Research Day Program (July 27)
When: July 27, 2026
Where: Poehlmann Educational Center, Bradford Research Farm
4968 S Rangeline Rd, Columbia, MO 65201. Google Map
Zoom Meeting Link: Zoom Meeting (Password: 123456)
Registration, Continental Breakfast, Poster Setup
- 08:00 AM – 09:00 AM: Symposium organizing committee
Opening Remarks and DAREC Overview
- 09:00 AM – 09:20 AM: Welcome
Dr. Chris Daubert, Dr. Shibu Jose, and Dr. Heike Buecking - 09:20 AM – 09:30 AM: Program overview and DAREC Updates
Co-Directors: Dr. Jianfeng Zhou, Prof. Kent Shannon, and Dr. Curtis Ransom
Morning Session
Session I: Moderator: Jianfeng Zhou
09:30 – 10:10 AM: Keynote: Kent Shannon, Assistant Teaching Professor & Co-Driector, Field Specialist in Ag Engineering, Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri
– Breaking barriers to digital agriculture technology adoption through collaboration
- 10:10 – 10:20 AM: Q&A
10:20 – 10:30 AM: Coffee Break
Session II: Moderator: Curtis Ransom
Topic: Adoption Barriers to digital agriculture practices
- 10:30 – 10:50 AM: Ken Sudduth, Retired Ag Engineer, USDA-ARS (presentation via Zoom)
- Perspectives on Digital Agriculture Technology Adoption
- 10:50 – 11:10 AM: Steve Cubbage, Founder & Leader Contributor at DownintheDirt.ai
- The Pencil and the Seed Corn Bag – Why AI in agriculture is a culture problem, not a technology problem
- 11:10 – 11:30 PM: Nick Monnig, Agronomist, Novus Nowledge Team – CCA
- Addressing Challenges to Farmer Adoption of Precision Technology
- 11:30 – 11:40 PM: Q&A
Lunch: 11:40 AM – 12:40 PM
Afternoon Sessions
Session III: Moderator: Jianfeng Zhou
- 12:40 – 1:00 PM: John Sheppard, Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering Distinguished Professor; Director, Numerical Intelligent Systems Laboratory – Montana State University (presentation via ZOOM)
- Artificial Intelligence Advances Supporting Data Intensive Farm Management
- 1:00 – 1:20 PM: Tim Haithcoat, Assistant Teaching Professor of Data Science and Analytics, University of Missouri
- Taylor Geospatial Food Security Award – Project outline and status report on the build-out of a soil and landscape integrated database to support modeling
- 1:20 – 1:40 PM: Santosh Pitla, Professor and Associate Head for Research & Innovation, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (presentation via ZOOM)
- FIELD-AI: Robotics, Farmers, and Grounded Intelligence at the Center of Agricultural Autonomy
- 1:40 – 1:50 PM: Q&A
1:50 – 2:00 PM: Coffee Break
Session IV: Moderator: Kent Shannon
- 2:00 – 2:20 PM: Lance Conway, Soil Scientist, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group
- Ag Tech of the Future: From Precision Farming to Autonomy
- 2:20 – 2:40 PM: Toni Kazic, Professor at MU Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- AI en route to Agriculture
- 2:40 – 3:00 PM: Jasmine Neupane, Assistant Professor, MU Plant Science and Technology
- Precision Irrigation Management for Missouri Cropping Systems
- 3:00 – 3:10 PM: Q&A
Poster Session (Student Competition)
Moderator: Moderator: Jasmine Neupane
- 3:10 – 3:30 PM: 1-min presentation
- 3:30 – 4:30 PM: Poster Session (Student Competition)
- 4:30 – 5:00 PM: Award, Wrap-up and Adjournment
Technology Day Program (July 28)
Location: MU Digital Farm & Jefferson Farm and Garden
4800 E New Haven Rd, Columbia, MO 65201. Google Map
Registration and Setup
- 08:00 AM – 09:00 AM: Symposium organizing committee
Opening Remarks & Welcome 09:00 AM – 09:10 AM
Kent Shannon & Jianfeng Zhou
Field Tour/equipment tour 09:10 AM – 11:10 AM
- Field Tour
- Five stops to demonstrate field research in digital agriculture technology
- Coordinators: Jianfeng Zhou & Kent Shannon
- Led by Dr. Jasmine Neupane, Dr. Jianfeng Zhou, Prof. Kent Shannon, Dr. Curtis Ransom
- Equipment tour
- Sydenstricker-Nobbe / John Deere Application Equipment
- Crown Power Equipment – Case IH Planting Equipment
- Agri Spray Drones – Newest in Application Drones
- Modern Ag – Sabanto Autonomy, Precision Planting
- 11:10 AM – 12:00 PM: Research demonstration and poster presentation
Jianfeng Zhou, Jasmine Neupane and Curtis Ransom - 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Close remark and Lunch
Download the program: 2026 DA symposium program.pdf