By Scout Nelson
The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) continues to build momentum toward the Nebraska Digital Agriculture Hub through its Digital Ag DNA Networking and Engagement Series. The second session of the series will take place on December 8 in the Great Plains Room on East Campus from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch will be provided for all attendees.
The first session, held on November 4, brought together more than 50 faculty, staff, and graduate students from research, teaching, and Extension. The event helped participants share their work, strengthen connections, and identify collaborative opportunities. Each session in the series supports IANR’s goal of advancing innovation through a unified digital agriculture community.
The Nebraska Digital Agriculture Hub will serve as a physical, virtual, and hybrid platform centered at the University of Nebraska. The hub aims to unite university experts, public partners, industry groups, and technology developers to accelerate the adoption of digital tools across crop, livestock, and natural resource systems. Its mission is to promote interdisciplinary research, education, and Extension programming focused on digital technologies.
The series is organized by the Digital Agriculture Task Force and supported by IANR, the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, and the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Event host Guillermo Balboa emphasized the importance of these gatherings, stating, “These Digital Ag DNA events are critical for building connections and awareness, as well as for brainstorming the goals of our future IANR Digital Agriculture Hub.”
During the first session, presenters shared the Digital Ag Strategic Framework, which outlines the goals of the hub. Attendees also reviewed findings from the IANR Digital Ag Survey, showing strong statewide capacity in remote sensing, precision crop management, irrigation technologies, and decision-support tools.
A Digital Ag Booth featured ongoing projects, including field sensors, UAVs, agricultural robots, and other emerging technologies. Fifteen lightning talks highlighted topics such as precision nitrogen management, plant phenotyping, digital irrigation scheduling, wildlife-agriculture integration, and AI-assisted farm decision-making.
Roundtable discussions helped identify priorities, including cross-unit collaboration, field-based testing, improved communication, and early engagement with industry partners. The event demonstrated the strong statewide infrastructure supporting digital agriculture and the value of continuing these sessions.
Registration is open to all faculty, staff, and graduate students.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-scharfsinn86
Categories: Nebraska, Education, General