CAIA Testbed: Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center

The CAIA testbed at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center is available for research, teaching, and extension activities focused on precision applications of crop inputs such as fertilizer, irrigation, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. The 226-acre facility with a 20-acre freshwater pond contains all equipment necessary for production of vegetable, grain, oilseed, and fiber crops. The site will soon house two autosteer capable tractors, RTK GPS correction, and several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with various camera sensors, along with a UAV that allows aerial pesticide application. The drive from the Blacksburg campus to the Eastern Shore AREC is approximately 6 hours, is conveniently located to Norfolk International Airport (1-hour), and is approximately 45-minutes from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.