Faculty, staff earn national win for virtual showcase
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) selected a Mississippi State University team as one of the 2021 Educational Aids Blue Ribbon award winners for an online resource that teaches farmers about soil moisture sensors. The award will be presented during a ceremony on July 15 starting at 1 p.m. as part of the ASABE Annual International Meeting, held virtually July 12-15.
The blue ribbon went to the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research (NCAAR) for its Soil Moisture Monitoring Showcase. The website allows agricultural producers and various stakeholders to compare side by side different soil moisture sensors and accompanying telemetry services on the market.
This winning team includes Jacob Rix, Extension/research associate I; Tsz Him Lo, assistant Extension/research professor; Drew Gholson, assistant professor and MSU coordinator of NCAAR; and Stephen Caples, web designer II, and Karen Brasher, manager of communications, who are both with MSU Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing.
“MSU research and Extension have shown repeatedly that soil moisture sensors can help growers schedule irrigation to conserve water resources while maintaining farm profitability,” said Lo, who has been co-leading the showcase with Gholson. “We are grateful for this award’s recognition of ongoing MSU efforts to equip growers with more information and confidence for adopting soil moisture sensors.”
To learn more about the NCAAR Soil Moisture Monitoring Showcase, visit www.ncaar.msstate.edu/outreach/index.php#showcase.
The National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research is a cooperative program of the MSU Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, under Cooperative Agreement number 58-6001-7-001. The showcase is supported by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and the Row-Crop Irrigation Science Extension and Research (RISER) initiative.
RISER is supported by the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board, Mississippi Corn Promotion Board, Mississippi Rice Promotion Board, Cotton Incorporated and Mississippi Peanut Promotion Board and by the Conservation Innovation Grants program at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service under award number NR203A750008G007.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Vanessa Beeson | Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing
