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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345996
Title: Precision agriculture basics

Author
item SHANNON, D - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
item CLAY, D - SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
item KITCHEN, NEWELL

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Book
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2017
Publication Date: 5/15/2018
Citation: Shannon, D.K., Clay, D.A., Kitchen, N.R. editors. 2018. Precision Agriculture Basics. Madison, WI: ASA, CSSA, and SSSA. doi:10.2134/precisionagbasics.2018.summary. 265 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/precisionagbasics.2018.summary

Interpretive Summary: Based on recent surveys of agriculture retailers that serve farmers, an insufficient workforce exists for helping farmers manage farm data and utilize precision agriculture technology and decision tools. These same surveys found that this workforce must be technology literate, creative, innovative, fully trained in their discipline, able to utilize and interpret information gained from new technologies, and have the capacity to convert locally collected information into practical solutions. At the same time, material for training individuals interested in careers in precision agriculture is outdated. The purpose of writing this book was to provide an updated precision agriculture textbook that could be used for training undergraduate students in colleges and universities. The book will also serve in training crop consultants taking continuing education courses. The 15 chapters of this book will be published as an e-book by the American Society of Agronomy. Unique to this text are 50+ videos exclusively developed for the book for illustrating precision agriculture concepts and technologies. Additionally, each chapter will include learning objectives, descriptions of real world problems, descriptions of technology designed to measure and assist in management decisions, and problem questions at the end of each chapter. The book is part of a USDA project called “Precision Farming Workforce Development: Standards, Working Groups, and Experimental Learning Curricula.” Educators of precision agriculture will benefit from this publication by having updated material for teaching and training students. As more students are trained with updated precision agriculture curricula, a better qualified workforce supporting precision agriculture will emerge.

Technical Abstract: Based on recent surveys of agriculture retailers that serve farmers, an insufficient workforce exists for helping farmers manage farm data and utilize precision agriculture technology and decision tools. These same surveys found that this workforce must be technology literate, creative, innovative, fully trained in their discipline, able to utilize and interpret information gained from new technologies, and have the capacity to convert locally collected information into practical solutions. At the same time, material for training individuals interested in careers in precision agriculture is outdated. The purpose of writing this book was to provide an updated precision agriculture textbook that could be used for training undergraduate students in colleges and universities. The book will also serve in training crop consultants taking continuing education courses. The 15 chapters of this book will be published as an e-book by the American Society of Agronomy. Unique to this text are 50+ videos exclusively developed for the book for illustrating precision agriculture concepts and technologies. Additionally, each chapter will include learning objectives, descriptions of real world problems, descriptions of technology designed to measure and assist in management decisions, and problem questions at the end of each chapter. The book is part of a USDA project called “Precision Farming Workforce Development: Standards, Working Groups, and Experimental Learning Curricula.” Educators of precision agriculture will benefit from this publication by having updated material for teaching and training students. As more students are trained with updated precision agriculture curricula, a better qualified workforce supporting precision agriculture will emerge.