My Week with the Irrigation Industry: An E3 Report Back

By Justice Diamond

Experience, exposure and education are the three tenets of Irrigation Foundation’s E3 Learner Program. This is accomplished by inviting selected students to take part in a week of course work and networking during the annual Irrigation Show and Education Conference. 2017’s E3 Class included 28 students and 2 instructors from 17 states. IrriGator asked UF-ABE masters student Justice Diamond to report back on his E3 experience in Orlando, Florida.

E3 Learner Justice Diamond and industry reps 

My focus

The focus of my graduate work is to develop best management practices and deliver those to farms throughout the Suwannee and lower Suwannee basins in North Florida. What I’m working on specifically is to develop an app for irrigation scheduling for corn.

Suwanne River Basins (USGS)

My advisors Drs. Migliaccio and Dukes encouraged me to apply when they saw the opportunity arise and I went ahead and applied. The courses I selected for E3 were Landscape Water Management and Planning and Center Pivot Design. I’m really interested in Center Pivot technology and was especially looking forward to learning more about that.

The Big Week

My E3 experience was very positive. The highlight of the week for me was getting to know other people - having conversations about what they’re doing, the research they’re doing, and having conversations with people in the industry about how they perceive what the industry is going to look like in the future and what they want out of students. 

An informative day two with E3 Learners enrolled in Center Pivot Design course #IrrigationShow pic.twitter.com/EqKev11c82

— UF/IFAS IrriGator (@IrriGatorUF) November 7, 2017

The least enjoyable part was how long classes were. The teachers were very good, but with an eight hour class there actually isn’t a lot of time to go see the exhibits and I think that part could be condensed. Nevertheless, having an in depth discussion with someone who lives and breathes center pivots I learned a whole lot more. In that sense it was very educational.

Sponsors like The Toro Company ensure the success of the E3 Program

Takeaway

Thank you to the Irrigation Foundation for the opportunity to participate in E3. Meeting people who are all about irrigation, it can only benefit me because that’s what I work with, too. I can only learn and grow from their experiences. My advice to eligible students in 2018: definitely apply! There’s nothing you can lose from the experience and you’ll only learn and meet people who will help you out in the long run.