Lamm wins Builder Award
COLBY, Kan.-- Freddie Lamm, whose research on subsurface drip irrigation in western Kansas is hailed as "forward-thinking", has received a Builder Award from Kansas State University.
Lamm is a professor and irrigation research engineer at the K-State Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby. The Builder Award, presented by K-State Research and Extension, is given annually to individuals who have exhibited extra energy and creativity over a number of years to build new programs. Six Builder Awards were presented this year.
"Freddie has been a driving force behind the establishment of the K-State subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) research program. K-State is a national leader in research of the use of SDI for field crops," said Marc Johnson, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of K-State Research and Extension.
"It was the forward-thinking of researchers, led by Freddie, that resulted in the establishment of SDI research in 1989, before producers were asking questions. The interest in SDI for field crops has exploded in the past four years and K-State has been prepared with science-based answers to many common questions," Johnson said.
In 1989, researchers were testing SDI on 23 plots (three acres). In 2000, the area includes 189 plots covering 21 acres.
Lamm also has worked on SDI studies in Garden City and Holcomb. In 1998, he led efforts to establish the SDI/wastewater research site at Midwest Feeders near Ingalls, Kan.
Groups that have supported Lamm's research include the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Kansas Water Resources Research Institute; Kansas Corn Commission; Pioneer Hi-Bred Inc.; Mazzei Injector Corp.; and the Kansas Legislature.
Lamm has conducted field days at the Northwest Research-Education Center, as well as SDI workshops in Kansas the last three years. "SDI holds the promise of maintaining yields of field crops while using less water from the Ogallala Aquifer," Johnson said. "K-State Research and Extension's SDI program has produced quality work and has received much attention throughout Kansas, the United States, and internationally. Without a doubt, Freddie Lamm has been the individual most responsible for the SDI program and its many significant accomplishments. He is truly deserving of a 2000 K-State Research and Extension Builder Award."
Freddie R. Lamm
Research Agricultural Engineer
Northwest Research-Extension Center
105 Experiment Farm Road
Colby, KS 67701
785-462-6281
fax: 785-462-2315
flamm@ksu.edu
