Registration is open through March 18 for the upcoming Utilizing Precision Ag Technology Workshop being presented by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and UGA Cooperative Extension on March 29 and 31.
The workshops, which are free of charge, will cover topics in the rapidly growing field of precision agriculture. Faculty from UGA, Clemson University, University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee welcome producers to their presentations on precision planting, precision soil mapping and soil sampling, sustainability, and economics and decision-making. Details on the workshops, speaker information and registration for both workshops are available at precisionag.caes.uga.edu/resources/workshops.
The March 29 session will be held in Statesboro, Georgia, at the Kennedy Conference Center of Ogeechee Technical College, and the March 31 session will be held in Albany, Georgia, at the Merry Acres Inn and Event Center.
Each program will begin at 9 a.m. and run through 1:30 p.m., with lunch provided for registered participants.
Three 45-minute breakout sessions will be held concurrently throughout the day so that producers can attend all offered sessions. Sessions include:
- Precision Planting, delivered by Simer Virk, UGA assistant professor and Extension precision ag specialist, and Michael Plumblee, assistant professor of agronomy and Extension specialist with the Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences
- Precision Soil Mapping and Soil Sampling, delivered by Wes Porter, UGA crop and soil sciences associate professor, and Daniel Jackson, lab manager at the CAES Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories
- Sustainability and Precision Agriculture, delivered by Lori Duncan, assistant professor of biosystems engineering and soil science with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and Chaz Holt, precision agriculture and conservation specialist for the Southeast with Quail Forever and Cotton Incorporated
During lunch the keynote presentation, “Cost and Benefit Analysis of Precision Technologies,” will feature insights from Yangxuan Liu, assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics from UGA, and Jordan Shockley, associate Extension professor of agricultural economics with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
“These workshops were developed and designed based on producer-survey input and interest. The topics were selected based on the interest in training by producers across our state, so they should be timely and relevant,” said Porter. “The keynote featuring the economics of precision agriculture technology is one of the most important topics and will provide producers with information to build confidence in adopting precision technologies.”
Continuing education unit (CEU) and certified crop advisor (CCA) credits for private and commercial pesticide applicators will be available for workshop participants. Details on the total number of hours will be provided closer to the event dates.
The workshops are made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
To register, visit precisionag.caes.uga.edu/resources/workshops.
By: Maria M. Lameiras, a managing editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
