New students, a new fall term – and a new structure have all begun at the Farm and Industry Short Course on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
About 120 students have enrolled in a program designed to make the most efficient use of available resources while also preparing students for the challenges of a changing agricultural industry, according to Jessie Potterton, director of the Farm and Industry Short Course. Those students, who started Nov. 7, will now work toward earning a first-year certificate in “Foundations of Farm Management.” The one-year certificate requires a minimum of 12 credits.
Six specialty areas are offered in the new structure: crop and soil management, dairy-farm management, farm mechanics, farm service and supply, meat animal, and pasture-based dairy or livestock. Students must take the required courses for the specialty they choose.
Core classes – required before choosing electives – are:
- First-year seminar
- Introduction to soils
- Forage crops
- Business principles of agricultural management
- Agriculture human-resources management
- Agribusiness communication
- Agriculture, food systems and rural development
- Food safety
- Agricultural safety and health
Students who choose to attend the short course for a second year can pursue two-year certificates in specialty areas:
- Dairy-farm management
- Diversified agricultural operations
- Farm and equipment operations
- Management of crops and soils
- Meat-animal farm management
Courses will offer in-depth information and longer laboratory time to receive hands-on training, Potterton said. Hands-on training will include more time at the Arlington Agricultural Research Stations.
The new structure will allow up to 15 credits to be transferred to the University of Wisconsin-College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Students will know at the outset what credits will transfer, said Al Herrman, who retired after 28 years with the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation. He held different positions with the company, most recently as manager of its farm program. An alumnus of the short course, he serves on the Farm and Industry Short Course advisory committee.
“When I attended short course some 40 years ago, only some credits transferred and they each had to be evaluated,” Herrman said.
He returned to UW-Madison to earn a bachelor’s degree in dairy science and a master’s degree in business.
The restructured Farm and Industry Short Course will continue its focus on students. Undergraduates from the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences also will be encouraged to take short course classes, focused on practical financial tools and economics that drive agricultural operations, he said.
“We must make sure we strengthen that side of training … what it’s going to take to survive in business and on a personal financial basis” he said.
In addition to professors at UW-Madison, the short course program will work with industry leaders to host instructors speaking on topics such as farm credit, legal advice, grazing and organic production, Herrman said.
“We’re committed to creating economic value for students and their parents,” he said.
Charles Crave, partner at Crave Brothers Farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin, also serves on the Farm and Short Course Advisory Committee. He also is an alumnus. Short course administrators will be increasing their recruiting efforts, which will include a higher level of communications and screening for academic soundness of students, he said.
“With greater demands on faculty there will be greater demands and expectations for academic performance,” he said. ”There also will be greater opportunity for students to develop personally and professionally, especially in the second year.”
The increase in hands-on laboratory time will help smooth student transition from school to the marketplace, Crave said.
“We have been seeing a gap between education and workplace development,” he said. “While students may have a fine educational background, there’s a big step when moving into larger operations.”
Some young people have had limited experience with doing pregnancy checking or artificial insemination, or delving into reproductive records in the dairy business, for example, he said.
Robert Behnke, of Bur-Wall Holsteins, Brooklyn, Wisconsin, agreed that laboratory time is crucial. He attended short course in 1990 and 1991, and also serves on the advisory committee.
“Students do better when they have hands-on experiences,” he said. “They can better understand why and how something works, then go back and read. More laboratory time is a positive step.”
Potterton said course alumni are the program’s biggest supporters and recruiters.
Visit fisc.cals.wisc.edu for more information.
By: Lynn Grooms
Source: Agri-View