NJC bolsters precision ag emphasis with technology-laden farm equipment

Thanks to a two-year-old grant from the Rural Sustainability Initiative, Northeastern Junior College is dramatically expanding its portfolio of planting technologies and equipment as it gears up to establish itself as a premier two-year college for precision agriculture.

The RSI grant, secured by former Colorado Community College System Chancellor Nancy McCallum, gives Northeastern funds to make much-needed improvements to its campus greenhouse. It also provided enough money for Northeastern to take advantage of some “great deals” on equipment students will be able to use for hands-on learning, said Northeastern soil and crop science instructor Andy Bartlett.

“Precision ag involves the current wave of technologies and equipment that farmers have only begun to harness for optimal crop planting, growing and harvesting,” Bartlett said. “Many people think of precision ag as the use of drones for applications such as remote sensing or livestock monitoring. Our academic focus is to connect science of agronomy to this technology, especially planting technologies, which is what we believe represent the greatest practical use of precision ag innovations to date.”

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