Precision Agriculture Webinar offered Jan. 20

Writer(s): 
View of a farm taken from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. (Photo: Thinkstock)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The more data farmers and producers can access regarding their fields, the better they can make decisions regarding how to manage their farm operations, experts say.

But boiling down information from field monitored data, satellite data and remote sensing data captured using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles can sometimes be challenging, said Greg LaBarge, an Ohio State University Extension field specialist and one of the leaders of Ohio State University’s Agronomic Crops Team.

To help farmers with that task, a webinar on precision agriculture will be offered live by agronomic experts with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Jan. 20 at 10 a.m.

The free event will feature “Using Precision Agriculture to Make Informed Decisions,” presented by John Fulton, an OSU Extension Specialist in machinery systems, and “Can Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) be an Agronomic Tool?” presented by John Barker, and OSU Extension educator.

The webinar is part of a series of agronomic workshops taught by OSU Extension professionals designed to offer the latest information on corn, soybean and wheat production, LaBarge said.  OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the college.

“This is the second year of this kind of program that we’re offering with a goal of being able to offer farmers and producers 24-7 availability of OSU Extension programing, especially for farmers and growers in areas where people can’t attend a workshop in person,” he said. “This allows us to quickly and easily get the information out and into people’s hands.”

Other webinars are planned for the series include:

  • Feb. 3 — Soybean production, featuring “Agronomic Practices to Maximize Soybean Yield,” presented by Laura Lindsey, OSU Extension specialist in soybean and small grain production, OSU Extension, and “Late Season Soybean Pest Issues,” presented by Andy Michel, OSU Extension specialist in entomology.
  • Feb. 17 — Corn production, featuring “Corn Interaction with Today’s Production Management Systems,” presented by Peter Thomison, OSU Extension specialist in corn production, and “What is the Latest Research on Ear Molds and Mycotoxins?” presented by Pierce Paul, OSU Extension specialist in corn and small grain plant pathology.
  • March 10 — Agronomic utilization of manure, featuring “Can Manure Sourced Nutrients be Used to Meet Crop Need?” presented by Greg LaBarge, OSU Extension field specialist in agronomic systems, and “Alternative Applications Timing to Take Advantage of Nitrogen,” presented by Glen Arnold, OSU Extension field specialist in manure nutrient utilization.

During the Jan. 20 webinar, growers and producers can learn about the various types of UAVs being used by agriculture professionals, including their costs, as well as offering information on users’ field experience using them, LaBarge said.

The presentation will also offer information on how to use information gleaned from the use of precision agriculture, he said.

“We’ll talk about taking the data we’re capturing from UAVs and other data sources and trying to massage it down into useable formants that can be incorporated by farmers to make better management decisions,” LaBarge said.

All of the webinars will be presented live 10-11:30 a.m. on the dates scheduled at carmenconnect.osu.edu/cswconnection/. Participants will be able to ask presenters questions during the event via the Internet. Recorded versions will be available by 5: 30 p.m. those same days at go.osu.edu/cswconnection.

For more information on the series, contact LaBarge at 740-223-4040 or labarge.1@osu.edu.

Writer(s): 
Tracy Turner
614-688-1067
For more information, contact: 

 

Greg LaBarge
740-223-4040
labarge.1@osu.edu