AgriLife Extension hires new irrigation specialist in Amarillo

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, [email protected]
Contact: Dr. Charles Hillyer, 806-677-5600, [email protected]

AMARILLO – Dr. Charles Hillyer has been hired as the new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service irrigation engineering specialist in Amarillo, with a joint Texas A&M AgriLife Research appointment. His first day was June 15.

“I look forward to this opportunity to do advanced irrigation management and research,” Hillyer said. “The focus of my research has been on irrigation management when water supplies are low, or deficit irrigation, and also on the software and tools needed to manage irrigation.”

Hillyer, a native of Mississippi, earned his bachelor’s degree at Mississippi State University and his doctorate at Oregon State University, both in biological engineering. He came to Amarillo from Oregon State University, where he specialized in the study of optimal irrigation management in the biological and ecological engineering department as an assistant professor, senior research.

In this role, he also will be an assistant professor in Texas A&M’s department of biological and agricultural engineering at College Station.

“We are extremely pleased to hire an engineer with Dr. Hillyer’s experience, background and industry contacts to address the needs of the Texas Panhandle region,” said Dr. Stephen Searcy, Texas A&M biological and agricultural engineering head in College Station. “While he will need to learn the unique conditions of this new assignment, I am confident that he has the ability to come up to speed quickly.

“With the assistance of local producers, AgriLife Extension county agents, USDA-ARS scientists, groundwater district personnel and his colleagues at the Amarillo Research and Extension Center, I know he will be making an impact soon.”

“Dr. Hillyer is actively engaged in technical committees and projects on national and international levels,” said Dr. Dana Porter, AgriLife Extension engineer in Lubbock who led the search and assistant department head. “Our stakeholders will benefit from his expertise in optimizing limited irrigation water resources and with advanced irrigation technologies.”

Hillyer said he plans to continue to pursue his work on “data exchange standards,” which he described as a way to get all the different technologies used in irrigation practices to work together. Irrigation scheduling is applying the right amount of water at the right time to manage crop stress, and the scheduling tool is something that supports that effort.

“There are all these wonderful technologies out there to help manage the water that is applied, but they don’t talk to each other,” he said.

The data exchange standards work is part of the precision ag irrigation leadership project in AgGateway, a nonprofit organization that supports industry collaboration in agriculture, Hillyer said.

A challenge Hillyer said he finds interesting in his move to the Texas Panhandle involves the sustainability of the Ogallala Aquifer. He will be finding ways to make that resource last as long as possible, with what little recharge it might get, by changing production practices.

“Fundamentally, deficit irrigation is managing stress rather than yield,” he said. “Our goal will be to maximize the net return from our water – the pounds of food or production per gallon of water. When, how much and sometimes where you apply water all come into play.”

The mantra is “apply the right amount at the right time,”

Hillyer said just as dry years can require critical management; wet years can also make his job more interesting, as key nutrients can be leached out of the fields and need to be replaced in some, but not all, locations.

He said he will spend time now getting to know this region and determining where his skills are most needed.