Hands-on program in Alberta cultivating future farmers

EDMONTON – The largest student-managed farm program in Canada – located in the heart of Alberta – is celebrating its centennial.

Lakeland College in Vermillion (located about two hours east of Edmonton) is unique for what it offers agriculture students outside the classroom: the opportunity to make business decisions using real livestock, actual equipment, and money from the school.

“I’ve grown up on a farm my whole life but there’s so much we do out here that even I didn’t really get a chance to do growing up,” says Alayna Schmidt. “This is pretty much a real life lab out here.”

Students who may have been around a farm their whole lives, and are used to a certain way of doing things are challenged to justify their methods; and are able to broaden their horizons.

“It really gives them an opportunity to experiment with a few things that they might not have been able to do at home,” explains instructor Geoff Brown.

“We all know that we can be told something, we can be shown something, but it isn’t ’til we actually do it and get to practise it that it really become reinforced in terms of our learning,” adds Josie Van Lent, the Dean of Agriculture Sciences at Lakeland College.

But the program isn’t just for those familiar with farm life; for some, like crop technology student Jessica Richards who grew up in a city, it’s a complete introduction to the world of farming.

“I went from knowing absolutely nothing – never being in a swather, combine, hauling grain, nothing – to doing it for the whole weekend if they need me.”

Farming and ranching is a way of life for tens of thousands in Canada. But every year, the number of people working the land grows less. Twenty years ago, Alberta and Saskatchewan combined had 118,000 farms. Today, there are only about 80,000. The land is still being used, but family-owned farms and ranches are slowly being pushed out by large commercial operations.

Despite this, student interest only seems to be rising.

“In our case enrollments have really jumped substantially in the last six years. We’ve more than doubled our enrollments in agriculture,” says Van Lent.

After graduating, many of the students will either go back to help run their family farm or ranch; others, like Richards, plan on joining the industry however they can.

“We’re probably in one of the best places in the world to be part of agriculture,” she says.

With files from Ross Neitz, Global News