Colleges with Farms and So Much More

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a two-percent decline in agricultural professions by 2032, I’ve seen a notable increase in the number of students I work with who are interested in farming. Some see farming as a hobby, while others view it as a potential vocation, generally with the intention to start their own farms. Luckily, there are colleges to serve students across this spectrum. Though this is a generalization, it seems to me that colleges with farms fall into one of two categories: small colleges with niche curricula that engage students in farming for sustainability and immediate access to food (think farm-to-table dining hall programs or work programs that sustain the college’s mission), or agricultural programs at larger universities that prepare students to work as farmers or in adjacent industries such as agribusiness and food science. The latter are land grant universities, which were established in 1863 and designed to serve the residents of the state in practical matters, in contrast to the classical learning taught at existing colleges. The immediate beneficiaries of these institutions were the state’s farmers, who gained access to advanced agricultural research. Most land grant universities are public and their commitment to agriculture (and adjacent veterinary schools) remains. Kansas State, the very first land grand university, has stayed true to its mission and grown its robust program to serve the state’s largest industry: agriculture. In the Pacific Northwest, Washington State University has multiple farms, including an organic farm; another that was launched as a long-term, direct, seed-cropping system research project; a grass breeding farm; an agronomy farm that specializes in wheat, legumes, and barley (and how to “breed” them); and a dairy farm. Speaking of dairy farms, no visit to Penn State would be complete without a taste of the delicious ice cream they are famous for. (While a cow would not have been as intimidating a mascot as the Nittany Lion, I wonder if they ever considered it.) From research on methane emissions to wastewater management, it becomes clear even after a cursory look at the Penn State website that farming is about so much more than growing plants. The intersection with community, both local and global, is evidence that farming is not just about planting things in the ground, but benefiting the world. Tuition-free Berea College is an example of a smaller college with a farm. At Berea, each student is a working member of the school community, and many choose to work on the oldest continually operating educational farm in the U.S. Students across all majors maintain the farm along with professors, and the dining hall shares in the bounty, as do the local Appalachian communities. Students interested in careers in farming can choose from major and minor offerings in agriculture and natural resources, and alumni have established careers at the USDA and agrichemical and biotech companies, along with more traditional farming pathways. At the tippy top of the American Northeast, the 73-acre Beech Hill farm provides students at the College of the Atlantic opportunities to cultivate a multitude of vegetables, heirloom apples, poultry, and pork. It also gives students a chance to live entrepreneurship as they sell at their own farm stand and to local restaurants and markets. They also give back to the Maine community, as the student-run Share the Harvest program supplies food to residents of local Mount Desert Island. I knew that my research into colleges that give students the opportunity to farm might make me hungry. What I didn’t realize is the profound impact these students will have on their local communities, and likely the world. Such is the power and practicality of agricultural education.