Nebraska builds new agriculture degrees for precision farms

At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a new agricultural systems technology major is being designed around precision agriculture—drones, sensors, and data science. But enrollment is lagging as parents and students worry about job stability, while labor shorta

LINCOLN, Neb. — From the air. spring looks simple here: brown fields stretch out below. waiting for planting of corn and soybeans. Nebraska’s two top crops. But the view above doesn’t show the other systems that keep farms alive—especially the aquifers and groundwater that supply millions of acres. a resource threatened in recent years by drought and nitrogen fertilizer contamination.

At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. faculty and researchers are trying to solve those pressures while also training students for the next era of farming. The university’s fledgling major, agricultural systems technology, is built to blend hard science, data science, engineering and management. The goal is preparation for precision agriculture. a model that relies on high-tech tools to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impacts.

In practice, that means students must do more than learn how farms work. They learn how to interpret the data farms now generate. The degree requires an understanding of data science to analyze information from satellite imagery and “myriad sensors” that track soil health. crop growth and water usage. It is a shift in how agriculture gets taught—one that arrives just as many farmers are still deciding whether the new methods will make sense on their land.

A 2024 Government Accountability Office report on precision agriculture found many farmers. especially older ones. have been reluctant to adopt the new practices because they didn’t have the education necessary to interpret the data. Derek Heeren. a professor in the biological systems engineering department at Nebraska–Lincoln. said the challenge isn’t collecting information—it’s using it. “There’s growing numbers of data available, but it’s hard to make use of all that data,” Heeren said. “So a lot of what we do is that tech piece, collecting data, logging data, analyzing data.”.

Teaching undergraduates that data-driven approach is still new. Among the dozens of colleges and universities that offer agriculture-related degrees. only six have a full major in agricultural systems technology: Nebraska–Lincoln. Iowa State. Oklahoma State. the University of Missouri. South Dakota State and Utah State.

At Nebraska–Lincoln, agricultural systems technology students take courses in hydraulics, electrical systems, entrepreneurship and more. They also learn to use drones for tasks including spraying pesticides in small and targeted quantities and surveying land. as well as operating autonomous tractors remotely.

That training extends beyond lecture halls. Students can intern at on-campus labs including the Machine Automation & Agricultural Robotics Lab. the Agricultural Intelligence Lab and the Nebraska Tractor Test Lab—described as the only one of its kind in the country. They also join clubs such as the quarter-scale tractor team. where they build a small tractor and enter a year-end nationwide competition.

Cody Nieratka. a sophomore agricultural systems technology major from Massachusetts. said he was excited by the direction of the field—especially autonomous equipment and artificial intelligence in agriculture. including drones and remote-sensing technology. He wants to work on a farm, but he said he has no idea what his future job might be.

“I’m not sure where I’ll end up career-wise, because it’s changing so rapidly,” Nieratka said. He became interested in agriculture during high school after working at a campground that kept farm animals on the property. but he sees the new technology as something that could help smaller operations survive. “If we can get some of these smaller farms to access this technology and they can do the job of 10 or however many people. that could save them. ” he said.

The pressure to find enough workers is real. Labor shortages have plagued agriculture for years because of the aging farmer population. Nationally, the average farmer’s age has risen from 53 in 2002 to 58 in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 Census of Agriculture. The hired farmworker population has also aged, rising from 36 in 2006 to just under 40 in 2022.

Even as farming becomes less labor-intensive and more tech-driven. the number of students ready to fill new roles remains relatively low. A joint Purdue University and USDA report projects nearly 20. 000 jobs in food production will open annually between 2025 and 2030. but colleges with agriculture-related programs are expected to graduate only 58.7 percent of the graduates needed to fill those jobs.

At Nebraska–Lincoln, Joe Luck, interim department chair of the biological systems engineering department, said demand is hitting faster than enrollment. “We can’t graduate enough students in any of these programs right now because there’s just such a demand across the state,” Luck said.

He said he has also struggled to get undergraduates to enroll in the new major. In 2019. Luck said there were about 100 students majoring in mechanized systems management. a precursor to agricultural systems technology; the new major now has 37 students. Luck said enrollment dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn’t recovered. He added that universities need to do more to advertise how agriculture degree programs prepare students for future jobs in farming.

Purdue University professor Bruce Erickson. a professor of digital agriculture. said student numbers may also be influenced by wider turmoil in agriculture. Erickson pointed to high fertilizer prices. fluctuating crop prices and concern about environmental impacts. including water pollution and cancer rates linked to pesticides. He said the way outsiders talk about farmers can push some students away from agriculture.

“The typical farmer is viewed somewhat suspiciously,” Erickson said, “out there with their humongous sprayer putting on pesticides.” He believes that perception has influenced some students to reject studying agriculture.

For Abbie Cox. a junior from Texas who in high school participated in the National FFA Organization—formerly the Future Farmers of America—the instability feels personal. Cox said she worries about the stability of a farm career. “With everything going up and down and with trade being so crazy. I do see it scaring some young people away from being farmers. ” she said. She is aiming for a corporate career path and said she hopes her internship with Caterpillar Inc. this summer will lead to a job offer.

Luck said the Nebraska Tractor Test Lab has become a particular draw for potential employers. The lab is responsible for independently testing claims about tractor performance made by manufacturers like John Deere and Kubota and others throughout the nation. Each spring and fall, student interns assist the lab team with putting tractors through the tests. Luck said, “There’s not another tractor test lab in the country,” calling it “a real competitive advantage for our students.”.

The push for new training is also coming from outside the university. The USDA has broken ground on a new National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture in Lincoln. Guillermo Balboa. an agronomy professor at Nebraska–Lincoln. said he believes the center will help attract more students to study agriculture once it is complete because it will offer internship opportunities and potentially classes held at the USDA center.

As these programs expand. parents are increasingly focused on whether a new degree can protect a career from automation and AI. Luck said parents who tour the college with their children have begun asking if a degree from the program will be AI-proof. “Who would’ve thought five years ago you’d be answering questions like that in a recruitment visit?” Luck said.

Many agriculture professors at Nebraska–Lincoln are bullish on AI. Rick Stowell, a biological systems engineering professor at UNL, said the conversation has shifted. “We’ve changed from how can we keep students from using AI to how can we encourage them to use AI appropriately and when is it appropriate and when is it not?” Stowell said.

Luck said students will use AI in the next generation of agriculture jobs. but he does not believe it will replace them. “I’m not concerned about that threat to them yet because we still interface with the real world,” Luck said. “Our programs are really geared towards, ‘How do we interface with water, soil, plants, animals and humans.’”.

The sequence of concerns here is hard to miss: farms need workers. technology is changing the way farming gets done. and new degree programs are being built to match that change. Yet the major itself is still small. the enrollment still recovering. and the public anxieties about job stability and AI are arriving right alongside the equipment—drones. sensors and autonomous tractors—that students say they’re eager to use.

agricultural systems technology University of Nebraska–Lincoln precision agriculture drones sensors data science labor shortages agricultural education AI in education Nebraska Tractor Test Lab USDA National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture