For Immediate Release

Contact: Daniel Wackershauser, Marketing and PR Specialist
Phone: 608.822.2303
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: January 28, 2020

Agriculture students network with industry professionals at conference, win scholarships

Fennimore -

Southwest Tech students regularly have the opportunity to travel off campus to gain additional educational opportunities. One of those such instances came Jan. 20 when Jamie Horsfall, agriculture instructor, took 12 agronomy students to the Ag PhD Collegiate Agronomy Workshop in Baltic, South Dakota. It was a perfect opportunity for students to see additional workforce examples of the agronomy education training they have been receiving.

“The goal of the trip was to showcase the value of continual learning and to stay current in the industry,” said Horsfall. “The students learned everything form soil nutrients, sprayer technology, to crop protection, and use of tiling to increase yields and limit erosion.”

“It was really interesting,” said Meradith Luedtke, Platteville, Wisconsin, a student who attended the workshop. “There was a lot of information to take in one day. It will help me out in my classes. As someone who wants to go into agronomy sales, reading a soils test will be important.”

Luedtke will graduate in May 2021. She is currently working in an agronomy sales internship with Landmark Services Cooperative in East Troy, Wisconsin.

Cole Deitchler is an agronomy student from Volga, Iowa. He enjoyed attending the workshop, as well.  “We learned a lot about soil and how to read soil tests and a lot about tiling, the economic benefits of doing your own tile and how it can improve your farms,” he said. “I definitely got a lot of good material to take home.”

Students also visited Raven Industries, a highly-diversified technology company, to check out its newest technologies. “That was eye opening,” said Deitchler.

Ean Goll, a Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin, native, is also studying agronomy at Southwest Tech. “It was cool to see part of the country I haven’t seen before,” he said.

“The goal of getting students off campus allows for learning outside of the classroom with industry professionals,” said Horsfall. “This allows students to see what they need to learn, bring value to what they are learning, and reinforce building relationships in the industry.”

Goll and Deitchler will graduate in May. Deitchler plans to return to the family farm and may start a custom spraying business for neighbors and other producers in the area. Goll has already been offered a position as a crop production specialist at Premiere Cooperative in Mazomanie, Wisconsin.

In addition to the networking opportunities and additional resources available at the conference, five Southwest Tech students won $500 scholarships. At the conclusion of the workshop they each completed a quiz about what they had learned and their quizzes were selected for scholarships. Luedtke, Deitchler and Goll were among the students who won scholarships.

| Southwest Wisconsin Technical College is one of 16 institutions that comprise the Wisconsin Technical College System. Southwest Tech offers more than 60 programs in a wide variety of disciplines. Courses are offered on campus, online and in a blended format. The college provides apprenticeship, certificate, technical diploma, and associate degree programs that respond to district workforce needs and prepare student for family-sustaining jobs and career advancement. |