TRAINING IRRIGATORS ON HIGH-TECH SYSTEMS Charles Swanson, the School of Irrigation’s extension program specialist in landscape irrigation.
I
Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background.
programs, irrigation systems have become ever more
Irrigation’s extension program specialist in landscape
Charles Swanson: I am an extension-program specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service based in the biological and agricultural engineering department at Texas A&M University. The School of Irrigation is an extension program within this agency. I grew up on an irrigated rice farm on the gulf coast of Texas. My familiarity with rice farm irrigation was an important factor in my choice to study agricultural engineering and agricultural systems management, focusing on irrigation, as an undergraduate at Texas A&M. I continued that work during my graduate studies at Texas A&M as well, in which I studied irrigation for rice efficiency. When I graduated, I was offered the opportunity to continue the work I was doing in this department for Dr. Guy Fipps, who created the School of Irrigation in the early 1990s to address irrigation education needs. I have been working for Dr. Fipps and the School of Irrigation since January 2008.
lead at Texas A&M and how it trains irrigation
Joshua Dill: Would you tell us about the history of the School of Irrigation?
in hand. With new sensors, controls, and software
efficient with the goal of increasing yields for water users. However, some professionals are left wondering how
to use these new technologies or unsure of their benefits. To remedy this, Texas A&M University started the
School of Irrigation to provide training and research findings to agricultural and landscape irrigation
professionals. The program aims to promote efficient irrigation practices and to coordinate irrigation research and development to benefit researchers and irrigators alike.
In an interview with Joshua Dill, the managing editor
of Irrigation Leader, Charles Swanson, the School of
irrigation, discusses the program he and Dr. Guy Fipps professionals on new technologies and equips them with data to better manage their operations.
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Charles Swanson: The School of Irrigation was established in 1994 with the primary purpose of providing landscape irrigation training. In the early 1990s, the program received a grant from the Texas Water Development Board to evaluate the potential cost savings of adopting landscapeirrigation auditing in Texas. That grant allowed extension specialists to attend a variety of auditing programs, like the one at the Irrigation Training and Research Center in
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TEXAS A&M SCHOOL OF IRRIGATION.
n today’s world, technology and irrigation go hand
