K-State Research and Extension news service 

In this video, K-State Research and Extension specialists talk about a recent digital agriculture research showcase that highlighted the university’s progress in using drones, planters and other technologies to inform decisions on the farm.

“The main idea of this project is to integrate faculty from various colleges and departments,” said Ignacio Ciampitti, a cropping systems specialist in K-State’s Department of Agronomy. “It’s important that we discuss how we are planning to train our future generations of students and thinkers.”

The work involves scientists in many agriculture disciplines, as well as those in such areas as data science, statistics, computer science and geo-spatial data.

“When you start thinking about the future workforce in digital agriculture, it’s graduate and undergraduate studentss that are getting trained in digital analytics. It’s going to be real complex problems that they will be asked to solve,” said Brian McCornack, department head in K-State’s Department of Entomology.

McCornack added that the challenge includes taking “complex layers of data and putting them into one place to make informed decisions.

“The future work force needs to know how to engage in different kinds of environments, with different kinds of people with different backgrounds and expertise. I’m super excited that K-State is leading the way.”

K-State Research and Extension video by Dan Donnert