By Dean Larry Gossen, PhD
During this time of year, my mind always focuses on the many blessings we have, living in rural Nebraska, serving the agricultural community, and working alongside the amazing faculty and staff that provide for our students at NCTA.
Food production and Thanksgiving go hand in hand, and we are thankful for our role in moving agriculture in a future-focused direction, offering students an intensive hands-on education that embraces innovation while preserving traditions and keeping the culture of agriculture intact.
Today, I’d like to share a few recent campus highlights—the culmination of many hours of work by students, faculty, alums, university partners, and ag industry leaders.
NCTA had the privilege of hosting the 2024 Precision Ag Conference on campus in conjunction with the Nebraska GIS/LIS Association, Nebraska GIS Council, and the West Central Research Extension and Education Center. Attendees learned about some of the most innovative practices and opportunities for technology use in crop and livestock production.
The term “precision agriculture” relates to data-driven decision-making, resource efficiency, automation/labor optimization, and individual or per-animal management. Session examples included using collars on cattle that respond to virtual fences at the Gudmunsen Sandhills Laboratory, WCREEC on using drones for analyzing resource and nutrient use, and ALAN, a self-driving truck developed for feeding cattle at feedlots, among many other session topics.
During his tenure at NCTA, Dr. Brad Ramsdale, professor of agronomy, continuously engages his students with precision agriculture tools and practices. The long-time success of our competitive NCTA Crops team proves his program’s effectiveness.
As the Crops Team coach, Dr. Ramsdale traveled with the team to San Antonio, TX, to attend the American Society of Agronomy annual conference November 11-12. Students represented NCTA very well, interacting with all of the industry exhibitors and in networking sessions for undergraduate students.
The team placed 4th in the Crops Contest against over twenty 4-year universities as we were the only 2-year school participating. Four of our team members placed in the top 20 of the 125 individual competitors.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s commit to living with gratitude year-round, appreciating the people and opportunities around us. I’m deeply thankful to be part of this incredible community and to serve our students and everyone who supports them.
Part of the University of Nebraska system, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is a two-year institution with a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology, and related industries. NCTA is known for its affordable tuition, high job-placement rate for its graduates and the success of student teams in competitive activities, including crops judging, ranch horse events, livestock judging, shotgun sports, stock dog trials, and intercollegiate rodeo. The college is consistently ranked as one of the best two-year schools in the nation.