/Content?oid=2548071