The Digital Agriculture Taskforce in partnership with NFarms hosted a stakeholders’ engagement event March 11, 2026, to gather stakeholder input on key challenges and opportunities to help shape the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resource’s Digital Agriculture Hub initiative. The taskforce hosted the event at the new NFarms building in Mead with about 30 representatives from companies, startups, governmental and nongovernmental organizations attending.
“Through the discussions, stakeholders highlighted three major challenges—technology adoption and return on investment, data integration and governance, and the overall complexity of the digital agriculture ecosystem,” Guillermo Balboa, member of the taskforce, said.
Derek McLean, dean of the university’s Agricultural Research Division, led a session in which participants suggested ways to address the challenges.
Balboa said key opportunities suggested for the Digital Ag Hub included creating trusted testbeds for innovation, building a stronger data and analytics ecosystem for Nebraska agriculture and helping demonstrate the economic value of digital agriculture.
Dan Uden, interim director of the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, said the entire event focused on establishing feedback loops between the initiative and industry.
“Wednesday's conversations helped illuminate some of the areas the university is uniquely posed to lead in, as well as places where we need to step up and meet big challenges,” he said. “That understanding is incredibly valuable, and we want to build on it moving forward.”
About 30 representatives from companies, startups, governmental and nongovernmental organizations engage at the IANR's Digital Agriculture Hub initiative event, hosted by the Digital Agriculture Taskforce in partnership with NFarms, March 11. Photo by Madalyn Backes
He said meaningful and sustained engagement will be key to this initiative's success.
“Of course, that engagement includes the state's producers and the university community, but this event was about conversations with industry leaders and what they see as the most important challenges and opportunities in the digital ag space,” he said.
Several attendees said they looked to the university to play an increasing role in advancing digital agriculture because farmers and ranchers trust the university for solutions.
The hub’s proposed mission is integrating research, extension, education and entrepreneurship to deliver validated digital solutions, build leadership and workforce capacity and accelerate adoption in agriculture and natural resources.
The Digital Agriculture Taskforce started working on this initiative in June 2025, and it is one of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Organization Strategic Initiatives. Faculty in the taskforce represent teaching, research and extension efforts in digital agriculture across the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Since its start, the Digital Agriculture Taskforce has identified players across the institute through an internal survey, engagement events with more than 100 attending, a strategic document and the recent stakeholders’ engagement event. The goal is to receive input and ideas to shape the future of the Digital Agriculture Hub.
“Our next steps are to continue engaging both stakeholders and university partners as we refine the structure and priorities of the Digital Agriculture Hub,” Balboa said. “We will continue to engage IANR leaders, faculty, staff, students and stakeholders as we work toward furthering the initiative later this year.”
To keep updated about the hub taskforce activities, please visit the Nebraska Digital Agriculture Website.
