Agriculture Lessons Inspire Iowa Students With Real Field Learning

By Andi Anderson

High school students in Iowa are gaining valuable knowledge about modern farming through hands-on precision agriculture lessons. These activities are helping them understand how technology is used in agriculture and why it is important for improving efficiency and accuracy in the field.

At Boone High School, students in a precision agriculture class recently carried out a practical activity on a sports field. They pushed a utility cart and tried to move in a straight line without using GPS tools. This task proved to be difficult, showing how challenging farming tasks can be without modern technology.

“We were off by 17 feet after a single pass, so think how much we’d be off over a whole field,” Fitzgerald told the students. The return pass – this time, with GPS – hewed the line, driving home the value of guidance and steering systems widely used by farmers.

This exercise helped students clearly see how GPS technology improves accuracy in farming. When the same task was repeated using GPS tools, the cart followed a straight path, giving students a clear understanding of the importance of precision agriculture.

The course was introduced by teacher Jim Fitzgerald, who used a special precision agriculture cart. This cart can simulate different types of farming machinery, making learning more interactive. For many students, this was their first experience with such advanced tools.

“There have been a lot of eye-opening experiences for students, seeing the technology that goes into agricultural equipment and production,” he said.

The program is part of the Precision Ag Technology Curriculum for High Schools, also known as PATCH. This initiative was developed by Iowa State University’s Digital Ag Innovation Lab. It was launched in 22 high school classrooms across Iowa and is expected to expand further in the future.

“We are showing these students there are so many STEM career options in agriculture. It takes all kinds of people with a variety of skills to develop, deploy and utilize these technologies,” said Kate Groe, a Digital Ag Innovation Lab test engineer who helped establish PATCH.

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