Simer Virk

Asso. Professor & Extension Specialist at Auburn Univ. focused on advancing #precisionag #agtech #agdata to improve crop production. @AU_PrecisionAg

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

Today’s agenda - Put a bunch of different cotton defoliation mixes in the drone and see what works and what not. Never a dull day in the drone world!!

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

Great day picking peanuts in our #precisionag studies in South Alabama yesterday. It was also exciting to work with Kelley Manufacturing Co. (KMC) & test their newest yield monitor (PodPro). Pretty good results so far, look forward to more evaluation this harvest! @AU_PrecisionAg

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Soybean harvest underway in our #precisionag #plantertech studies in Central Alabama today. Thanks to Alabama Soybean Producers for funding this research and to the research station crew for all their help!! #harvest26 @AuburnAg @AlfaFarmers

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Beyond spraying, drones are increasingly used to apply dry materials, especially cover crops. Our latest blog shares some key considerations for seeding with drones to ensure uniform, effective applications! #droneseeding #covercrops @AuburnAg
https://t.co/Vfv7sgjpv0

[Dwaine Eddie McGriff @DwaineEddie]

Excellent non-irrigated yields in NE Alabama. This dryland field in Jackson Co. outyielded the adjoining irrigated field by 40+ bushels/acre. Middle is Kade Griffith, who entered his Dekalb 68-35 in the NCGA's yield contest. His father, Steve, on right and uncle Greg on left.

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Few useful tips on spreading cover crop seed with drones that use hopper gate (disc) type metering system!! #droneseeding #covercrop #calibration @AuburnAg

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

A lot of road time this week but had a great experience attending and sharing #precisionag #agtech information at Southern Peanut Growers Conference and Milan No-Till Field Day and interacting with growers and other stakeholders from several states!! @AuburnAg @AU_PrecisionAg

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

A great week in Brazil attending the 2026 ICPA & ConBAP conference in Porto Alegre & presenting on #precisionag in US, attending various #agtech sessions, networking with colleagues from different countries & making new connections. What a memorable experience! @AuburnAg @IntSoPA

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

This week, some of our team members (Emily, Ajay and Jacob) attended ASABE AIM 2026 in Indianapolis, IN. They presented their research and shared their work with fellow students, researchers and other ag engineering professionals!! ##asabeaim26 @AuburnAg

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

The crew has been hustling hard lately to wrap up data collection in our various on-farm #plantertech trials across the state and helping with everything else in between. We are ready for some #restandrecovery and wish everyone a great 4th of July weekend. @AuburnAg #ALExtension

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Our new blog post covers some useful tools that can make sprayer calibration (and nozzle selection) easier, faster, and hopefully less frustrating!! @AuburnAg #spraycalibration #nozzleselection #spraytools
Sprayer Calibration Tools https://t.co/mFqf7WWh3O

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

It was a pleasure to have Gaylon Morgan with @CottonInc in Auburn this week & show him different ongoing #precisionag and other projects in cotton. Thanks to Cotton Inc. & Alabama Cotton Commission for supporting these projects and extension activities!! @AuburnAg #alabamacotton

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

With #plant26 wrapped up, our team has been busy collecting data in different #plantertech studies across the state so we can evaluate the performance of various planter technologies and other treatments. We will be sharing some of this data at the upcoming field days!! @AuburnAg

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Meet our team member Sydney Hickman. She is from Fort Payne, AL & is a senior in the Biosystems Engineering major at Auburn University. After graduation next spring, she plans to continue her studies by pursuing an MS degree in Biosys. Engineering with #precag emphasis! @AuburnAg

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Back to some #spraydrone testing this week. Thanks to Harris Precision Solutions for hosting us and collaborating on spray coverage, swath and efficacy data collection during real-world herbicide applications with DJI T100!! @AuburnAg @DJIAgriculture

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

@Sgflint Congratulations to her and the parents!!

[Vijay Singh @VT_Weeds]

Excited to share our latest publication in Remote Sensing (IF: 4.1). The article presents novel approach of Self-Supervised Learning, which significantly reduces the need for labeling the training datasets for machine learning models. The study highlights the framework for UAS-based (RGB) weed detection in soybean using deployment-oriented operational metrics (WCR-AUC). Congratulations to Dhiraj Srivastava (my former student) for leading this work. This activity was funded, in part, with an integrated, internal competitive grant from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Authors: @Dhiraj_Ruler, @VT_Weeds (Vijay Singh), @RutvijWamanse, Song Li, Kevin Kochersberger, @PrecAgEngineer (Simer Virk), @pappu_k_yadav, @VTCals, @vtspes, https://t.co/o1M0d8tiWq @MDPIOpenAccess @RemoteSens_MDPI

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

We are excited to welcome Patton Simbeck to our team as a research intern this summer. Patton is from Loretto, Tennessee, & is pursuing his BS at MS State. We are ready to get Patton involved in all our #precisionag #agtech research, extension, & outreach activities!! @AuburnAg

[AU Precision Ag @AU_PrecisionAg]

Another successful #plant26 run this week with multiple cotton (and one soybean) studies in the ground with more grower collaborators and at Auburn research stations across the state. The finish line is so close we can almost feel it! @AuburnAg @DwaineEddie @AlfaFarmers #alcotton

[Simer Virk @PrecAgEngineer]

Our team has been busy this week with planting cotton #plantertech trials across the state with some awesome grower collaborators and extension agents!! #plant26 @AuburnAg @DwaineEddie @BlakeLanton @nickmcmichen