Making the Most of Your Irrigation System Workshop Being Offered

Irrigation systems have been popping up across the Carolinas like kudzu the past couple of years, and Rod Gurganus, Director of Beaufort County Extension explains that while installation of irrigation may have slowed, those that took the plunge still need to know how to manage what they have efficiently:

“That was the idea when this opportunity came. We needed to learn more about how to manage the equipment that we put in place. A lot of our farmers have invested a lot of money the past few years in this overhead irrigation equipment and we wanted to give them opportunities to learn how to operate it and use the systems efficiently.”

The Tidewater Research Station in Plymouth will host an irrigation workshop later this month to address some issues with regards to using irrigation systems explains Gurganus:

“When they made the determinations to put the systems in there were considerations of the amount of water needed and the quality of the water. But also there is the quality of the amount of water that is running off the farms carrying nutrients out. So we have always talked about those things and be good stewards when it comes to the water that is leaving our farms. We are now learning that we can also manage the water to our advantage for production. So timing of irrigation is important.”

The workshop is divided into two parts explains Gurganus:

“We will be at the Vernon James Center in Plymouth on Jan 27 all day. The morning session will begin at 8:30 and will include classroom teaching on agronomics and how to irrigate efficiently making use of the water that we have. The afternoon session will be hands on. There are irrigation systems at the Research Station that they will allow us to put some instrumentation in the field to measure outputs and show people how to schedule irrigation.”

Registration for this particular workshop is limited to 25 people:

“There is an online registration available. You can also call. The reason to keep it low, is to keep it hands on and to allow us the right amount of materials to be handed out. It is all provided at no cost.”

Director of Beaufort County Extension, Rod Gurganus.