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NASA Administrator: shared technologies can benefit agriculture

The Administrator of NASA says there are a lot of similarities between agriculture and space exploration.

Jim Bridenstine wants FFA members to know the technology that comes from space exploration is applicable to their lives now as they consider careers in agriculture.

“Those technologies that are going to be transformational for the production of food are going to be developed by the kids who are here today, and NASA needs to be part of it,” he says.

He says the science needed to explore space can benefit agriculture and vice versa.   

“We’re going to need food in deep space,” he says. “But we can also use space to monitor the earth and make assessments as to how ag is doing here on earth and we can use space to increase crop yields, reduce water usage, and preserve nitrates in the soil.”

He says students interested in going into space should study the STEM fields.

Bridenstine, speaking in the FFA Blue Room, says he doesn’t just want FFA members to go to space, he wants them to land on the moon. He is the only NASA administrator who has not experienced humans on the moon, as he wasn’t alive during the first landing.