Conference Program
Thursday, May 18 – Day 1
| 08:00 – 08:30 | Welcome |
| Jaime Camelio and Harald Scherm, Interim Co-Directors, Institute of Integrative Precision Agriculture, University of Georgia | |
| S. Jack Hu, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Georgia | |
| George Vellidis, Chair, Conference Planning Committee | |
| 08:30 – 10:00 | Critical issues facing field and specialty crop production (1.5 CEUs) Ashfaq Sial, moderator |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Kater Hake, Vice President (retired) and Ed Barnes, Senior Director, Agricultural & Environmental Research, Cotton Incorporated (row crops) |
| 09:00 – 09:20 | Bill Brim, President and Owner, Lewis Taylor Farms (vegetable crops) |
| 09:20 – 09:40 | Lawton Pearson, Owner, Pearson Farm (peach and pecan) |
| 09:40 – 10:00 | Brandon Wade, Plant Manager, Alma Nursery & Berry Farms (blueberry) |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Break |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Solutions to critical issues facing field and specialty crop production (1.5 CEUs) Lorena Lacerda, moderator |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Jacqueline Heard, Founder and CEO, Enko |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Lauren Lazaro, Senior Agronomist, Blue River Technology |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Brian Kelley, Founder and CEO, Ag Technologies and Vantage Southeast |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Conference Lunch Welcome from Dean Donald Leo, UGA College of Engineering and Dean Nick Place, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences |
| 13:00 – 15:00 | Solutions to critical issues facing field and specialty crop production continued (1.5 CEUs) Guoyu Lu, moderator |
| 13:00 – 13:30 | Stefan Caspari, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Grain & Protein, AGCO |
| 13:30 – 14:00 | John Fulton, Professor of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University |
| 14:00 – 14:30 | Yafit Cohen, Researcher, The Volcani Center, Israeli Agricultural Research Organization |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Yiannis Ampatzidis, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Break |
| 15:30 – 16:30 | Panel discussion on industry workforce needs and how academia can create curricula and attract students to meet needs (1.5 CEUs) Barry Croom, moderator |
| Stefan Caspari, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Grain & Protein, AGCO | |
| Yafit Cohen, Researcher, The Volcani Center, Israeli Agricultural Research Organization | |
| John Fulton, Professor of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University | |
| Athanasios (Sakis) Gertsis, Professor, Perrotis College, Greece | |
| Kater Hake, Vice President (retired), Agricultural & Environmental Research, Cotton Incorporated | |
| Brian Kelley, Founder and CEO, Ag Technologies and Vantage Southeast | |
| Brenda Ortiz, Professor and Extension Precision Agriculture Specialist, Auburn University | |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Discussion |
| 18:00 – 20:00 | Poster Session and Dinner Reception (1.0 CEUs) Lorena Lacerda, moderator |
Friday, May 19 – Day 2
| 08:00 – 10:00 | Critical issues facing poultry production and potential solutions Doug Britton, moderator |
| 08:00 – 08:30 | Karen Christensen, Senior Director, Animal Welfare, Tyson Foods |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | David Wicker, Vice President of Live Operations, Fieldale Farms Corporation |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Daniël Berckmans, Professor Emeritus of Bioscience Engineering, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Martin Zuidhof, Professor of Precision Feeding & Poultry Systems Modeling, University of Alberta, Canada |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Break |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Precision agriculture in the portfolio of federal funding programs (1.5 CEUs) Leonardo Bastos, moderator |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Krysta Harden, Board of Directors, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Steven Thomson, National Program Leader, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Program Director (TBD), National Science Foundation |
| 12:00 – 12:15 | Closing comments |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Conference Lunch Announcement of Poster Competition Winners |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Post-conference activities |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Student Hackathon Jin Sun, moderator |
| 14:00 – 16:00 | Precision turf management and University of Georgia football stadium tour (1.0 CEUs) Gerald Henry, moderator |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Spray-Drone Workshop at UGA’s J.P. Campbell Research and Education Center (presentations and demonstrations) (3.0 CEUs) Simer Virk, moderator |
| Athanasios (Sakis) Gertsis, Professor, Perrotis College, Greece | |
| Mark Ledebuhr, Principal, Application Insight LLC | |
| Steve Li, Associate Professor and Weed Science Extension Specialist, Auburn University |