About the Center

Mission

The mission of the Precision Agriculture Center at the University of Minnesota is to foster the implementation of precision agriculture. Our focus is to forge interdisciplinary partnerships to advance technology transfer by developing and implementing collaborative research, education, and outreach programs related to precision agriculture.

Founding of the Center

The Precision Agriculture Center was founded in 1995 by the late Dr. Pierre C. Robert. Pierre served as Director and Dr. David Mulla served as Associate Director. Pierre and David, as well as Emeritus Professors Dr. Bill Larson, Dr. Dick Rust, and Dr. H.H. Cheng were instrumental in planning and hosting the the first several International Conferences on Precision Agriculture (the Center hosted the ICPA from 1992 through 2006). Precision Agriculture, an international journal on advances in precision agriculture was founded by the Center in 1999.

Read A Tribute to Pierre C. Robert to learn more about his career and his pioneering efforts towards the discipline of precision agriculture.  

Activities

The Precision Agriculture Center aims to carry out its mission of fostering the implementation of precision agriculture many ways. The Center is a hub for bringing people together to work collaboratively on problems related to precision agriculture. The Center hosts visiting scholars and students from around the world; former visiting scientists have come from China, India, Romania, and Pakistan, among others. The Center is a platform for forging interdisciplinary research collaborations across disciplines, both within and outside the University of Minnesota. We host a seminar series during the University semester with the goal of sharing recent research being carried out from the Center, which we hope stimulates new ideas and cultivates new interdisciplinary collaborations.

Looking forward, we hope to continue stimulating interest in precision agriculture among students by introducing new precision agriculture curriculum at the University of Minnesota. We will also host workshops for researchers and professionals, and hope to develop an annual Minnesota precision agriculture symposium.