the Norm Absjornson College of ….
the Norm Absjornson College of Engineering. Nugent noted that the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship will also be a key partner in shaping and fostering innovations in agriculture.
“A lot of what needs to happen is the development of new businesses here in Montana that are either service providers or launching new technologies that are developed here at MSU,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of entrepreneurship opportunities for students, and I see a lot of interest in that.”
As inquiries and programming in precision agriculture blossom at MSU, Nugent also said that it provides an ideal environment for preparing students with technological literacy and the chance to follow their curiosity.
“We’re creating an opportunity for students to be able to go into the industry with knowledge that they need, whether they’re going onto farms, into consulting or really anywhere within the industry,” he said. “Our goal is to get them handson experience with these technologies so that they go in with knowledge of having worked with them.”
Nugent said that agricultural producers across Montana have shown interest in adopting precision practices, and that there are many ways for them to do that. Contrary to what many people believe, he said, precision agriculture doesn’t have to involve expensive technology or an overhaul of existing practices; there are approachable ways to integrate more data analysis and new strategies. At several of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station’s annual field days this summer, Nugent presented ongoing precision research and fielded dozens of questions from producers, current MSU students and interested community members.
With the continued development of new technologies and advancements in artificial intelligence, Nugent said that now is the ideal time for Montana and MSU to continue advancing as leaders in the field of precision agriculture. He said the state and university are poised to have a major impact on an evolving field with great potential.
“Something that I am excited about with this new program is that, being housed within the College of Agriculture, we have a very good focus on the land-grant mission, working with producers and bringing benefit to the community with the research we’re doing,” said Nugent. “When you’re researching technologies, sometimes it can be easy to forget about the end user. We have an opportunity to look at how we can make technology both user-friendly and economically
