Cultivating Belonging in Agricultural Innovation through AgTech K-12 Program

North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Union County Center and Union County Public Schools have expanded a specialized AgTech initiative into a comprehensive K-12 pipeline to foster early interest in agricultural innovation. Originally launched in 2018 for older students, the program now introduces kindergarten through elementary students to robotics, precision systems, and data-driven farming. This strategic partnership aims to address the industry's evolving needs by preparing a future workforce capable of leading in a technology-driven agricultural landscape.

The AgTech initiative, a collaboration between N.C. Cooperative Extension’s Union County Center and Union County Public Schools, has evolved from a middle and high school program into a full K-12 academic pathway. Following a successful 2022 launch in two elementary schools, the program expanded to an additional school cluster in 2025 due to high community demand. Crystal Starkes, a 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent and doctoral student, notes that the program is designed to integrate agricultural technology into core subjects like science, math, and social studies, ensuring that AgTech concepts are aligned with state standards rather than treated as isolated electives.

Students engage in hands-on learning activities that simulate real-world agricultural challenges, such as programming LEGO robots to act as autonomous tractors or designing drone flight paths for crop monitoring. By introducing these concepts as early as kindergarten, the program seeks to demystify complex technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and environmental monitoring. This early exposure is intended to shift student perceptions of agriculture from a traditional manual industry to a dynamic field encompassing engineering and data science, building the confidence necessary for students to pursue advanced AgTech opportunities in higher grades.

The long-term implications for the AgTech sector focus on securing a skilled workforce capable of managing the transformation of global food systems and supply chains. As automation and precision technologies become standard on North Carolina farms, the initiative emphasizes that the human element remains the most critical innovation. By fostering problem-solving abilities and career awareness at a young age, the partnership aims to cultivate a new generation of leaders who can navigate and innovate within the increasingly technical agricultural landscape.