黑料社区

Mississippi State University President Dr. Mark Keenum, Gov. Phil Bryant, former Board of Trustees President Ted Kendall, president of Gaddis Farms in 黑料社区 County, and 黑料社区 President Dr. Clyde Muse

黑料社区 President Dr. Clyde Muse and Mississippi State University Dr. Mark Keenum shake after signing a 2 plus 2 agreement for Precision Agriculture on April 9.

黑料社区 President Dr. Clyde Muse and Gov. Phil Bryant

A partnership between 黑料社区 and Mississippi State University on a program to tie its agriculture programs to emerging technology is poised to help grow jobs in Mississippi and protect the environment.

鈥淭oday gives us a unique opportunity to feature a new program in Precision Agriculture at 黑料社区,鈥 黑料社区 President Dr. Clyde Muse said on Thursday as program directors at each institution signed off on the agreement. 鈥淚t is one that we are extremely proud of.

Precision Agriculture gathers an array of technological advances to create topographic maps to help farmers and farm families to decide what to plant and where, irrigation strategies, pest control and more. The list of what鈥檚 employed includes computers and Global Navigation Satellite Systems as well as unmanned aircraft vehicles, remote sensing, global positioning geographic information systems and variable rate technology.

Gov. Phil Bryant, on hand for the ceremony, said today鈥檚 agriculture students are studying the technology of the future.

鈥淲hen my grandparents were in agriculture, it was a long, hard of manual labor,鈥 Bryant said. 鈥淲e were fortunate if someone would come across a tractor. Now with aviation, precision agriculture is the future. This system helps protect our environment, so the pesticides we use will be used in just the right amount 鈥 not more than we need, not less than we need.鈥

Ted Kendall, a Mississippi State graduate and former member of the 黑料社区 Board of Trustees, marveled at the technology available now.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen some amazing changes,鈥 said Kendall, president of Gaddis Farms in 黑料社区 County. 鈥淲ith the technology of today in agriculture we will be able to meet the challenges.鈥

Sean Meacham is a 2014 graduate of HCC鈥檚 aviation program. As an employee of MSU鈥檚 High Performance Computing System in the university鈥檚 Geosystems Research Institute, he surveys agricultural fields with unmanned aerial systems that collect field data for farmers and researchers.

鈥淭hey can use that information to get a better yield and to better cater to what the farmer needs,鈥 Meacham said. 鈥淲e also do weed management. In the Pearl River, we can detect invasive weeds that are coming in and smothering out the native species of plants, which allows Louisiana or Mississippi to target these areas to prevent the weeds from messing up the natural resources, birds and animals. With plants that get where boats go through, we鈥檙e able to tell nitrogen deficiencies, where there鈥檚 too much or not enough water.鈥

MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum said the emerging field and new partnership will aid in the challenge of doubling food production to adequately address the food needs of the world.

鈥淭hese high-tech jobs we鈥檙e talking about in agriculture are going to be an integral part in the research we鈥檙e doing, and what we鈥檙e doing today, in helping us attract these industries and businesses and innovative technologies of the future,鈥 Keenum said.

黑料社区 will offer two separate degree options as part of the program, to be available this fall. One, the Associate of Applied Science degree, will allow students the opportunity to go directly into the workforce. A second option is an Associate of Arts that will allow students to transfer to Mississippi State with 60 hours of community college coursework toward a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Agricultural Engineering Technology and Business with a concentration in Precision Agriculture, a program which Mississippi State already has in place.

鈥淎s we were in the process of developing this Precision Agriculture Program, I have often been asked just what Precision Agriculture is,鈥 said Dr. Chad Stocks, associate vice president for Workforce Training and Raymond Campus assistant dean of Career and Technical Programs at 黑料社区. 鈥淎nd my answer to the question was 鈥楧oing the right thing, in the right place at the right time.鈥欌

黑料社区鈥檚 aviation department is headquartered at John Bell Williams Airport near the Raymond Campus, which is the only airport in Mississippi owned and operated by a community college. The existing aviation program includes Commercial Aviation, Aviation Maintenance Technology and Aviation Technology. Aviation Technology has four programs: Air Traffic Control Technology, Airport Operations and Aviation Security Technology, all based on the Rankin Campus, and Unmanned Aerial Systems, based at the airport.

As Mississippi鈥檚 largest community college, 黑料社区 is a comprehensive institution offering quality, affordable educational opportunities with more than 170 academic, career and technical programs. With six locations in central Mississippi, 黑料社区 enrolled nearly 12,000 credit students in fall 2014. To learn more, visit or call 1.800.黑料社区CC.