Lakeland College is offering its students Canada’s first ever degree in agriculture technology. Available this coming fall, the program is designed to enable students to keep ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of agricultural technology.
The program will span two years and will offer real-world experience with the latest agricultural equipment, software, hardware, and digital devices. The location will be a combination of full-time studies at Lakeland’s new 8000-square-foot agricultural technology centre and experiential learning practicums off campus.
“There’s a lot of technology already available and in use in the agricultural industry. However, few people have an in-depth understanding of how to use it and the information it collects, or how to integrate that information into their commercial farm operations and agriculture businesses. Our new degree program will produce graduates who can effectively use emerging technologies and the data they produce in commercial agriculture to provide important answers on return on investment,” said Michael Crowe, Lakeland’s Vice President of Academic and Research.
Some of the courses offered will include emerging technologies in agriculture, economies of precision agriculture, precision farming global positioning essentials and GIS for agriculture decision making. There will also be specific courses related to the integration and use of agricultural technology in crops and livestock systems, farms and ranches. Students will specialize in either crops or livestock technological applications.
Course contents will include livestock farming and smart agriculture as a management system, including data collection and analysis as well as the use of interpretive tools and programs such as robotics, geospatial tools, artificial intelligence and others. Students will learn how to analyze and troubleshoot industry-leading hardware, software and data platforms. This will be done on Lakeland’s Student-Managed Farm.
The program is the culmination of years of consultation from more than 40 agricultural organizations and companies, as well as research and development. A student survey had indicated strong interest in a degree program in the area of agriculture technology.
The program will enable graduates to seek employment in a large variety of agricultural fields. This can range from data services and precision technology, to research and sales with agricultural technology companies and equipment dealerships.
More information can be found at lakelandcollege.ca/AgTechDegree.