Meeting the food and fiber needs of a growing world population requires changes in traditional production techniques and attention to efficiency and sustainability. Precision agriculture combines hardware and software tools to make farming more sustainable and efficient. Artificial intelligence, sensors, robotic tractors, drone-aided monitoring, automated irrigation systems, electronic record-keeping are among the tools to be used by the farms and feedlots of the future.
NFarms (Nebraska Future Ag Research and Management Systems) formalizes the university’s existing research and outreach in precision agriculture into a strategic initiative. The multi-disciplinary work operates at commercial scale unique in university ag research on more than 3,000 acres of the university’s Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plans to build a regional ag research facility at Nebraska Innovation Campus will provide opportunities for ongoing collaboration with Nebraska's precision agriculture experts. The federal facility will greatly increase the number of USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists in Nebraska, and they will be focusing on precision ag technologies. The Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead will provide a major venue for their field research. (Updated November 2024)
Joe Luck
faculty
Professor
Biological Systems Engineering
Assistant Professor, Biological Systems Engineering; Associate Director, Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center
Biological Systems Engineering
Joe Luck is a leader with the university’s precision ag work at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center. ENREEC's showcase facility, NFarms, operates under real-world conditions, on a scale similar to that of actual working farms. The cutting-edge research involves both irrigated and dryland fields.
“NFarms provides a real opportunity as a technology hub integrating the farm system,” says Luck. “We have a real-world environment to test these technologies and show producers how they’re going to impact their operation.”
Bio
Joe Luck, a professor of biological systems engineering, is an award-winning researcher and educator who works to develop variable-rate application technologies, sensors and control systems for site-specific crop management. He also is an expert in GIS and data management systems for agriculture and the development and utilization of liquid application technologies. His research includes irrigation controls, herbicide and pesticide spray applications and Controller Area Network tools that allow technology in tractors and other agricultural implements to communicate with each other without a host computer. (Updated November 2024.)
Yufeng Ge
faculty
Professor
Biological Systems Engineering
Professor of Biological Systems Engineering
Biological Systems Engineering
Yufeng Ge, Eberhard Professor of Biological Systems Engineering, is an expert in precision agriculture, a farming practice that uses data collection analysis and action to improve crop yields and management decisions. He specializes in agricultural remote sensing, image analysis and sensor-based plant phenotyping of the observable traits by which an organism expresses its genetic structure. He teaches classes in measurement and control in agriculture; optoelectronic sensor design and proximal and remote sensing; and spectroscopy. He has led projects to boost agricultural technology through improved field connectivity and efforts to advance and standardize phenotyping. (Updated November 2024.)
Bio
Yufeng Ge is co-founder of the Consortium of Space, Policy, Agriculture, Climate and Extreme Environment, which researches ways to sustainably grow food on space stations, the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies that might eventually sustain legions of humankind. He earned his bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering at Nanjing Forestry University in China; master’s in mechanical engineering at Nanjing Forestry University in China; and doctor of philosophy in biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University. (Updated November 2024.)
Bio
Derek Heeren, a professor and irrigation engineer, teaches students to be wise managers of irrigation, water resources and agricultural systems. His students get hands-on experience with irrigation technology while working with industry partners. He teaches courses in agricultural systems technology and agricultural engineering. He is the author of “Irrigations Systems Management,” a textbook published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. He is coordinator of irrigation and agricultural water management education for the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. (Updated November 2024)
Tami Brown-Brandl
faculty
Professor
Biological Systems Engineering
4024723377
tami.brownbrandl@unl.edu
Bio
Tami Brown-Brandl, who holds the William E. and Eleanor L Splinter chair in biological systems engineering, takes an engineering approach to improving animal wellbeing and production efficiency. By collecting and using electronic data on individual animals housed in typical industry-sized pens, precision animal management can be used as a means to reduce animal stress and improve animal wellbeing. She also investigates the susceptibility of cattle and swine to heat stress. She developed a web-based cattle heat stress forecast to assist feedlot operators. In 2023, she was honored with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Henry Giese Award for "distinguished service in advancing the knowledge and science of agricultural structures and environment." (Updated November 2024.)
Wei-zhen Liang
faculty
Rsch Asst Professor
Biological Systems Engineering
3086321230
wei-zhen.liang@unl.edu
Bio
Wei-zhen Liang is a research assistant professor at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Her focus is on precision agriculture and custom-designed camera systems for crop monitoring. Her expertise includes image analysis, advanced modeling for crop and livestock management, the Internet of Things and precision agriculture. Her current studies involve developing artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for digital agriculture, plant phenotyping technologies, and precision engineering systems for water management, disease detection and weed detection across vineyards, dry beans and sugar beats. She actively contributes to STEM education through hands-on experiential learning and training programs. Liang's published research includes innovation in irrigation water management and monitoring crop health in dry edible bean, soybean and corn crops. (Updated November 2024.)
Bio
Abia Katimbo, an assistant professor and irrigation management specialist, specializes in precision irrigation. His research interests include sensor-based irrigation management, smart irrigation scheduling using dense wireless sensor networks, developing irrigation decision support tools and modeling soil water and crop water dynamics. He is affiliated with the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the West Central Research, Education and Extension Center in North Platte.
Saleh Taghvaeian
faculty
Assoc Professor
Biological Systems Engineering
4024727180
saleh.taghvaeian@unl.edu
Bio
Saleh Taghvaeian, an associate professor of biological systems engineering and an irrigation engineer, teaches irrigation and drainage systems engineering. He has conducted a number of studies analyzing water stress in major agricultural crops, sensors-based approaches to smart irrigation scheduling and performance assessment of surface, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems. (Updated November 2024)