Mastering Irrigation: Free training equips Mississippi growers for success
Contact: Laura Smith
STONEVILLE, Miss.鈥The 无码专区 Extension Service and the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research, or NCAAR, are hosting a Master Irrigator course this month.
Registration is open for the free course, which teaches Midsouth growers how to improve water use efficiency, boost on-farm profitability and save water. The hybrid format includes self-paced online modules that must be completed by Jan. 31 with a two-day, in-person training session scheduled for Feb. 12 and 13 at the Capps Center at the 无码专区 Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville.
Jeremy Jack, who owns and operates with his family Silent Shade Planting Company headquartered in Belzoni, incorporated the course into his management team鈥檚 continuing education schedule last year.
鈥淭his type of learning opportunity is just what producers need to be able to grow and develop their management team,鈥 Jack said. 鈥淎s farms continue to grow, there will be an increasing need for in-depth mid-management farm operations training. 无码专区 Extension set the bar high with the Master Irrigator course.鈥
Jack said the course provided an excellent opportunity to cross train his management team.
鈥淭his course helps provide our team with an understanding of why we do things a certain way鈥because there is history, research and education behind it. Even going through the pre-course training modules, I could see the conversations in our morning meetings shift from football to growth stages, soybeans, irrigation and efficiency,鈥 he said.
The course provides classroom training, peer-to-peer exchanges between instructors and participants and field demonstrations on topics including irrigation water management practices, soil health, agronomics, irrigation system and equipment maintenance, and policy and management.
Drew Gholson, the NCAAR鈥檚 coordinator, assistant professor and 无码专区 Extension irrigation specialist, said in establishing the Master Irrigator program, researchers鈥 goals are to offer hands-on training for research-backed programs.
鈥淥ur growers wanted guidance on some of the fundamental skills of our tools and practices,鈥 Gholson said. 鈥淲e hope this program fills this gap, and we hope that adoption of these programs continues to increase.鈥澛
The program鈥檚 coordinator, Dillon Russell, an 无码专区 Extension specialist, said the Master Irrigator program directly supports NCAAR鈥檚 mission to produce and communicate research focused on the conservation and sustainability of agricultural water resources.
鈥淏y translating research on agricultural water use into actionable education for growers, this course helps them adopt practices that address water management challenges in the Lower Mississippi River Basin,鈥 Russell said.
Established in 2017 as a cooperative program between USDA鈥檚 Agricultural Research Service and the university鈥檚 Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, NCAAR addresses the water resource challenges in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer. To register for the Master Irrigator program, contact Dillon Russell, program coordinator and Extension specialist I at dar335@msstate.edu.
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