Glen Oaks agriculture students get hands on experience

Area agriculture students will soon gain valuable experience by farming more than 65 acres of ground on the campus of Glen Oaks Community College.

More than 60 people attended a dinner meeting in late March to hear about the new opportunity for students and to learn about two agriculture-related programs on campus.

Reid Leaverton, Ag Equipment Technology instructor, said the campus acres for the past four decades have been farmed by John Pueschel and Fawn River Farms.

In January, however, Fawn River Farms agreed to forego the final year to allow creation of the project for students to farm the ground, Leaverton said, adding that the plan is to use the practical learning experience to experiment and test with research plots in cooperation with local seed companies.

Leaverton said the college has developed partnerships within the agriculture community to help launch the campus farm. Mendon Seed Growers and Next Generation Seed will provide seed for the 2018 season. GreenMark Equipment is providing seeding and harvest equipment. Burnips Equipment is furnishing equipment for tillage and Black Gold Farms is providing tools for use on the farm.