For Immediate Release
Contact: Katie Glass, Executive Director of Marketing/Public Information Officer
Phone: 608.822.2411
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: December 22, 2016
Southwest Tech Agriculture Department Offers New Programs in 2017
Fennimore, Wisconsin -As the demand for skilled workers trained in modern agriculture practices and technology continues to grow, Southwest Tech has responded with a suite of new and enhanced educational offerings designed to meet the needs of the industry.
Over the last three years, Southwest Tech agriculture instructors and staff have worked with industry experts to develop educational career pathways that align with the skills and knowledge that a graduate would need to either run their own farming operation or work for a variety of exciting agriculture-based companies. “Decisions were made with careful consideration given to the workforce demand from the agriculture community in our five county district and beyond,” explains Derek Dachelet, Dean of Industry, Trades, & Agriculture at Southwest Tech. Southwest Tech made it a strategic priority and invested resources to expand the Ag Department from four programs to fourteen programs and two certificates. Those fourteen programs include two-year associate degrees, two-year technical diplomas, one-year technical diplomas, and adult farm management continuing education classes. The expanded programs allow for students to select career pathways in animal science, agronomy, dairy management, agriculture equipment, and agri-business management. “Our biggest area of growth is that we now offer production agriculture-focused degrees and diplomas,” outlined Ag Coordinator Deb Ihm. “When a student comes to Southwest Tech, the first thing we ask is if they want to work for a company in the Ag industry or on a farm operation. We now have specific education tracks for both career goals, and that is very exciting.” There was a strategic initiative to expand livestock programs beyond dairy, to include beef, swine, and small ruminants. Southwest Tech is not stopping there. Within the next year, online education with hands-on enhancement will be offered for current Dairy Goat producers and those interested in starting a dairy goat business.
Southwest Tech also improved Dairy Herd Management education by adding a second year to the program, which includes enhanced training that a student would need if they wanted to own and operate their own dairy operation. “We went from teaching students to be a herdsman to managing the entire dairy operation” said Deb Ihm, Ag Coordinator at Southwest Tech. “The first year of training is focused on developing a student’s technical skills and the second year of training is focused on the management of the farm business, which is important in today’s volatile economy and tight profit margins” added Ihm.
In addition to expanding agriculture programs, Southwest Tech has invested in bringing the latest technology into the classroom. In September of 2016, Southwest Miss Golden Jubilee, one of three cow birthing simulators in the state of Wisconsin, arrived on campus. Funds were also used to purchase a Near-infrared Scanner (cutting edge technology to test feed samples for nutritional quality), a rainfall simulator, and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or “drones”, which are being increasingly utilized in agriculture to scout fields and gather important scientific data that producers are using to make critical farm management decisions.
The continued success and expansion of Southwest Tech agriculture programs has not gone unnoticed. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, & Consumer Protection selected Southwest Tech as a site to host the Ethiopian delegation, including the first lady of Ethiopia, to learn more about Wisconsin’s Dairy Industry. Southwest Tech students are also leading the charge. Agri-business students Kodiak Shelton, from Reedsburg, Wisconsin and Sylvia Deitelhoff from Cazenovia, Wisconsin were recently selected as the President and Vice President Wisconsin State Officers of the National Postsecondary Agriculture Student Organization (PAS) organization.
PAS is one of the 11 career and technical student organizations that has been approved by the U. S. Department of Education as an integral part of career and technical education. Dachelet summed up the campus instructors and staff vision for agriculture programs at the College, “When people think about where they should go to receive Ag education, we want to be known as ‘that place’ in their minds.”
