It’s an investment in innovations for climate-smart agriculture and forestry
Researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been awarded nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop a climate-smart “4-D Farm.”
The project, The Digital and Data-Driven Demonstration Farm (4-D Farm): Juxtaposition of Climate-Smart and Circular Innovations for Future Farm Economies, is part of NIFA’s investment in regional innovations for climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
Led by principal investigator Glen Rains, the project involves an interdisciplinary team across CAES, including researchers in sustainable precision agriculture, data science, livestock management, grass and forage management, crop production, UGA Extension and education programming, and autonomous and intelligent rover research and development. Two sub awards were given to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) and Clemson University. The project also includes a contracted social economist from Kansas State University.
Leveraging data science for farm resilience
The long-term goal of the 4-D Farm is to develop climate-smart production systems leveraging renewable energy, automation, intelligence and human capital to meet the required food and fiber needs of a burgeoning world population.
Executed across multiple sites in Georgia, the 4-D Farm will feature a 90-acre Demonstrating Applied Technology in Agriculture (DATA) farm on the ABAC campus in Tifton. With roughly half the acreage under a center-pivot irrigation system, researchers will rotate what is in the field to test various management systems.
“We’ll start by adopting things we already know and then adapting them, whether it is precision planting and irrigation or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). It’ll be a challenge, but we hope to be able to show what type of management programs pay off if producers want to integrate precision ag into their farming,” said Rains, a professor in the CAES Department of Entomology.
Multiple Emerging Technology and Data Sites will be located on UGA research farms and a Data Management and Analysis Center will be housed on the UGA Tifton campus at the Future Farmstead Carriage House. The center will allow researchers to share real-time data collection, which could be a game changer for farmers.
“The goal is to be able to collect data and make in-season decisions on irrigation, fertilizer and growth regulators to make a better crop that same year,” Rains said. “Traditionally we haven’t been able to do much until yield is determined at the end of the growing season, then we make changes for the following year. Providing better, real-time information to reduce risk and increase knowledge is doable with advanced data analytics.”
Michael Toews, professor and assistant dean of UGA-Tifton, is proud to have the project based on the south Georgia campus.
“This project leverages a wide breadth of scientific expertise to develop climate-smart technologies and solutions that are cementing UGA-Tifton’s legacy as the destination for applied research, Extension and instruction programs,” Toews said.
Diversifying farming operations for producers and the planet
The 4-D Farm will diversify precision agriculture management systems as well as the crops and livestock in the field. Researchers hope that their methods will provide more information about creating a diversified farming operation that is more profitable for farmers while showing increased efficiency and environmental benefits.
Source: uga.edu
Photo Credit: University of Georgia
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