Southport is hoping to be at the forefront of precision agricultural training, also known as site specific crop management (SSCM).
A precision ag workshop was recently held at Southport, and Unmanned Systems Canada Chair Mark Aruja says if Assiniboine Community College (ACC) decides to offer the training, it could be held in Southport.
"These new skill-sets needed to be developed could well be delivered by (ACC), which already delivers programs in Southport," says Aruja. "So the location here is perfect, we have test farms in the area, there's a really deep agricultural activity in the area too. So it looks like it would be a good fit to grow the program here in Southport, and offer something that is really at the cutting edge."
Aruja says nothing has been arranged between ACC and Southport, but he knows it's an ever-growing area, and it will be picked up eventually somewhere in the country.
"We have no idea if it's going to be definite or not, but somebody is going to pick this up and run with it. It sounds like there's a demand for these new skills, and hopefully, the Assiniboine folks will be able to kind of wave what they got out of the workshop and make some decisions."
Source : Portageonline