A rising ardour for agriculture | Community & Life-style

When most individuals consider agriculture, they image tractors, cows and infinite fields of corn. I used to assume that manner, too, till I discovered myself standing in a hazelnut orchard in Italy, tasting freshly crushed hazelnut unfold and listening to a farmer clarify how pests and illnesses are altering the best way his household works the land.

I didn’t develop up on a farm. I used to be raised simply exterior Staunton, a small city in southern Illinois. My solely early publicity to agriculture got here throughout visits to my grandparents’ farm. But all the pieces shifted in seventh grade after I joined the Illinois Association FFA. That’s the place I found that agriculture wasn’t nearly farming. It was about management, innovation, service and constructing neighborhood. It was the primary time I felt like I actually belonged someplace.

Since then, agriculture has turn into greater than only a curiosity. It’s one thing I’m captivated with. During my senior yr of highschool, I served because the Illinois Association FFA Section 15 president, which confirmed my choice to pursue a profession in agriculture. I enrolled within the agriculture switch program at Lincoln Land Community College, the place I’ve been studying in regards to the many alternative faces of the business for the previous yr.

This previous spring, I had the chance to journey to Italy with 28 of my classmates as part of LLCC’s agriculture program. For a few of us, it was our first flight and even our first time exterior the nation. We explored farms, tasted native meals and noticed how agriculture operates on a world scale. This journey opened my eyes – not simply to how various things may be, however to how a lot all of us have in widespread in the case of caring for the land and feeding folks.

Throughout the tour, we visited Rome, Tuscany, Siena and Florence. Just exterior of Rome, we toured the Maccarese farm, a large-scale operation that mixes grain, fodder crop and vegetable cultivation with dairy cow breeding and manufacturing. The farm additionally runs two biogas crops, giving us a firsthand take a look at how renewable vitality may be built-in into farming.

In Tuscany, we visited La Fescennina, a family-operated natural farm that focuses on hazelnuts. We realized about their planting and harvesting methods and the way they turned the primary double-certified producer and processor of natural Roman hazelnuts. That was the place I spotted how a lot science, historical past and care go into one thing most of us take as a right.

We additionally visited Costruzioni Macchine Agricole, Italy’s main designer and producer of agricultural equipment, and in Florence, we toured Podere Il Casale, a sustainable farm and Pecorino cheese producer. There, we realized in regards to the processes used to make conventional Italian cheeses and the significance of sustainability in each facet of manufacturing.

The tour additionally included stops at historic landmarks such because the Roman Colosseum, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Ponte Vecchio.

Agriculture at present is greater than planting and harvesting. It’s about analysis, sustainability, communication and know-how. It’s about discovering new methods to unravel issues and serve others. It contains analysis and improvement to enhance crop yields and to guard towards pests and illnesses. Scientists and agronomists work behind the scenes to develop sustainable practices, improve soil well being and create extra resilient meals programs. Beyond the sphere, agriculture additionally entails logistics, advertising and marketing, training and coverage. Professionals in these areas assist join farmers with shoppers, advocate for agricultural pursuits and educate the general public about meals programs. Technology performs a rising position as nicely, with precision agriculture, knowledge evaluation and automation reworking how farms function. Agriculture is a dynamic, multifaceted business.

Through my time at LLCC, I’ve grown in all these areas, and I’ve seen simply how wide-reaching and essential this business actually is. As I enter my sophomore yr, I’m extra motivated than ever to be a part of this business’s future. Agriculture isn’t simply one thing I examine. It’s one thing I’m proud to be part of, and I’m excited to see the place it takes me subsequent.

The LLCC Agriculture program makes use of the most recent methods and know-how, land labs and journey experiences to organize college students for a profitable profession in agriculture and/or college switch by levels and certificates in agriculture, agribusiness, precision agronomy/customized utility, and horticulture and cultivation. More data is out there at www.llcc.edu/agriculture.

Registration is open for the autumn semester at LLCC. Weekday courses start Monday, Aug. 25. To be taught extra about getting began, go to www.llcc.edu/become-a-student. 

Michael Matesa is a Lincoln Land Community College agriculture scholar.