By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

Yarbrough Consulting beat four other precision agriculture
consulting firms to win a $100,000 contract from Pike Creek
Turf, a major Southeastern turfgrass farm. Too bad they’ll never
get to spend the money.

Yarbrough and its competitors are all companies formed by
students taking the “Principles of Precision Agriculture” class
taught only on the University of Georgia Tifton campus.

Fake firms, real grass

Southern Dawg Ag Consulting, Getting Mean in the Green, Big Dawg
Consulting, BAJK Consulting and Yarbrough Consulting aren’t real
companies. But Pike Creek Turf is very much a real and
successful firm.

The Cook County family operation, in south-central Georgia, is
owned by the brother-sister team of Jaimie Allen and Kim Allen
Boling. They manage 3,000 acres of 11 turfgrass varieties used
mostly for golf courses. They employ 200 people.

“They’re definitely one of the top turfgrass producers around,”
said George Vellidis, a professor and engineer with the UGA
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He teaches
the class.

Precision farming

The class introduces students to precision agriculture, which
helps farmers put things like water and fertilizers exactly
where they need to be in exact amounts. That saves them money.
It’s generally better for the environment, too.

The students learn how Geographical Information Systems, a
technology used to analyze data from a geographic perspective,
and Global Positioning Systems, which uses satellites to locate
pinpoints on Earth, can be used to auto-steer tractors or
turfgrass mowers.

They learn about remote sensing, too, using methods like
satellite images to run variable-rate irrigation, which places
water exactly as plants need it.

For the final project, students were given the scenario that the
Allens are interested in using precision agriculture on their
farm and have decided to hire a consulting firm to make a plan
for them.

“I got a lot more out of this project than if I’d just read
books,” said Gerome Morgan, a junior agriculture education
major. He was on the Yarbrough team.

“We were out there using the equipment,” he said, “and then
really figuring out what would be best used and how for the
Allens’ particular needs. Made it more interesting.”

“It puts the students in a real-life scenario,” Vellidis
said, “and makes them apply what they have learned in the
class.”

The presentation

Each team was required to submit a written, formal proposal to
the Allens and Vellidis and give a 20-minute presentation.

“The plans needed to be detailed enough for the Allens to really
implement on their farm if they wanted,” Vellidis said.

The students toured the Pike Creek Turf to prepare for the
project. Just as it is in the real world, a slight information
edge can be the difference between a big deal and the one that
got away.

During the farm visit, Yarbrough members noticed trucks hauling
timber from the farm. After a few questions, they learned that
the Allens also manage large tracts of timber land. Though the
final project leaned toward turfgrass, the Yarbrough team
included ways to improve timber lands, too, in their precision
agriculture plan.

That was the deciding factor.

“All the teams made strong points,” Allen said. “We got some
good ideas about some things we could implement in our
operation.”

This is the third year the class has been offered. Twenty-one
students took the class this year. Students in previous classes
made plans for a large vegetable farm and a grass-fed beef
operation.

The students probably won’t go on to work for a real precision
ag consulting group, Vellidis said. But they’ll be entering the
work force soon. Conducting research and organizing an effective
presentation are both important skills in professional jobs.

Yarbrough members weren’t sure how they would divide the big,
fake, $100,000 check.