The partnership increases the college’s applied research capabilities
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Representatives from Olds College and TELUS Agriculture recently announced a $1-million partnership.
The newly formed TELUS Agriculture is investing into the college, allowing the two to work closely together, said Stuart Cullum, the president of Olds College.
Olds College is “able to be a living lab to test, develop and scale some of the technology that (TELUS is) involved in. Also, we'll benefit from some of the technology that they're able to bring forward that provides the foundational layer that allows us to establish our Smart Farm and really provide a tremendous applied research environment for industry and for producers to work together on,” he told Farms.com.
The investment provides funds to support technical staff and components for the 2,800-acre Smart Farm and builds on the connectivity that enables data flow on the farm, said Cullum.
“We're able to work with not only TELUS, but the 50 other partners that we’re already engaged with on the Smart Farm to develop, scale and test technology, at commercial scale, across our 2,800 acres and within our feedlots and our livestock operations,” he said.
The partnership also helps producers and the ag industry in Alberta and Western Canada continue to tackle the challenges and new technology coming out. This also puts students at the cutting edge of learning, said Cullum.
“It's a great learning environment for our students. We're very excited about the work that we are doing with industry to provide these kinds of applied research and learning environments. I think it's critically important, not only for agriculture sector to continue to advance with technology, but for our next generation of graduates and learners to be able to be exposed to those kinds of environments,” he said.