increase font size
William Bragg (right) alongside his boss Rob Kirk.
When William Bragg left school all he wanted to do was work with horses, but he soon realised this passion would not make him a fortune.
Bragg was working on his father’s dairy farm milking and herding cows in Waimate in 2014 when his father heard about a possible job at local irrigation firm Kirk Irrigation and suggested he apply for it.
Bragg, now 25, says he always liked the idea of design and engineering and he had excelled at technical drawing at school.
“I thought, ‘I have no experience in irrigation, but what’s the worst that could happen?’ So I went in to see them anyway, and the rest is history.”
Bragg’s boss Rob Kirk, of Kirk Irrigation, says it was obvious right from the start that William had huge ability.
“He was clearly a person of huge potential. He picks things up so quickly. There’s a lot of maths and physics in irrigation design. You need to know about computers and hydraulics and soil moisture, among other things, and do all sorts of calculations and modelling.
“When the course came up with Irrigation New Zealand, Will had been with us 18 months, I thought it was a good thing for him and a good thing for the company. He was already way ahead of where I’d expected him to be after such a short time.”
Bragg studied for 18 months for the first ever NZ Certificate in Irrigation Design, and graduated last month with 14 other students at a ceremony in Christchurch.
NZ is the only country with a national qualification in irrigation design, something Irrigation NZ and the irrigation industry are proud of.
Irrigation NZ project manager Steve Breneger says NZ is leading the world in irrigation design training.
“The course is nationally recognised and very rigorous. It tests the students’ ability to design infrastructure, and challenges them to identify and mitigate possible effects on the environment.
“There is increasing demand for project managers and qualified designers in the industry, particularly with the increasing amount of compliance reporting required to improve freshwater management and monitoring.”
Students design systems from beginning to end, starting with identifying customer needs, environmental impact, integrating technologies then designing an efficient irrigation system.
Bragg enjoys visiting customers on their farms to understand their requirements and see the process through to installation.
He remembers when his first irrigation system went live -- a small K Line system, the flexible hose line sprinkler system invented by Rob Kirk’s brother Jon.
“I got to do the final installation and push the button myself. It was extremely satisfying and everything worked as it was meant to. When I went home my partner wondered what I was so excited about. Sounds a bit silly but I was so excited.”
Bragg now leads projects from start to finish.
Kirk believes William has a big future in the industry.
“He joined the irrigation industry when compliance requirements were increasing,” he says. “The course has lifted him to another level.”
Most vineyards require irrigation at some point. Deciding when and how much is required is a powerful management tool that directly affects fruit production, disease pressure, and even operational passes.
A wetter than usual irrigation season has hindered data collection efforts for Canterbury dairy grazers Gary and Penny Robinson.
The ability to manage an irrigation system depends on the percentage of water pumped that becomes available for plants to use, according to Watermetrics.
On-farm irrigation technology has evolved at a fast pace over the last two decades and farmers have both adopted and evolved with it and have helped it evolve, according to WaterForce.
Irrigation for horticulture has traditionally been used to supplement natural rainfall to ensure adequate growth and productivity from their crops.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
