Farm406

51 farm406 a professor of agricultural engineering focused on precision agriculture. Her team used drones carrying thermal cameras to identify noxious and herbicide-resistant weeds. Weeds with warmer temperatures aer being sprayed with herbicide were dying, while those with normal temperatures were deemed herbicide-resistant and would be treated with different techniques. Since taking charge of the College of Agriculture at MSU, Bajwa has been devoted to making the program a reality. MSU received a $1.5 million grant in 2020 from Northwest Farm Credit Services and a grant from the CHS Foundation to develop a precision agriculture program and convert one of MSU's farms to a precision agriculture and sustainability demonstration farm to educate students and the public. It was enough support to give the college leeway and create a working blueprint. Bajwa envisions a multi-prong approach for a precision agriculture program at MSU. It will conduct in-house research into developing and studying future precision agriculture technology; it will educate students on the concept through courses, a degree minor, and potentially a future major or graduate program; and it will have an outreach arm where faculty will work directly with Montana producers to implement technology and concepts in their fields. e program is in its early stages, and the final product is years off. But Bajwa and the college have taken the first steps. Early this spring, the college hired four new faculty members who will work on developing the precision ag program. Two MSU researchers Gaurav Jha (left) and Paul Nugent perform tests using a leaf spectrometer and thermal camera in the Plant Growth Center teaching greenhouse on the Bozeman campus. Data from the imaging devices is analyzed for moisture content in plants and soil, determining how much stress the plants are enduring and leading to better irrigation assessments.

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