MSU Extension Precision Agriculture

MARCH 2024 SPEAKER: Tami Brown-Brandl, PhD, Professor and Dr. William E. and Eleanor L. Splinter Chair, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl is a professor and Dr. William E. and Eleanor L. Splinter Chair at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She received her BS in Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, a dual MS degree in Animal Science and Biological Systems Engineering from UNL, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Kentucky. Her research program has been focused on engineering approaches to improve animal well-being and production efficiency. Currently, she is working in an area of research called precision animal management, where technology is applied directly to the animal environment to aid in animal management, guide engineering decisions, and develop novel phenotypes.

APRIL 2024 SPEAKER: Santosh Pandey, PhD, Associate Professor, Iowa State University

Santosh Pandey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. Currently, his team is working with swine researchers at Iowa State University to develop and apply electronic sensors for swine health monitoring, specifically to monitor pig activity and skin temperature. In this talk, he will discuss the different versions of sensor boards built in our laboratory and the methods of data collection and analysis for simultaneous monitoring of multiple pigs. He will discuss the tradeoffs in sensor performance, power consumption, Bluetooth communication, and sensor packaging for long-term swine health monitoring. Prior to Iowa State University, he completed the Bachelor of Technology in Electronic and Electrical Communication Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur), and M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His research has been funded by grants from U.S. federal agencies, including USDA, NSF, NASA, and DTRA.

AUGUST 2024 SPEAKER: Michael Reinke, PhD, Viticulture Specialist, MSU Extension

Michael Reinke is the Michigan State University Extension Viticulture Specialist. He received his PhD in Entomology from MSU and has several years of industry experience in insect monitoring, pheromone-based insect management, and insect behavior in agricultural systems. One avenue of his research and outreach is looking at the potential of remote sensing and autonomous chemical applications in specialty crop and other agricultural systems. Mike’s work in application drones and autonomous ground sprayers has increased Michigan State University’s recognition as a leader in the precision agriculture space. A new avenue of research Mike is also pursuing includes using LiDAR as a tool for plant evaluation and crop load assessment.

AUGUST 2024 SPEAKER: Joao Dorea, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Joao Dorea's work is focused on using high‐throughput-phenotyping and data analytics to create decision‐making tools in livestock, and he has experience with data mining techniques for the analyses of large livestock data, computer vision systems and ruminant nutrition. Dr. Dorea and team have developed artificial intelligence systems using CV applications to enhance livestock operations. Today, Joao will show a project in which they are flying drones over grazing animals to measure pasture composition and animal behavior and provide an overview of the project with preliminary results.