Board of Regents approves Clark State's new precision agriculture degree program

The Ohio Board of Regents has approved Clark State Community College's new precision agriculture degree, which will contribute to the region's focus on unmanned aerial systems growth.

The associate of applied science degree in precision agriculture will begin in August.

“Clark State is the expert in two-year agricultural education, and agriculture was one of the first programs we offered at our institution,” said Dr. Jo Alice Blondin, president of Clark State Community College. “I am so very proud of our faculty who have worked tirelessly on this program. Their relationships with industry and, of course, our students are what will make this program successful.”

Clark State’s program will blend together the college’s long-standing agriculture programs with its state-of-the-art geospatial technologies expertise to train the next generation of Ohio’s farmers. Students will be prepared to analyze data collected from precision agriculture platforms and make recommendations that will result in cost savings and an increased production yield, in an environmentally conscious manner. Labor forecasts indicate that jobs for agriculture majors will grow 16 percent by 2018 and food and agriculture are Ohio’s No. 1 industry.

Precision agriculture brings together real-time data collection on weather, soil and air quality, crop maturity, equipment and labor costs and availability, with predictive analytics to make better decisions with regard to planting, fertilizing and harvesting crops. Sensors placed throughout the fields are used to measure temperature and humidity of the soil and surrounding air. In addition, pictures of fields are taken using satellite imagery and robotic drones.

Clark State is working closely with industry partners including the city of Springfield, the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center located in Springfield and SelectTech Geospatial Advanced Manufacturing, to develop the curriculum and provide hands-on learning experiences.