College of the Ozarks’ students travel to Arkansas to tour diverse farms

POINT LOOKOUT, MO — College of the Ozarks Grain Crop Production class embarked on a trip to central Arkansas, April 10 ─ 12. The trip served as an opportunity for the students to tour and learn about a diverse array of farms. The 13 students who attended the trip were led by their professor, Tammy Holder, general farm manager.

On Wednesday, the students visited a pecan farm, fishery, University of Arkansas extension research station, and fruit and vegetable farm. Thursday, they toured a blackberry farm, two beef farms, another extension research station, and a strawberry, corn, soybean, and rice farm. They finished their trip on Friday at Birdsong Peanuts and a row crop farm owned and operated by one of the student’s grandparents.

At each farm, the students were led on a tour of the estate to view the practices the farmers use to produce their crop and the equipment used on the operation. The students asked questions about the farms and had the opportunity to taste some of the farms’ products.

“This trip provided me with an outstanding opportunity to diversify my knowledge about the agriculture industry,” said Carissa Jefferson, junior agronomy and agribusiness major. “I saw types of farming that I had never seen before and gleaned information about how different types of farmers work to improve their methods and produce high quality products for the consumers. Furthermore, we got to speak with professionals in the industry who gave us advice about how to build a successful career in the field.”

“Having the opportunity to take students to the field to see what we have been talking about in the classroom is invaluable,” said Holder. “If a person can see it, feel it, smell it, taste it, and touch it, they are more likely to remember it. Having the students interact with producers and researchers in all aspects of grain crop production or agriculture production provides an insight that I cannot give the students in class.”