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Wednesday, March 20, 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT-RUN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1885
SDSU COLLEGIAN.COM
Rooted in Ag
Students continue generational farming ANNAMARIE SACHS & TAYLER LARSEN Reporters
Collegian photo by MIRANDA SAMPSON
Senior agriculture science major Alexandra Miller’s passion for agriculture began on her seven-generation farm in Onawa, Iowa. She anticipates bringing back her knowledge back home after SDSU.
Not many people can say they are a part of a seven-generation farm, but senior agriculture science major Alexandra Miller can — and she’s excited to continue the tradition. Her passion began in her hometown of Onawa, Iowa, where she found a love for farming and agriculture. Both of her parents come from farming families that go as far back as her great grandfather raising horses on his farm. Miller hopes to start her own farm and hopefully add some livestock to the 3,000-acre soybean and corn farm she grew up on. For Miller, the payoff of working hard is what drove her toward her career choice. “Both sides of the family really led me to become a farmer and that’s when I decided that’s what I really wanted to do,” she said. “I want my family and children to experience what I did and experience the same values I do.” Continuing the family tradition of agriculture is a passion of many students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), according to Mary Christensen, a coordinator, and adviser for students in the agricultural science, agricultural education, communications and leadership majors.
Since the beginning of South Dakota State, agriculture education has been one of the missions of the university. Today the CAFES has hundreds of students enrolled in the college. Among one of those students is freshman animal science and agriculture communications major, Sadie Vander Wal. “What I love most about this industry is how I, like many other farm kids, have been able to be a part of it since I could walk,” Vander Wal said. “Whether it was going out to check fields with my dad or feeding the bottle calf, agriculture has been a part of my life as long as I can remember.” Both of Vander Wal’s parents also attended SDSU. Her father, Jeff, majored in agricultural education and her mother, Beth, majored in agricultural business. Choosing agriculture was an easy decision for them both since they had experience in the industry growing up. For generations to attend the same college for the same or similar career has significant meaning behind it. David Wright, the head of the Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science agreed.
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