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Revisited: A Case Study Approach For Teaching And Applying Precision Agriculture
1M. Waits, 2J. D. Williams, 2S. D. McGary
1. SST Software
2. Brigham Young University-Idaho

Current agricultural students understand and are excited about new technologies, but often do not understand how precision agriculture can be applied to farming operations. A case-study approach that requires students to develop precision agriculture management practices which includes selecting equipment and assessing the financial feasibility could help students understand and apply precision agriculture. This paper revisits a case-study approach to teaching precision agriculture and describes changes to the approach for improving instruction. The original course included training in SSToolbox, a geographical information system (GIS) software, and recreational global position system (GPS) units. In revisiting the course, the SSToolbox software was considered too advanced for an introductory course, and the software was replaced with John Deere’s Apex and SST’s Summit. The GPS training was inadequate, and additional training using the John Deere Greenstar system was adopted. Some topics such as creating sampling grids and management zones were removed from the original course because they were determined to be too advanced for an introductory level course. Auto steering, yield monitoring, and assessing financial feasibility of precision agriculture tools were topics added to the revised course. The case study in the original course required students to develop a precision agriculture management plan for their family or school farm. This approach was generally successful in helping students understand precision agriculture, but students tended to focus on management practices that were not applicable or financially feasible for their farm. The case studies in the revised course are better developed and defined real-farm scenarios which provide students with clear direction. The revised case studies provide students with opportunities to make decisions on what type of precision agriculture management practices and equipment would be best for their situation including an assessment of financial feasibility. The revised case study approach provides students with a basic understanding of precision agriculture and the benefits of adopting precision agriculture management.

Keyword: education, training, teaching, instruction, methodology, GPS, GIS