Students enrolling on a new postgraduate course at Harper Adams University in Shropshire will be among the first to benefit from the opening of The National Centre for Precision Farming.

The Precision Farming Masters course is designed for a range of graduates, including those with engineering or agricultural degrees or graduates wishing to pursue a career in agriculture who originally studied in a different discipline.

It will draw on the resources of the new Engineering Innovation Centre, which is scheduled to open on campus at the start of the 2013/2014 autumn term, including a new mechatronics laboratory, an extensive range of modern tractors and other farm machinery, Real Time Kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK GPS), both ground and aerial robotic research vehicles (AGV and UAV), and autonomous tractors.

The £2.93 million building will supplement existing resources and provide a physical base around which university/industry collaboration can be stimulated.

The course will provide an understanding of both theory and practice of Precision Farming techniques required to implement them in a farm-based business.

It will provide those already involved in farming with skills and competencies to operate at a higher level. The qualification will also be of benefit to stakeholder industries such as crop protection companies and farm engineering companies.

Students will have a clear understanding of the techniques and application of Precision Farming systems and be able to apply them to real-life farm scenarios, and make recommendations for the level of implementation for specific enterprises.

Dr Sven Peets, Subject Co-ordinator, said: “Students will get a systemic understanding of modern farming and how to get the best from the latest technologies.”

Students will typically take one-year full-time or two to three years part-time to complete the course.