A new ag tech lab at The Ohio State University that offers hands-on learning will not only help position students for successful careers in the industry, it also supports the ongoing adoption of precision agriculture practices that drive sustainability gains.
Trimble and The Ohio State University opened two state-of-the-art Trimble Technology Labs for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). The multidisciplinary labs support Ohio State's teaching, research and outreach activities in food and agricultural engineering and construction management.
Scott Shearer, PhD, professor and chair of the CFAES Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, said an early sign of the lab’s success is how excited the students are. “Students learn by doing and they’re very excited about being in the lab,” he said. “To have a two-hour class and then at the end of it they’re staying in the lab figuring out new things – they actually lose track of time because they are really engaged and having fun – that’s magical.”
Shearer said work is still underway to complete set-up of the labs and ensure all of the stations are operational. Faculty and the university’s IT staff are working with the Trimble team to complete software access and training, licensing, hardware installation as well as outfitting the Kubota ATVs being used once fieldwork gets underway. “The nice thing as we get everything operational is to see the students begin to understand how technology is going to change the industry,” noted Shearer.
While precision ag adoption is on the rise, there are still many farm operations that haven’t invested in precision technology. But as these strategies get more focus and attention at the post-secondary level, students will increasingly integrate them as they enter the workforce.
In the lab the students create prescriptions using Trimble Ag Software, and eventually head to the field and then put it into action in demo plots. “The benefit of having the hardware on site is that it gives students the exposure, they can see how each component works together. They are able to first simulate the actions at laboratory workstations and then see the actions in vehicle under actual field conditions.” Shearer said. The lab workstations are equipped with Trimble weather stations including a fan, so students can monitor simulated weather conditions such as wind speed and direction.
