Producers and others will have an opportunity to hear about the latest trends in precision agriculture during the seventh Precision Ag Summit scheduled for Jan. 15-16, 2018, at the North Dakota Farmers Union Conference Center in Jamestown.

The North Dakota State University Extension Service, North Dakota Farmers Union, Praxis Strategy Group and Dakota Precision Ag Center are coordinating the event. Precision agriculture industry experts, producers, practitioners and technology developers will discuss data management and analytics, profitability of precision agriculture, precision planting and agricultural automation.

The schedule on Jan. 15 includes keynote speaker Terry Griffin, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University and treasurer of the International Society of Precision Agriculture. He’ll speak on the evolution of precision agriculture from the past to the present and into the future. Griffin’s research and Extension programs focus on the economics of cropping systems in general, and specifically on precision agriculture technologies and big data.

Lynn Paulson, agricultural loan officer at Bell Bank in Jamestown, will discuss how agricultural lenders value precision agriculture.

During the noon luncheon, several NDSU graduate students will present brief reports on their precision agriculture research activities.

The afternoon schedule that day includes concurrent sessions on various topics, such as agricultural policy and planning, precision farm management, crop data management and postharvest precision technologies.

The schedule on Jan. 16 begins with Jordan Shockley, assistant Extension professor at the Universality of Kentucky, discussing precision agriculture economics and decision making.

Other topics and presenters include:

• Utilizing agricultural data - Jim Hedges, WinField United
• Cover crops and soil health - Chris Augustine, NDSU Extension soil health specialist
• Apps for agriculture - Ryan Raguse, Myriad Mobile
• Big data in the internet of things on the farm - Kaia Watkins, Flint Group
• Corn association update - Kevin Skunes, National Corn Growers Association
• Spring and summer weather patterns - Drew Lerner, World Weather

The final session of the day will be a panel of educators from precision agriculture programs at North Dakota college and universities. The panel will offer opportunities for audience input and opinions on desired educational programs relating to precision agriculture.

Visit www.regonline.com/precisionag2018 for more information about the Precision Ag Summit or to preregister. On-site registrations also are welcome throughout the event. Continuing education units will be available for qualifying attendees.

Registration for the full summit is $100; Monday or Tuesday only, $60; and students, $50. Early bird tickets are available for $75 through Dec. 15. All registrations include breakfast and lunch.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Dec. 7, 2017