United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative Limited has given Olds College $500,000 to cultivate innovation.
UFA’s five-year commitment will go toward an innovation lab and the Olds College Smart Farm.
The lab will be “a dedicated technological hub on campus where students and faculty can gain and share knowledge, build networks and turn innovative ideas into technological solutions that can benefit the agricultural industry,” says Olds College president Stuart Cullum in a statement accompanying the funding announcement.
Being built in the campus’s Smart Ag Innovation Centre, the lab is expected to be ready in December.
The Smart Farm uses cutting-edge technology to provide hands-on learning for students, while providing an opportunity for industry to develop, integrate and test new agriculture technology and practices.
UFA president and CEO Carol Kitchen says the donation makes good business sense.
“At UFA, we are committed to investing and supporting technology and innovation, especially as it pertains to new solutions for agricultural industries,” she says in a statement.
Olds College student Delanie Knull says the initiatives are great opportunities for students interested in exploring technology.
“Being able to learn by doing and by experimenting in a hands-on setting is what I’m most excited about,” says Knull.
“As an agriculture student, you sometimes wonder what the future of farming looks like. It’s encouraging to know that organizations like UFA place value in investing into my future, which I think looks very bright.”
UFA is an agricultural co-operative founded in 1909 that focuses on improving the economic and social well-being of its members and their communities.