Olds College Offers New Bachelor of Digital Agriculture Degree

Olds College creates new tech programs to decrease a skills gap in the agriculture industry.

Olds College is excited to announce the approval of a new Bachelor of Digital Agriculture degree. Offered through the College’s Werklund School of Agriculture Technology, the Digital Ag degree’s first intake of students will be on campus for fall 2023.

Gaining relevant skills in the agriculture industry

“We are very excited to bring this new credential to Olds College,” comments Debbie Thompson, Vice President Academic and Students Experience. “The Digital Agriculture Degree was one of three programs that we created as part of our new Agriculture Technology programs offered out of the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology. Olds College continues to work alongside industry to create programs that will deliver graduates with relevant skills to lead and evolve the agriculture industry, so that we can continue to transform agriculture for a better world.”

“As a producer, the speed at which technology is changing our current agriculture practices is daunting,” comments Jeff Carlson, CEO of Carlson Agricultural Enterprises Ltd. “Now, more than ever, the ag sector needs skilled graduates who are able to understand, harness, and leverage the immense amount of data being generated throughout the agri-food value chain so that Canada’s ag sector can sustainably produce the highest quality food for a growing global population.”

Bachelor of Digital Agriculture degree

A four-year program, the Bachelor of Digital Agriculture degree will immerse students in global challenges in agriculture, recognizing the convergence of exponential technologies and diverse perspectives. Students will engage in real-world problems and explore solutions using digital agriculture technologies and practices.

Graduates will be prepared to lead disruptive change in agriculture with a grounding in multidisciplinary leadership, systems and entrepreneurial thinking, digital agriculture technologies, and machinery management, agronomy, and data sciences to realize the social, economic, and environmental objectives of sustainability.

Olds College currently offers two other Ag Tech programs including the Precision Agriculture — Techgronomy diploma, and the Agriculture Technology Integration post-diploma certificate, along with an Agricultural Management diploma, and a Bachelor of Applied Science — Agribusiness.

The new ag tech programs at Olds College were created in response to a significant skills gap that was identified within the agriculture industry when it comes to supporting the industry in adopting new technology.