Washington Potato Commission providing scholarships for irrigation tech training

Farm and Ranch June 11, 2010 The Washington State Potato Commission is helping to get a new program underway that will help growers maintain today’s sophisticated center pivot irrigation systems. Karen Bonaudi, Commission Assistant Executive Director, explains how this program has come to be and what the commission is doing to help.

Bonaudi: “We have a commissioner, Angela Pixton, who also happens to be a trustee at Big Bend Community College. She was talking to the college about the need for irrigation tech skills for farm employees, and got to talking with the irrigation companies as well, about supporting a program to train those kinds of employees. And when she talked to the commissioners about it they thought it was such a good idea the commission decided to sponsor eight, two-thousand dollar scholarships for the program that will start next fall.”

In addition to the Potato Commission, Bonaudi says private irrigation companies are also supporting the new program at Big Bend.

Bonaudi: “And you know in this economic environment there is no way that the college could initiate a new program without the support of industry.”

That’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report. Brought to you in part by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nutrition today. Good health tomorrow. I’m Bob Hoff on Northwest Aginfo Net.