Irrigation Farmer Of The Year
Sledge Taylor, Lomo, Mississippi, has been named the 2023 Irrigation Farmer of the Year at the 26th Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference, Southern Precision Ag Conference, Southern Soybean & Corn Conference, and the Delta States Irrigation Conference.
Taylor is President at Como Consolidated Gin and a partner with his son David in Buckeye Farms. Committed to growing it cotton, he has grown a variety of crops including, corn, soybean, wheat, timber, cattle and peanuts all using the latest technologies. Taylor notes his son has helped him see the benefits of variable rate fertilizer and soil sampling the way he pushed for proper drainage and irrigation when he returned to the farm after college.
Taylor’s commitment to precision agriculture includes the use of soil-moisture probes to schedule irrigation timing. Considered a pioneer of the practice in Mississippi, he has been using probes for at least 10 years. By monitoring soil moisture via cell phone, he can delay turning on his wells and thus conserve water. He uses overhead pivot irrigation and furrow irrigation, and has incorporated cover crops and no-till to reduce run-off. Taylor also uses computerized hole selection for determining the correct polypipe hole size to increase irrigation efficiency 25-30%. In 2021, Mississippi State University experts set up a surge irrigation plan for his farm to increase application efficiency and reduce run-off. Taylor can be counted on to try research proven practices to continuously improve his farming operation.
Taylor has advocated for progressive agricultural practices and efficient water management at the local, state and national level. While serving as chairman of the National Cotton Council in 2015, he worked to split irrigated and non-irrigated cotton acreage in the Stacked Income Tax Protection Plan program, part of the Farm Bill. He also provided testimony for the House Agricultural Committee, Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling on The Waters of the United States. He has served as commissioner for the Panola County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Panola-Tate Drainage District, in addition to leadership roles in many other organizations. In 2021 Taylor served on a water management producer panel at the Mississippi State University Extension Row Crops Short Course and the soil moisture probe panels at the Cotton & Rice Conference in 2022 and 2023. ∆