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Educational Programs : Dakota Center for Technology-Optimized Ag
Dakota Center for Technology-Optimized Ag
Third year complete for the Dakota Center for Technology-Optimized Agriculture
Vision: "to become the premier center for technological applications in North American agriculture."
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News:
- August 12 - 14, 2010 - We (DCTOA) is a co-sponsor and organizer of the A Capacity Building Course-Agricultural Medicine: Occupational & Environmental Health for Rural Health Professionals. The first 2.5 days of the course will be held at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora in August and the second 2.5 days of the course will be held at LRSC in September.
- August 9, 2010 - Monday, August 9th in Bismarck, the DCTOA will present a proposal to the state’s ag faculty regarding the development and interest of a formal collaborative precision AG degree among the colleges in ND.
- Work on the prototype of the liquid manure injection toolbar is still underway. Because the toolbar is designed to incorporate precsion ag technology most current activity is focused on data shuttle design.
- July 12, 2010 - Melinda attended the NDSU Precision Ag Expo held at the NDSU Agronomy Seed Farm. The day consisted of variety plot tours and presentations in the morning followed by a noon lunch. After dinner there were educational and research presentations for approximately 2 hours. Attendees were then shuttled out to the field for “Ride and Drives”. Several different brands of farm equipment, furnished with all the latest technology capabilities, were supplied by local dealerships for participants to ride in and test drive. July 14th a similar program was held in Dickinson, ND, at the NDSU Extension and Research Center.
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Answer farms
During 2009, the Center's cooperative farm seeded canola to test the impact of variable fertilizer and zone management on their operations. "On the Langdon area farm, we saw some good yield results on the canola" said Center coordinator Melinda Martin. As far as quality goes, there was very little variance in 2009's oil content in canola. In 2010 the Center's focus is on field tests of manure slurry injection tools.
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Manure Initiative
Lake Region State College also submitted a new proposal to the Center of Excellence Commission to design methods for the precise variable-rate application of liquid manure. Center director Dr. Paul Gunderson and his staff have begun design work on a prototype of a direct injection tool that will be capable of varying the rate of flow, which will have a positive impact on the environment and could reduce the possibility of ground and surface water contamination.
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Third annual Kermit & Glenna Garske seminar
In 2010 the third annual Kermit and Glenna Garske Endowed Seminar was held in conjuction with the Lake Region Extension Round-Up. The seminar title was "Weather Outlook 2010" featuring Leon Oborne, founder, and president of Meridian Enviornmental Technology, Inc.
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Cellulosic research
The Center has also taken a look at cellulose as an ethanol source. Lake Region State College chemists have an ongoing study with the Dakota Center to analyze different enzymes that could possibly convert biomass into ethanol production.
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New partners join
The Center of Excellence program is funded by the state of North Dakota to incentivize job growth within the state as well as promote institutions of higher education. Newly added partners are J.R. Simplot, Grafton ND, Farmers Edge, Pilot Mound, Manitoba, and AgVise, Northwood ND.
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