Georgia 4-H held its annual 4-H Ag Tech training in Tifton Sep. 10-11, with over 16 county teams participating. High school 4-H’ers work alongside their county 4-H and Agricultural and Natural Resources agents to bridge technology gaps in the agriculture community.

The 2024-2025 cycle represents the third year of the program, and it continues to grow and gain ground across the state. Participants observe new agricultural technology advancements hands-on and learn about their use in a supportive environment.

County teams represent all four UGA Extension districts and include Ben Hill, Bibb, Burke, Cobb, Coffee, Coweta, Decatur, Effingham, Emanuel, Houston, Madison, Mitchell, Peach, Pulaski, Toombs, and Worth counties. The program started with 25 4-H’ers at its launch and has grown to over 70 participants and in just two years.

The two-day training empowers youth to provide hands-on and impactful technology demonstrations to farmers, landowners, and other youth in their areas. County teams are trained on agriculture technology topics including drones, soil sampling, soil moisture sensors, GPS guidance aids, and digital pest and weed identification.

The new program year expanded programming to include natural resource management topics including drone usage in prescribed burns, invasive species management, and wildlife trail camera analysis. “We are excited to continue to update our topics to include new areas in order to appeal to larger landowner audiences,” said Katie Bowker, program coordinator for 4-H Ag Tech. “We are also looking to grow into more urban agriculture topics to widen our impact!”

At the training, youth are given the opportunity to learn directly from University of Georgia precision agriculture specialists in an academic setting. UGA Tifton specialists worked in partnership with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and their new Agricultural Technology building to host the event. Programming included a college tour for the youth attendees to connect their learning with college degrees and future career paths.

During the past two years of programming, 4-H Ag Tech county teams have held over 75 individual outreach events and reached a combined total of over 3,450 adults and 3,800 youth participants. These youth leaders have held presentations at workshops, festivals, production meetings, growers’ meetings, association meetings and at local schools.

Many UGA faculty, staff and graduate students from Athens and Tifton have contributed to the training and implementation of 4-H Ag Tech this year including Kasey Bozeman, Wes Porter, Cody Mathis, Luke Fuhrer, Daniel Lyon, Phillip Edwards, Daniel Jackson, and Rebekah Wallace.

Georgia 4-H empowers youth to become true leaders by developing necessary life skills, positive relationships, and community awareness. As the premier youth leadership organization in the state, 4-H reaches hundreds of thousands of people annually through University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offices and 4-H facilities.

Written by Katie Bowker