Precision Ag News

High School Students invited to Precision Ag Day

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach hosts Precision Ag and Animal Science Field Days for high school students. Students from area high schools, grades 9 -12, were invited to send a day the ISU Experimental Research Farm and Borlaug Center near Nashua.

Nearly 100 students from New Hampton, Turkey Valley, Howard – Winneshiek, Riceville, Central – Elkader and Waverly-Shell Rock school districts participated in the field days, according to Kendra Crooks, 4-H Youth Specialist. The global purpose of the field days is to engage students in hands-on learning and create awareness of endless possibilities of careers right here in Northern Iowa. Youth with an education in animal science are qualified for a wide variety of challenging careers. There are over 500 different job classifications for animal science careers. Precision agriculture is being used more and more in farming. With the increasing availability of such mapping technologies as GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems), precision agriculture technicians will install, operate, troubleshoot and repair precision agriculture systems. Technicians will also use the advanced processing software to collect, visualize and analyze data.

ISU Extension and Outreach is building on existing partnerships with high schools, FFA chapters, homeschool families, colleges, businesses, and industries to offer these field days. The goal is to connect youth with local businesses and industry leaders creating awareness of this fast changing industry by providing information and resources on how to prepare for these careers. All high schools were invited from northeast and north central counties. All sessions took place at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm – Borlaug Center located near Nashua, Iowa. The farm is owned by the Northeast Iowa Experimental Association. Each day students learned from eight stations covering a mix of animal science and precision agriculture related topics. This year’s event sponsors included Ag Ventures Development Corp., Lynch Livestock Inc. and GJL Farms.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach puts the university’s research and resources to work throughout the state. Extension and Outreach is about people and education is our mission. We’re focused on feeding people, keeping them healthy, helping their communities to prosper and thrive, and turning the world over to the next generation in better shape than we found it.

Please direct questions to: Kendra Crooks at kcrooks@iastate.edu.

Source :https://www.extension.iastate.edu/