Digital Agronomy: A Year Forward
By Anna Cooper—Associtate Editor
Do you like dirt? What about hands-on learning? Have you ever wanted to fly a drone? Is getting your hands dirty the best way for you to retain knowledge? What about self-guided learning with instructors at the ready to lead the way?
One year forward, the TCAT Covington is still getting adults across the spectrum to answer these questions. Last year the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) in Covington began offering a new program called Digital Agronomy. This program hadn’t even started when we interviewed program coordinators and Dr. Youlanda Jones the TCAT Covington President. They had only just started to cement the content in the program and get equipment in—students hadn’t even signed up yet!
Today, the program is getting ready to enter its second year and the students who enrolled last year are close to the end of their one-year completion. Derravia Rich is the K-12 Coordinator for the Digital Agronomy program and Jason Rushing is the Digital Agronomy Grant Coordinator. Both, Rich and Rushing, are very excited about how much the program has grown in the past year. Rich spoke about enrollment, “We have eight students that are graduating this August. They are still very excited about the program.” TCAT Covington is growing the program's reach by offering the course to a wider variety of people, “Last year we were focusing only on our post-secondary classes and now the program has expanded in so many ways. We now have dual enrollment partners who are working with local high schools! We have about seven high schools who have agreed to a partnership, and we are now offering dual enrollment courses in those high schools.” Rushing nodded along, “Those will be for Junior and Senior students.”
Local High Schools aren’t the only schools benefiting from this endeavor. Rich explained where else they’ve been able to branch out in the past year, “We're also working with local elementary and middle schools. We will work with our partnering elementary, middle, and high schools in Fall 2021. So, that's kind of the next phase of our program. We launched the program with our post-secondary classes, and now we're moving on to all ages. We're excited to create a pipeline for students as early as elementary school age so they can have sparked interest and a love for agriculture in those younger years.” Rushing agreed, “a lot of students may not come from a ‘traditional farming’ background. There are still a lot of opportunities through technology and innovation that people may not have even considered or thought about. Things that would still allow them to work in the industry, but not, necessarily, just drive a tractor or something like the things that people generally associate with traditional farming.” They need to get that message across, “it's not just driving a tractor and harvesting corn. There's a lot of technology. There's just a lot of technology and innovation involved with agriculture now, that hasn't even been in existence that long.” Rich agreed and added, “We want to stress that our program is all about diversity and inclusion. Farming is different—it's more diverse, more people are being included and becoming full-time farmers. We want to make sure that people understand that it's not the way it used to be 50 or 60 years ago, let alone 75 years ago or 100 years ago. Digital Agronomy started with baby steps in the 90s, but has come a long way in the last 20 years.”
TCAT Covington’s ultimate goal for all of its students is to help them get employed in their chosen field of study. So, while they are working to provide the skills and know-how concerning future careers, they are also working with the businesses looking for graduates. According to Dr. Jones, “TCAT Covington is 100 percent invested in serving the needs of both students and industries in our communities. As the premier provider of technical training in our area, the Digital Agronomy program is an additional opportunity to meet the needs of those constituencies. This program strives to address the growing skills gap which exists in the agricultural industry by merging innovation and technology into a cutting-edge program that will serve our area for years to come.” These thoughts are also shared by the rest of the faculty at TCAT that are involved with the students in the program. Amanda Heath, the TCAT Covington Vice President, says that “The Digital Agronomy Program is an industry-driven opportunity to bring 21st-century workforce development to rural communities and to provide progressive Ag education into schools. Local schools need more programs that are innovative, hands-on, and advanced that will not only develop an interest in agriculture but also create pathways that will positively impact the industry in our area.”
Some of the coolest opportunities when it comes to learning about Digital Agronomy are the instances where students get to work directly with the instructors and professionals in the field. Robert Gaither, the head instructor of the Digital Agronomy program said, “I enjoy the opportunity to engage with the students in a process of training them in techniques utilized in 21st-century farming. Although we provide education in traditional agriculture, we introduce them to methods of collecting digital information that can be used to make better decisions to ensure the sustainability of farming in the challenges that the Ag Industry faces today.” Kayla Fisher, who also works to instruct the Digital Agronomy students, added, “One of my favorite parts about teaching the Digital Agronomy Program is providing students the opportunity to engage with agriculture experts in our area. Enrollment for this program is open now and we encourage anyone interested to contact Student Services at TCAT Covington.”
The Student Services office can be reached at 901-475-2526 or by email at admissions@tcactcovington.edu. While there are 7 locations in West Tennessee, TCAT Covington is currently the only location offering Digital Agronomy.
