This past weekend the second annual Homestead Feast was held at the Olds College Alumni Centre and there were some big announcements made regarding two new courses.
The first newly announced course is the precision-agricultural techgronomy diploma, which will put focus on technology and agronomy.
Agronomy, for those who don’t know, is an agricultural science that studies crops, their soil and the way they grow.
“With a focus on agronomy and technology, graduates from the diploma of precision agriculture will be prepared for careers that require a deep understanding of the connectedness between technology and agronomy,” said James Benkie, the dean of program developments, agriculture technology.
Benkie went on to say that the program will help students discover ways of integrating technology into current or future farming systems. He said graduates will be equipped with the skills to move in a fast- paced environment.
The second program announced was a post-diploma certificate in agricultural technology integration.
“The certificate is designed to provide students who already hold a diploma or a degree with an understanding of how related technologies and components interact to provide accurate information in real time,” said Benkie.
The announcement concluded with the revelation that registration for these new programs would open Oct. 1 this year, with programs starting in the fall of 2020.
Barb Mulholland, the dean of agribusiness, land and fashion went on to highlight the excitement of the smart farm and smart ag innovation centre.
“With the launch of the Olds College smart farm in June 2018 and the smart ag innovation centre, the college is creating a cutting-edge learning environment for students to learn about agriculture technology," she said.
“These new high tech learning environments, combined with our long-standing reputation as a leader in offering hands-on agriculture programs and the addition of our new tech ag programs, are some of the great examples of the exciting ag tech initiatives taking place at Olds College.”
During the feast, the Albertan caught up with Nikki Olson, a smart ag research technician who has been involved with the smart farm since July 2018. She shared some insight into what they’ve been working on.
“One of the things we’re doing is calling our home base the farmhouse of the future. We’ve got a whole data room in there where we’ve got multiple different screens where we can pull up all the information we’ve collected on the farm.
“That helps us make better more informed decisions about what’s going on throughout the growing season,” Olson said.
Olson said one of the biggest challenges that comes with working with all of this technology is the technology itself.
“As much as we love to use it and talk about it every day, it doesn’t work all of the time,” said Olson.
“We had one day where we were getting ready to do a mass presentation and the internet college network was down. So when you’ve got a room of 20 people waiting for your presentation based on your technology, that’s a challenge.”
Despite those challenges Olson said it’s been incredible to go from having all of their records on paper to now having everything accessible online in the cloud.
In addition to the announcements, entertainment was provided throughout the night, featuring 2019 Calgary Stampede First Nations Princess Astokomii Smith, award-winning guitar and banjo player Jake Peters and Cole Martin, an aspiring country artist from Innisfail.
