OpenFieldEstablished in 1913 in central Alberta between Calgary and Red Deer, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology is a nationally recognized leader in smart agriculture, veterinary medicine, horticulture, and land management. The institution’s living laboratory—the Olds College Smart Farm—serves as North America’s preeminent testing ground for agricultural IoT sensors, drone multispectral imagery, robotic tractors, and artificial intelligence in crop nutrition. Through its Werklund Centre and Centre for Innovation, Olds College partners directly with agribusinesses to accelerate sustainable food production.
Review checked academic pathways and funding options below:
Prestige scholarship awarded to students entering precision agriculture or digital agriculture degree programs demonstrating leadership and technological innovation.
Four-year degree developed with global equipment manufacturers, training specialists in autonomous farm hardware, variable-rate fertilizer programming, and telemetry data pipelines.
One-year applied certificate for graduates of agriculture or IT diplomas, focusing on yield monitor calibration, multi-spectral drone surveying, and farm GIS map integration.
One-year renewable applied research fellowship testing soil carbon flux sensors, drone-based weed identification algorithms, and robotic crop scouting on commercial test plots.
Practical four-month field engineering internship deploying, testing, and trouble-shooting autonomous tractors and autonomous sprayer platforms during live seeding and spraying operations.
Two-year diploma preparing environmental technicians in contaminated soil remediation, wetland ecology, surface water hydrology, and reclamation compliance.
Intensive two-week summer certification course covering Transport Canada drone flight regulations, multispectral camera calibration, and NDVI vegetative index prescription mapping.
Tuition fees and student contributions vary across degree levels and residency status. Verified opportunity records list typical costs between CAD $7,200/year (domestic) or CAD $18,500/year (international) and departmental funding packages.
Distinguished researchers and laboratory heads at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology:
Vice President of Applied Research · Smart Agriculture Infrastructure, Grain Storage Technologies, Precision Farm Telemetry
Chief Technology Officer of Digital Agriculture · Agricultural AI, Autonomous Farm Robotics, Remote Sensing Agronomy
Research Scientist in Livestock Genetics and Feed Efficiency · Bovine Genomics, Feed Efficiency Measurement, Ruminant Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Facts reflect official Olds College of Agriculture & Technology documentation reviewed 2026-10-15. Degree admissions, scholarship awards, and employment positions are subject to formal university review. OpenField does not charge students application fees.
Reviewed 2026-10-15 · Editorial standards · Report an issue