Agriculture, Technology and Natural Resources
PROGRAM UPDATE
FALL 2017
2017 Summer Internship Review
From a family farm, nearly 6,000 miles away
The 2017 Summer Internship season went well. This summer we had six students intern at Agronomy Incentive Partner locations. We always value and promote these experiences, because we know that the student will be given a great learning opportunity on a wide range of topic areas.
Most all of our students come from family farms, this is just the same for J. Louis Harrington. Harrington is from Buchanan. Buchanan, Liberia that is. Harrington’s home land is very fertile and productive. His family’s history of skilled labor production sparked his interest in agriculture production. The idea of being fully engaged in agriculture to feed future generations is what has brought him here to Bismarck State College. Harrington feels that N.D. is “BSC Agriculture the center of agriculture and technology, will help me achieve “BSC Agriculture will help me achieve my goals of helping my goals of helping my people living in my people living in America.” America.”
As requested by the Agronomy Incentive Partners, a new student evaluation form was created and used for the first time this summer. The evaluation is more user friendly and student performance is much easier to measure. Next summer we hope to have these forms electronically available. The outcomes from these evaluations will be shared at the upcoming Agronomy Incentive Partner Annual Meeting.
S A V E
T H E
D A T E
ROUND TABLE
Agronomy Incentive Partners ANNUAL MEETING
FRIDAY, OCT. 27 9 A.M.-5 P.M.
- J. Louis Harrington Harrington’s family history actually begins in New Jersey. His grandfather was an African American entrepreneur from the Garden State who had an opportunity to farm 45 acres of land in the area of Buchanan, Liberia. He began his farming venture in Buchanan with crops and livestock. He then met his wife and settled, established a family farm where Harrington lived with his parents and 13 siblings.
Harrington is currently enrolled in the Agriculture, Technology, Food and Natural Resources Transfer program. He plans to transfer to NDSU and pursue a Master’s Degree in the area of Plant Sciences. Once complete, he hopes to work in research and production, specifically with a focus on helping and providing jobs for immigrants.
UPCOMING AG EVENTS on the Bismarck State College campus
OCT. 4-5: Alternative Management Practices for Rangelands in the Northern Great Plains Northern Great Plains Society for Range Management OCT. 16: Agriculture, Technology and Natural Resources Program Advisory Committee Meeting OCT. 27: Agronomy Incentive Partner Annual Meeting and Round Table Event NOV. 21: “Farming for Sustainability” Back to the Roots Technical Workshop N.D. Soil and Water Conservation Society and Professional Soil Classifiers Association of N.D. DEC. 6-8: Agriculture, Technology and Natural Resources Program Pesticide Certification Training
Layden and Miller attend Ag Leader 25th Year of Innovation Conference Faculty in the ATNR department have long participated in Ag Leader’s EDU Conference, but this year was special when combined with Ag Leader’s 25 Years of Innovation Celebration. Dealers from across or country and abroad attended this three day conference. The sessions gave Kenan and Carmel a chance to catch up on current industry trends and news, receive training on how to run precision equipment, generate ideas on how to build demonstration equipment and build relations with other educators and dealers.
SOLVITA tests in our classroom Soil is a complex ecosystem that provides a habitat for a boundless range of micro and macro organisms. The relationship between different microorganisms and plants is dynamic, resulting in microorganisms giving off carbon dioxide (CO2) via aerobic respiration. Novel tests, such as Solvita, efficiently measure carbon dioxide respiration using gel-based “paddles” that turn color based on the amount of carbon dixoide in the soil. The CO2 measured represents “active carbon” that was acted upon by the microbes and may estimate potential mineralizable nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil organic matter. Last spring Solvita was introduced to our Soil Fertility class, where students had an opportunity to test CO2 respiration levels on various soils. Following the successful classroom application last spring, Solvita soil testing will be included into our Intro to Soil Science Laboratory class, where students will test soils from their own gardens, pastures and crop fields. In addition to Solvita, students will conduct pH, EC, organic matter, macro nutrients and aggregate stability tests, relating all of these values to ones provided by Solvita. Working with Solvita at our BSC soils class, students had an opportunity to see numerous dynamics of the “living” soil, soil that breaths and swiftly responds to our soil management practices, changing student’s perception of agriculture. Teaching such novel soil testing methods, while challenging, are necessary obligation for institutions of higher education, as long as all of the presently known (dis)advantages that accompany such methods are accurately explained to our students.
Olson accepts position of Farm Management Educator
Schau and Layden bring succession planning into the classroom Tyler Schau and Kenan Layden participated in the Certified Farm/Ranch Succession Coordinator Training August 9 – 11, 2017 hosted by NDSU Extension Service and held at the Career Academy, Bismarck State College. The training was offered specifically for agricultural professionals and organizational leaders who work with farmers and ranchers, both owner and successor generations on farm succession issues. John Baker, Attorney-at-Law, with the International Farming Transition Network (IFTN) led the training. All participants completing the training and the assigned case study exam following the training will be designated as Certified Succession Coordinators. Both Kenan and Tyler will be completing their case study exam. In a new course now being offered for BSC Farm and Ranch Management majors, a major focus of the course will be laying the groundwork with students and their families on creating a succession plan for both asset transfer as well as managerial transfer of the business.
Kyle Olson has come to Bismarck State College from his farm near Buxton, North Dakota where, for the last 28 years, he has raised crops and a KYLE OLSON family. Kyle caught the farming bug in his teens and after juggling high school classwork, FFA, football, fieldwork, band, and speech, he rushed off to NDSU to learn the latest and best practices for agricultural production. His bachelor’s degree from NDSU allowed him to be gainfully employed during the winter months while building his farming operation in the summer. By 2003, Kyle’s family and business had grown to the point where winter positions were not feasible. Kyle continued to serve on the several cooperative boards and help with youth athletic programs. The move from production agriculture to Farm Management Education at BSC represents a career change for Kyle. With neither of his two sons interested in production agriculture he made the choice to end his farming career and become an educator. He brings with him many years of practical experience managing a cash grain operation, obtaining credit, and trading commodities, both cash and futures. He still owns the “home farm” and surrounding farmland, and he returns as often as is possible. Kyle is looking forward to meeting all the great people at BSC and many years of camaraderie with faculty, staff, and students.
THANK YOU TO OUR AGRONOMY INCENTIVE PARTNERS
bismarckstate.edu For more information, contact one of our advisors.
CRT-009-0917
LINDSEY NOVAK
TYLER SCHAU
Agriculture, Industry and Technology
Agribusiness and Farm and Ranch
224-2628
224-2542