Source: BLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE submitted to
BLUE MOUNTAIN PRECISION AGRICULTURE MOBILE UNIT GRANT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1028940
Grant No.
2022-38414-37915
Cumulative Award Amt.
$53,117.00
Proposal No.
2022-04315
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2022
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2025
Grant Year
2022
Program Code
[SPECA]- Secondary Challenge Program
Project Director
Leggett, D.
Recipient Organization
BLUE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
2411 NW CARDEN AVE
PENDLETON,OR 978011655
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) is leveraging existing partnerships with over a dozen high schools (many with significant Hispanic student enrollments) the InterMountain Education Service District, and Oregon State University Extension to address agricultural industry and employments needs in rural Eastern Oregon. The project interrupts slow adoption cycles involving Precision Agriculture (PA) by introducing high-tech equipment to high school students enrolled in Career and Technical (CTE) Agriculture programs and integrating PA into their curriculum.The BMCC will outfit a Precision Agriculture Mobile Lab, a utility vehicle equipped with technologies including variable rate sensors, sub-inch accuracy applications, auto-steering and remote sensing. The Mobile Lab will travel to schools, FFA events, and work sites in an enclosed equipped trailer providing students the ability to display live data feed from the utility vehicle using GIS software. The appeal of hands-on experiential learning is very conducive for exposing high school students to real-world application of learning.The Project Lead will partner with high school CTE teachers creating three PA modules to integrate into existing CTE Ag courses. Students will be able to earn credits transferable to the two-year program at BMCC which will help increase the number and diversity of students pursuing an AAS in Precision Agriculture.Use of the Mobile Unit not only ignites interest in careers in Precision Agriculture but can help create long-term cost savings for farmers, e.g. more efficient use of fertilizer, seed distribution, watering, and field usage and address environmental and climate change issues.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
10201993020100%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
Goal: Major goals of this project are; Promote PA via the use of a mobile unit to visit high schools, FFA groups, and community events;Partner with CTE teachers to create PA curriculum modules for use in HSs;Partner with OSU faculty and industry partners to provide paid summer internships for HS students; and Integrate use of PMAL and PA technologies into BMCC Ag classes.Objectives of this project are:- Engage students in use of state-of-the-art PA tools and equipment.- Increase regional HS CTE student participation in dual credit coursework in Agriculture.- Regional HS students continue on an Agriculture pathway and enroll in BMCC's program.- The project provides the region's Hispanic HS CTE students with opportunities to learn more about how farming is creating career opportunities in PA.- Provide professional development to CTE teachers and FFA sponsors on use of PA tools.
Project Methods
The BMCC will outfit a Precision Agriculture Mobile Lab, a utility vehicle equipped with technologies including variable rate sensors, sub-inch accuracy applications, auto-steering and remote sensing. The Mobile Lab will travel to schools, FFA events, and work sites in an enclosed equipped trailer providing students the ability to display live data feed from the utility vehicle using GIS software.The Project Lead will partner with high school CTE teachers creating three PA modules to integrate into existing CTE Ag courses.Metadata collected for the project will include number of high school students receiving instruction, the number of BMCC agriculture students receiving instruction, number of high school CTE teachers/FFA Advisors trained, number of farmers and community members receiving services and/or outreach, the number of dual credits in agriculture earned by high school students with BMCC, the number of high school and BMCC students in paid work experiences during the summer months, BMCC Agriculture program enrollment data, enrollment of non-traditional students entering Ag programs (gender), and enrollment of Hispanic students in BMCC's agriculture program.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The majority of this reporting period was interrupted by two major health issues that prevented me from attending previously planned activities with the Mobile Precision Agriculture Laboratory. However, prior to these health issuesI was able to attend a few events. I was invited to the Hermiston Home and Ag Expo to perform a drone demonstration with the mobile lab on two consectuvive days. This involved a short speech and question and answer periord talking about the uses of drones in agriculture and how I use our drones in the Precision Agricutlure degree program, followed by a flight demonstration. Estimated attendance was 40 people total for both days. In March, I was invited to the Pendleton Career Connect Conference at the Pendleton Convent Centerwhere regional high school students are given the opportunity to visit with many industry, college/university, and military representatives. Students are given a list of vendorsa head of time so they can focus thier time on what interests them most. I was given an outdoor space for the mobile and was able to engage with 30 students for the two sessions I was given. Also in March, I attended the Oregon FFA State Convention with our Ag Department. For this event I utilized our precision agriculture simulator. The simulator uses the popular Farming Simulator game and the precision agriculture add-ons for the game, a steering wheel, foot petals, and a side panel to simulate a tractor cab. I was able to engage direclty with 30 students. More events were planned for the summer, however between a surgery, its recovery, and another major health issue, I had to cancel those events. I am still not out of the woods yet, but more high school visits are planned for the 24-25 school year. Changes/Problems:The biggest issue I have faced this reporting period has been several months of poor health and healing from a surgery that kept me from engaging with more schools and previously scheduled community events. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Due to my health issues, I was not able to engage with CTE and FFA teachers this summer. Plans are being made to offer professional development opportunities next summer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the plan is to continue with the successful school visits. This will largely depend on the recovery of my health. At this time, I am very limited in what I can do. I am in conversations with our school administration about hosting a professional development event next summer for area CTE and FFA instructors on UAS and Precision Agriculture. Additionally, I will participate in community events such as local parades, Fourth of July celebrations, OSU Field Days, etc., as I have done in the past.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Major accomplishments achieved during this reporting period have been the engagement of area high school, middle school, and elementary school students in the use of precision agriculture equipment and practicies. These school visits also increased awareness for students, teachers, and councilors on the job opportunities in precision agriculture. Many of our schools have a significant hispanic population which provides a wonderful opportunity to reach these students.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The target audience reached during this reporting period was primarily local farmers and researchers from Oregon State University. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, I will work with two high school (HS)CTE instructors to develop curriculum forthe HS visits with the mobile lab. Along with that, I will make visits to at least two area HS per term (six per academic year). These visits will introduce students to advancedprecision agriculture (PA) technologies, PA and UAS (drone) dual credit opportunites at Blue Mountain Community College, and because several of our area HS have largely hispanic student populations, I will focus on educating these students about well-paying and excciting careers in agriculture in our region. I will also focus on educating more HS instructors about the mobile lab and its use in thier classroom.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? During this reporting period, there have been twomajor goals. The first goalhas been setting up mobile lab so it is ready to take to area high schools in the fall. Much headway has been made on this goal, and the mobile lab will be ready well before schools start in the fall. The second goal has been educating local high school (HS)CTE instructors about the mobile lab and identifying two HSCTE instructors that will work with me to develop curriculum to be used in the HS during and after visits to better engage students and develop interest in precision agriculture. Two HS CTE instructors have accepted invitations to help develop curriculum and many of the area HS CTE instructors are now aware of the mobile lab and the opportunities associated with it.

    Publications