October 23, 2003

 

Liane Named to New Irrigation Post

Mike Liane will serve as an irrigation agent with the NDSU Extension Service. His duties will take him statewide, but his office will be in the NDSU Extension Area Office in Devils Lake.

Liane will plan and implement educational programs and technical assistance relating to irrigation and related business development. In that capacity he will assist with efforts to promote the production, processing and marketing of commercial vegetable and other high-value crops. He will also work with irrigation organizations to develop irrigation in the state and work to identify and implement new opportunities. Liane will work with NDSU researchers to identify and prioritize irrigation-related research needs. Part of Liane’s effort will be focused on exploring irrigation opportunities with officials on the Turtle Mountain, Fort Berthold, Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Reservations.

"We’re hoping to develop a tool chest – a collection of opportunities and resources – that irrigation districts and others can draw from to support their efforts," Liane says. "This is an educational position designed to go beyond the technical aspects of irrigation. We’re breaking new ground and developing new programs."

Liane will also be involved in NDSU’s pesticide training program. "In our work with high-value and vegetable crops, this is really complementary to the work I’ll be doing with irrigators," he says.

His position is supported by NDSU, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District. Liane was previously NDSU Extension Service agent in Ramsey County.

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Source: Mike Liane, (701) 662-1364, mliane@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231`-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu