Olds College is expanding its Agricultural programming for next fall.

Jay Steeves is the Dean of the Werklund School of Agriculture and Technology at Olds College.

He says one of the new programs is the Bachelor of Digital Agriculture degree which focuses around precision agriculture.

"It's a balance between practical use in the fields, and then still applying the best of the data that we can collect to make sure that we're as efficient as possible as farmers and food producers. I think that there are elements of it trying to create those efficiencies, obviously for responsibility fiscally. But just to make sure that you know, what we do and what we apply, we're using the science behind what we're doing to make things more effective and higher yields."

Applications are now open for the Bachelor of Digital Agriculture degree, a four-year undergraduate program that will be offered in September of 2023.

Olds College is also taking  applications for the new Agriculture Communications Certificate.

Steeves says this course is the first of its kind being offered in Canada and will prepare students for a career supporting the agriculture and agri-food industry in communications and marketing.

"Prospective students might come from a position that they already have in industry, but they're looking to build their skills and kind of upscale their abilities within that industry. Then I would also see another stream of students that would enter this program that would be looking into the agri-food and agriculture piece."

The Agriculture Communications Certificate is a one year program being offered online beginning in September of 2023.