An aspiring entrepreneur from Oklahoma who wants to conserve water while beautifying landscapes is one of two winners of trips to the International Irrigation Show for essays on irrigation careers.
Bradley Smith of Bethany, Okla., and Daniel Ostrem, who grew up on a farm near Brookings, S.D., won the Irrigation Association Education Foundation irrigation careers essay contest, the foundation announced.
In his essay, Smith, a student Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma City, said a career in irrigation would allow him to earn a living while also being a conservationist.
“Society does not have a water supply crisis,” Smith wrote. “We have a water management crisis. Irrigation is an answer to the problem and carries with it an added benefit for aspiring entrepreneurs like myself. It is an industry that will both assist in the conservation of water and water quality while allowing for a profitable bottom line.”
Smith said he would like to attend the irrigation show to learn more about programming irrigation controllers and low-volume irrigation, including micro sprays and drip systems.
Ostrem grew up helping operate center pivot irrigation systems on his family farm in South Dakota. He studied pivots and tested irrigation scheduling software while a student at South Dakota State University and now wants to explore how to make irrigation systems more efficient and less labor intensive.
Ostrem says he wants to pursue a career that will combine his love of agriculture with the varied opportunities created by advances in irrigation scheduling, chemigation and other aspects of irrigation.
“Automation in irrigation ... creates a great need for people with knowledge of computers, wiring and electricity, programming and the scientific relationships between soil, water, and crops.” Ostrem wrote.
“Irrigation is a very promising field in which to pursue a career because the world will always be looking to increase crop yields and land productivity,” Ostrem said. “As new technologies are implemented ... new opportunities will arise.”
Smith will be accompanied to the show by Oklahoma State faculty member David Gerken and Ostrem's faculty advisor is Hal Werner from South Dakota State.