“Sent from my iPhone while driving a tractor.”
That was the signature line on Isaac Davis’ email.
Davis is a freshman plant and soil science major at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. The 19-year-old Honors College student is minoring in crop consulting, one of ASU’s newer agriculture degree programs. When he is not in school, he farms outside of Oil Trough.
He’s one of the coming generation of young people studying new and evolving technologies as they relate to agriculture. Among his elective courses are those in Agricultural Spacial Technologies (GIS and GPS).
The degree Davis earns won’t be his grandfather’s college sheepskin.
Even a generation ago, most “agriculture” students at colleges and universities studied the business concepts involved in operating a farm. They learned about depreciation and tax incentives. Those who followed expanded into the marketing arena, and those newly minted graduates introduced brokering and data-driven selling to the farm. Biotechnologists burst on the scene, and with them they brought genetically modified varieties of various crops.
Davis and his peers will unleash technologies in all those areas (and others we haven’t yet identified).
From the Ground Up
At colleges and universities across the state, students are able to study a wide range of subject matter. One of the most common courses of study is plant and soil science. Davis said the program allows a farmer to be more productive by understanding the relationships between the various elements.
“The academic program gives you an understanding of why some agricultural practices and chemicals work the way they do,” Davis said. “Knowing how and why a certain seed or chemical works allows the individual to make a more educated decision on what to plant or use and why that choice is better than others for their specific situation.”
Holly Harvill is a third-year senior at ASU. The Delaplaine native is studying agribusiness, concentrating on agricultural communications and plant science and plans to pursue a master’s degree in plant science. She also plans to continue working at Delaplaine Seed Co. and on her family’s livestock and row-crop farm.
Harvill echoed Davis’ contention that understanding agriculture on an academic level is best.
“The academic side allows a student to take all those things that they learn through hands on experience and understand why they do those things and possibly how to improve those methods,” she said, adding that with the agriculture core a student takes introductory courses across the spectrum, like animal science, plant science and agribusiness. “I find this very important because this is the only chance many students will get the chance to see how all the different fields are interdependent.”
Diversity in Degrees
Located in the heart of the state’s agriculture industry, Arkansas State University has long had a robust ag business program that attracted students from throughout the Arkansas Delta and Missouri Bootheel, but the university has expanded its programs to include the high-tech courses in which Davis has enrolled. The school operates a farm with fields of corn, soybeans, milo and specialty crops used as biofuels, such as switchgrass.
One of ASU’s programs, science technology, aims to prepare students to work with equipment of the 21st century. An associate’s degree program is akin to a technician’s course of study.
Davis noted that ASU’s agriculture program policy compels students to study varied subject matter.
“The College of Agriculture at ASU requires the student to take classes in every field of study they offer so that they are more well rounded in all subjects rather than being knowledgeable in a limited field of study,” he said. “This is why I believe that ASU prepares its students for the world ahead and gives them the tools they need to succeed in any agricultural field they choose to make a career in.”
Across the state is the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, the state’s land grant university and home to the Cooperative Extension Service.
At the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, students can earn undergraduate degrees in myriad programs, including animal science, crop science, food science, poultry science, agricultural business and agricultural education, communication and technology.
At Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, degree programs focus on areas such as agriculture public relations and feed mill management. Tech, along with several other institutions, offers a pre-veterinary program, though there is no veterinary program at a university in Arkansas. A joint venture with Louisiana State University allows Arkansas students to study in Louisiana at a lower cost than for other out-of-state students.
Following a familiar model, other institutions offer specialized courses. East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City offers a program in diesel technology and Mid-South Community College in Memphis offers welding along with an aviation program. University of Arkansas-Monticello’s hallmark ag program is forest services. At University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the specialty program is aquaculture.
The Next Level
Dr. Lanny Ashlock, project manager for Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and Mid-South Soybean Board Research coordinator, has seen his share of agriculture education programs in his years of working around the state. He said today’s courses of study are successful because of the level of instruction.
“It really gets more sophisticated. The people teaching are really some of the best in the world. They are highly trained at what they do,” Ashlock said.
These programs cater not only to students who want to farm for a living but also those who want to find jobs in lucrative related fields, such as crop consulting, seed and chemical sales and marketing.
“I would love to be able to start my own rice, soybean, and wheat production farm in the Oil Trough area close to Newport,” Davis said. “If that goal is unreachable I would like to pursue a career as a seed salesman/crop consultant with a company such as Helena or Crop Production Services,” he said.
Harvill explained that her agriculture background pretty much confirmed her education track, but she said an education is only as valuable as the student’s desire to learn.
“I can already tell you that the tools I have gathered while in college are beneficial at work and my family farm,” she said. “Anything from Ag Finance to Genetics to Soils classes all have given me the knowledge I need. Even though the knowledge is presented to every student the same way, it is a two-way relationship where the student has to be willing to take in the information.
“I grew up submerged into agriculture with cattle and row crops. There has never been a doubt that I would grow up and be a part of the agriculture community. There was no other option in my mind. Whether I end up in a rice patty or cattle pasture, I believe I will always be agriculture-blessed.”
Ashlock noted that today’s faces of agriculture don’t fit preconceived stereotypes. He said the board’s scholarship fellow program includes several females and students who didn’t necessarily grow up on a farm.
“There are so many environmental angles now and biotechnology, and now they are looking at food products. … Agriculture doesn’t look like what you think it does.”
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