By Nigel Maxwell

Sask. Polytechnic proposing new Ag. program

Jun 4, 2018 | 2:00 PM

The seeds have been planted for a new agriculture program expected to launch at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in the fall of 2019.

The official announcement is not expected to come until this summer but Jamie Hilts, dean of the schools of mining, energy, manufacturing, natural resources and built environment, gave farmnewsNOW a few of the details. He said the program will be very hands-on and will expose the students to the applied aspects of food production.

“Students will have access to an environment where they would be able to be exposed to the most current trends, such as issues around smart technology and precision farming,” Hilts said.

Students enrolled in the program will also have an opportunity to work in an agriculture-oriented environment with a research consulting or agriculture equipment company. Sask. Polytech has partnered with a Saskatoon-area company which will provide the land and the equipment for the students to work on. Hilts said they don’t want to simply replicate the work being done at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture in Saskatoon.

“The University of Saskatchewan has done a wonderful job for decades and decades in agriculture,” he said. “This is something that would be a complement to what the University does.”

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Hilts said there have been a number of recent trends in the agriculture industry which have driven the need for a program like the one they are creating, including the growth of corporate farms, which can employ 20 to 30 people. Hilts said there is a shortage of people with skills and knowledge on topics such as soils and grain security, and technology is having a huge impact on equipment companies. 

“You’re gathering data, but you have to be able to have people that are able to take that data, analyze that data, and be able to implement that data,” Hilts said.

The program will be solely offered at the Kelsey Camus in Saskatoon, but Hilts said he may look at other partnerships down the line.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell