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Overview

5 Years of Teaching Precision Agriculture at a California Community College West Hills Community College Farm of the Future. Overview. West Hills College Coalinga Program Timeline Course Descriptions Future of Program Difficulties. Where is Coalinga?. Large Fields (>160 acre)

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Overview

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  1. 5 Years of Teaching Precision Agriculture at a California Community CollegeWest Hills Community CollegeFarm of the Future

  2. Overview • West Hills College • Coalinga • Program Timeline • Course Descriptions • Future of Program • Difficulties

  3. Where is Coalinga?

  4. Large Fields (>160 acre) Large Farms (>5,000 acre) Expensive Water (>$150/acre-foot) Major Crops Cotton Almonds Pistachio Tomato Melons Winter Wheat Garlic Westside Farming

  5. Before 2000 • Animal Science • Rodeo Program

  6. 2000 • Hired Dr. Larry Rathbun • 5 Full-Time Instructors • 47-Member Advisory Committee • 723 Years Combined Agricultural Experience • Focus on Technology • Suggested Precision Agriculture Curriculum

  7. Grants • Total = $608,294 • Irrigation Technology – DWR - $99,000 • Precision Ag Outreach – CCCCO - $313,901 • Irrigation Technology – CCCCO - $99,663 • GPS Equipment – CCCCO - $29,255 • Firebaugh Technology Alliance – Com. Dev. Corp. - $50,000 • Special Populations Recruitment – CCCCO - $16,475

  8. Equipment and Facilities • GPS field mapping and hand held computers • GPS guidance systems and base stations • 20 station GIS laboratory • Industry standard GPS/GIS software • Soil and water monitoring telemetry • Veris soil mapping technology • Variable rate controllers • 600 acre college farm

  9. 2001 • Hired Adjunct Faculty – Kurt Quade • Taught as 2 Year – 4 Semester Curriculum • Part of Traditional Crop Science Associate Program

  10. 2002 • Hired Me • Short Courses • 3-Day Introduction to Precision Agriculture • 1-Day HGIS/Aerial Imagery • Good Response – 300 Participants

  11. 2003 • Disharmony • Consulting • No Agriculture Classes

  12. 2004-2005 • Hired Me – Ag Science & Technology • 1 Full-Time Agriculture Instructor • Precision Agriculture only program

  13. 2004 Curriculum • 10 months = certificate • 24 months = Associate of Science Degree • Prepare for university transfer

  14. Fall Semester Precision Agriculture Plant Science Computers in AG Mathematics Work Experience 15 units Spring Semester GPS Crop Monitoring Soils California Water Intro to GIS Work Experience 15 units Program Curriculum

  15. Introduction GPS GIS Imagery/Remote Sensing SSToolbox HGIS Variable Rate Technology Guidance Direct Sensing Projects Terminology Hands-On Hit-the-Ground-Running Real-World Projects Working with Industry Precision Agriculture

  16. Introduction Botany CSU/UC Transferable Farm Garden Hands-On Understand Plants Agriculture Experience Tractor Experience Plant Science

  17. Windows Microsoft Office Word Excel PowerPoint Computer Experience Windows Very Important Excel Very Important Computers in Agriculture

  18. Basic Mathematics Need to do Simple Calculations Acreage Geometry Important for Soils Mathematics

  19. Credit for Work Experience Work On-Farm Preferably Precision Agriculture Hands-On Work on their Own Work Experience

  20. Advanced Concepts Consulting Learning New Software Learning New Hardware Learn on Own Real-World Situations No Help in the Real-World GPS Crop Monitoring

  21. CSU/UC Transferable Basic Soils Soils Very Important in CA Ag Hands-On Labs Soils

  22. California Water Issues Water Law Irrigation Surface Sprinklers Micro Irrigation Water Very Important in CA Ag Hands-On Labs California Water

  23. Taught in Geography Dept ArcView GIS Very Important Introduction to GIS

  24. 2005-2006 Changes • Sales Incorporated • Recruiting Recruiting Recruiting!

  25. Difficulties • Transfer vs. Certificate • Recruitment • More Jobs than Students • Staying Current • $ and Time • Prerequisites • Welding/Wiring • Computer • Agriculture • Too Much Info to Learn in 1 Year

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