The ISPA Board has been busy in 2023 with a focus on expanding the capacity of the society and attempting to make it more global.  We have accomplished several items including updating the logo, rethinking and increasing the number of Country Representatives, creating a Precision Ag / Digital Ag Course database, partnering with new technology conferences globally to increase our reach, expanding our social media presence, and starting to organize the 16th ICPA (https://www.ispag.org/icpa) to name a few Board tasks. 

A few highlights and comments on the Board’s work.  As of July 1, 2023, we have 42 Country Representatives from 33 countries (https://www.ispag.org/Leadership/CountryRep).  Soon we will start to ask the Country Representatives to provide updates on precision ag in their country and/or region as well as actively recruit new ISPA members while promoting the society in their country.  If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a Country Representative, please email info@ispag.org with your bio highlighting your experience in precision agriculture and your CV.  You must be an active ISPA member to be considered for the position.

The Precision Ag / Digital Ag course database is available to ISPA members and can be viewed at https://www.ispag.org/course_database.  So far, we have had 84 courses submitted and have requested syllabi for each to be included in the database.  The lead faculty member or instructor is listed for each.  We hope this information provides a resource for members looking to update or create a new precision / digital agriculture course at your institution.  There is much to be learned from reviewing the course names.  The submission form will remain open, and you do not need to be a member to submit a course listing https://www.ispag.org/survey/Agriculture_Course_Submission

Additionally, an update to the ISPA Bylaws has been drafted and sent to all members for review and approval. The Bylaws have not been updated since the inception of ISPA and this new version will align with the current structure and operations of the society.  One of the proposed Bylaw changes will expand the Board from 5 to 9 members to include members from the different global regions.  We felt this was needed to ensure global input to ISPA work and its future.  If you are a member and did not receive the emails regarding ISPA Bylaws feedback, please email info@ispag.org.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate all the organizers on a successful 14th European Conference on Precision Agriculture in Bologna.  It was great to hear that there were over 400 attendees and a variety of papers and posters presented. 

I will have more to share later this year but I will conclude by inviting you to submit an abstract and join us at the 16th ICPA 21-14 July 2024 in Manhattan, KS.  It’s going to be a great event with plenty of networking opportunities.

If you have any comments or feedback to improve ISPA, please feel free to reach out to any of the ISPA Officers or reach me personally at president@ispag.org. 
 
Thank-you,
John Fulton, ISPA President  

 

The 14th European Conference on Precision Agriculture took place in Bologna 2-6 July 2023.
 
The wave of Precision Agriculture has reached Italy for the first time, particularly on the shores of the University of Bologna. In partnership with the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA), the Department of Agri-food Sciences and Technologies (DISTAL) of the University of Bologna organized the 14th European Conference on Precision Agriculture - ECPA Bologna 2023. The conference, which took place from July 2nd to 6th, saw the participation of over 400 attendees, including scientists and industry representatives.
 
Over the course of the four days, alongside the 250 oral and poster presentations, the potential of emerging technological solutions emerged, aiming to transform agriculture by adopting autonomous vehicles (Hand Free Agriculture and Human Robot Collaboration), optimizing resources (water and fertilizers), and progressively reducing agrochemicals (Pesticide-free Agriculture) through variable-rate application and the use of physical means. Among the enabling technologies discussed were Artificial Intelligence (AI) for weed recognition, robot guidance and automated harvesting, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Machine Learning for studies on the characterization and monitoring of agricultural surfaces and crops using proximal and remote sensors.
 
Three Plenary Sessions, a technical field tour at the university experimental farm, two side events organized by Confagricoltura and Crea, two society meetings, and a Gala Dinner characterized and contributed to the excitement of the four-day event on Precision Agriculture in Bologna. The topics addressed demonstrated a broad and integrated involvement of expertise and interests ranging from engineering to ecosystem physics, computer science to economics and marketing, and even legislative aspects.
 
The organizers of UNIBO along with Avenue Media, who managed the event, expressed their satisfaction with the international level of the conference. Participating and contributing to the debate were institutions such as Rector and a representative of the newly established National Center for the Development of New Technologies in Agriculture (Agritech).

The 14th European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA) took place in Bologna during the week of July 2-6, 2023. Members of ISPA attended the conference and engaged with more than 400 participants that traveled to Bologna from Africa, Asia, South and North America, and of course Europe. During the conference opening session, Brenda Ortiz, current ISPA Board Secretary, gave introductory and welcome remarks highlighting the role of Precision Agriculture to increase crop productivity as well as to strengthen environmental sustainability. She emphasized the need to accelerate the innovation process and stressed that aspect as one of the biggest challenges for scientists and practitioners.  She also highlighted the need to work together and build up on our strengths to produce solutions with people and for the people. Participants to the conference were invited to an ISPA business meeting on Monday, July 3rd, where Brenda Ortiz and ISPA Board Treasurer, Ruth Kerry, provided an update on the society.    Read the full article here.

SPAIN HAS CREATED ITS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE

 

A group of Precision Agriculture technicians and academics gathered at the end of 2022 to promote a Spanish association to support, promote and discuss about Precision Agriculture and its adoption. The Spanish association of Precision Agriculture, ANAP, wishes to reach all Spanish stakeholders related to Precision Agriculture, especially farmers, but also sectorial association, researchers, students, public organizations, cooperatives and companies and organizations of users and consumers.

 

ANAP has adopted ISPA’s official Precision Agriculture definition and will focus on knowledge and technology transfer, scientific and technical and education and training activities. In ANAP, data and information about Precision Agriculture will be analyzed with scientific rigor but will be commented and diffused among associates in informative style. 

 

The association was officially registered in late November 2022 and has been preparing its public launch this week. ANAP has currently opened doors for affiliations and sponsors. ANAP’s website is https://agriculturadeprecision.eu. ANAP is also present in Twitter (https://twitter.com/AnapSpain) and in LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anap-spain).  
 

See the ISPA website for a complete list of events.

Do you have an event that would be of interest to our members? Send us an email to let us know.

• Open Rank Faculty - Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture - Director, University of Georgia
• Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Farming Systems Agronomy
• Tenure Track Assistant Professor in soil spectroscopy at Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University
• Senior Lecturer/ Lecturer of Digital Pasture Production
• Ph.D. Graduate Assistantship Position - University of Kentucky
• Tenure-track Assistant Professor - Artificial Intelligence in Agricultural and Forestry Informatics University of Tennessee
• Precision Agriculture Cohort Hiring Initiative, including the Position of Endowed Chair

Do you have a precision ag event, project, or news article that our members would be interested in? Please let us know. We post events, job opportunities, and news from members from around the globe. Email info@ispag.org or use the handy online form to submit your contribution.