University and private-sector representatives pointed to major opportunities for ag tech innovation and collaboration in an Aug. 14 groundbreaking ceremony for NFarms, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s precision agriculture initiative.

“The research and learning that will come out of this facility will be invaluable to the industry, as well as to our growers,” said Kurtis Charling, vice president of agricultural technology for Lindsay Corporation.

NFarms (Nebraska Future Ag Research and Management Systems) formalizes the university’s existing research and outreach in precision agriculture into a strategic initiative. The multi-disciplinary work operates at commercial scale unique in university ag research on more than 3,000 acres of the university’s Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead.

NFarms will offer particular value in facilitating public-private partnerships and ag-focused entrepreneurship, speakers said.

“We see enormous potential to leverage NFarms to test new ideas, products and concepts while getting expertise back from the great faculty and staff you have here,” Charling said.

The expansion of Lindsay’s ag tech research cooperation through NFarms will be extremely valuable to the company, he said.

Kent Kirchoff, vice president for sales and marketing with AKRS Equipment, noted his company’s focus on ag tech innovation and the benefits its partnerships with Husker faculty provide. Those collaborations boost producer efficiency by allowing innovative technology to be implemented on farms in Nebraska, he said.

“The research and innovation happening here can make it out to the commercialization stage that’s going to help producers,” said Joshua DeMers, program manager of The Combine, an Invest Nebraska initiative that partners with the university to support early-stage ag tech and food entrepreneurs.  

Commercialized products and services stemming from NFarms research will provide Nebraska producers with “practical solutions, scalable and affordable,” DeMers said.

The groundbreaking event illustrated the university’s precision ag focus by having an NFarms drone take a core sample and share it just before a group of university and industry representatives put shovels to the ground. An ag robot pioneered by the Department of Biological Systems Engineering also provided a demonstration.

NFarms’s initial 5,000-square-foot building will house… (continue reading)

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