Working Ranch April/May 2025

Irrigation Design

Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. His main emphasis was irrigation, water sup ply and quality, and water manage ment. In 1985, Sneed was honored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with an Outstanding Extension Service Award. He is a lifetime technical member of the Irrigation Association and the first president of the NC Irrigation Society. Most producers didn’t have the knowledge necessary to design an efficient system, but Sneed had enough knowledge to represent him self in court. “The certification is difficult,” Jim says. “When a candidate completes all four phases, the trainers want to be certain they know what they’re doing. The final test takes about four hours. Some professional irrigation engi neers have failed and had to take the course a second time. It’s a tough test.” Jim says irrigation design is key to developing an effective irrigation

course at the Irrigation Association University, where he completed his training as a Certified Agriculture Irrigation Specialist and Certified Irrigation Designer. “Dr. Ron Sneed was one of the train ers when I completed the program,” Jim says. “He and Gene Rochester, a professional engineer and ag engineer and instructor at Auburn University (Texas), put the fear of God in me. They were considered the Godfathers of irrigation. Dr. Sneed often served as a witness in irrigation lawsuits when a dealer was accused of installing a poor design. In those trials, Dr. Sneed could pick apart an irrigation design and point out all its shortcomings.” Sneed, CAIS, CIC, CID, CLIA, at North Carolina State University (NCSU), earned his BS in 1959 and PhD in 1971 from the university’s

downsize and let go of our rented farmland and some employees, tak ing us back to where we had started — farming our own ground.” That same year, a local irri gation dealer who was ready to retire approached the Reids about purchasing his dealership to serve the loyal customer base he had developed. “We believed we had a lot of experience with irrigation,” Jim says. “But when we started designing systems, I realized I needed to know much more about irrigation design. At that point in my life, it didn’t make sense to go to school and get an engineering degree, but I wanted that type of education.” Jim’s search for instruction led him to the Principles of Irrigation

REID BROS IRRIGATION

32 I APRIL / MAY 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.